5 Heavy Metals That Threaten Your Health

Toxins; that you ingest into your body by eating, breathing or coming into contact with our skin; These are substances that your immune system reacts to because it deems foreign and dangerous. Toxins directly damage your cell and can be too hard on the liver. Some toxins are:

• Dry cleaning solvents
• Fuel (gasoline, diesel, etc.)
• Car fragrances
• Cigarette smoke
• Resin
• Glue
• Paints
• Stain removers
• Heavy metals such as mercury, lead, arsenic, cadmium
• PCBs. The best known are dioxins
• Compounds such as BPA found in plastics
• Toxic substances released by harmful bacteria, yeast and parasites living in our gut
• Estrogen-like chemicals called xenobiotics.

TOXIC LOAD means the total amount of all different types of toxins in your cells and tissues. Your liver has to deal with all of these. The higher your burden, the more likely your health will be negatively affected.

What is Heavy Metal?

Heavy metal is a metal with a density of at least 5 g / cm3. Generally, heavy metals can be said to have adverse effects on living organisms and the environment when they are present in large quantities.

Heavy metals play no beneficial role when found in the human body. In fact, they almost always interfere with normal biological processes instead. They do this in part by binding to proteins in the body that would normally be activated by minerals such as magnesium and zinc. This causes massive cellular confusion, oxidative stress, and chronic inflammation.

Chronic Heavy Metal Exposure

It refers to low level of exposure to heavy metals over time. Even these low doses can have many harmful effects on the body. Therefore, if you want to maintain your health, it is important to understand ways you can help your body eliminate heavy metal pollution on a daily basis.

In this article, I will talk about the 5 main heavy metals we are frequently exposed to in our daily life: Mercury, Lead, Aluminum, Cadmium and Arsenic. Heavy metals are not limited to these.

Who is Sensitive to Heavy Metal Toxicity?

As you can imagine, everyone is prone to heavy metal exposure. The difference is that some people have a higher ability to detoxify them and give them a higher tolerance before they start to experience any symptoms. Some occupations also tend to increase exposure to heavy metals. Heavy metal occupations are more exposed to:

• Automotive repair
• Dentists and dental professions
• Construction works
• People dealing with painting
• Industrial agriculture
• Anyone who regularly works with industrial chemicals

Those with the following health conditions are more susceptible and susceptible to heavy metal exposure:

• Those with leaky bowel problems, those with autoimmune diseases
• Those with liver damage or poor liver function
• Those with chronic infections
• Those with chronic blood sugar imbalance
• Those with micronutrient deficiencies
• Those under increased mental or emotional stress
• Those who have any condition that prevents the function of the intestines, liver, gall bladder or kidneys

The symptoms

The symptoms of chronic heavy metal exposure can vary depending on an individual’s health, exposure level and the types of metals they are exposed to. Someone with robust detoxification ability has a higher tolerance to detoxing heavy metals, while someone else may be hypersensitive to even the slightest exposure.

Some of the most common symptoms include:

• Chronic fatigue
• Confusion of consciousness
• Brain fog
• Mood swings
• Insomnia
• Anxiety and Depression
• Chronic inflammation
• Metallic taste in the mouth
• Night sweats
• Headaches
• Several heavy metals are also classified as cancer-causing substances.

Common Heavy Metals

For some heavy metals, there are common symptoms that occur when toxicity is reached. While many heavy metals are present in our environment, this article focuses on 5 metals that are thought to be present in higher amounts in the environment and tend to cause most of the symptoms: Mercury, Lead, Aluminum, Cadmium, and Arsenic.

1-Mercury

Mercury is probably the most dangerous heavy metal in the environment. It is attracted to fatty substances like the brain and can increase your chances of getting Alzheimer’s disease. It increases oxidative stress, inflammation, depletes antioxidants, and chronically overstimulates the brain (eventually leading to brain cell damage).

Adverse Health Effects: Brain Damage, Brain Fog, Chronic Fatigue, Depression, Headache, Poor Memory, Liver and Kidney Damage, Increased Risk of Cardiovascular Disease, Neurodegenerative Disorders (Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Multiple Sclerosis)

Mercury sources include:

Exhaust gases and polluted air

• Amalgam dental fillings (mercury vapor),
• Some cosmetic products (such as skin brighteners, talcum powder)
• Pesticides
• Fluorescent lamps
• Contact lens solutions
• Some vaccines (containing thimerosal)
• Batteries

• Many factories, especially those that burn coal, release this substance into the air.

• This mercury goes down to the soil, to the seas and oceans by rains. It accumulates along the food chain and large amounts of mercury (methyl mercury) are accumulated, especially in large fish such as tuna and swordfish.

• Mercury can easily pass through the placenta and reach the baby and is stored by the fetal brain.

Symptoms of Mercury Exposure

• High levels of methyl mercury are mainly affected by the central nervous system. Mercury can easily cross the blood brain barrier and accumulate in the brain.
• Causes numbness, tingling, balance, gait and speech disorders, hearing loss and vision changes.
• Dementia, memory loss
• Restlessness, Depression
• Bowel problems
• Tiredness
• Sleeping disorders
• Tremor (tremors)
• Poor appetite
• Gingival diseases

2-Lead

• Lead is a very heavy neurotoxin.

• It suppresses the release of neurotransmitters such as GABA and Dopamine. In this way, it can cause mood disorders.

• It accumulates in the bones and can be mixed with the blood again, especially in menopause, as the bones break down.

• Lead accumulated in bone causes toxic effect on bone cells. It reduces the mineral density and strength of bone, inhibits chondrocyte and osteoblast functions.

• Another important point to be considered is the transmission of lead from mother to child during fetal development. This potential transition can take several generations if not properly addressed.

• Lead harms the body by competing with calcium and blocking its effects. Lead also interferes with enzymes, proteins, and antioxidant systems.

• Until 2004, it was free to add lead to gasoline in our country.

• Until the 1990s, lead was even used in house paints.

Health Effects Caused by Lead: Headaches, ADD / ADHD, Mood Disorders, Poor Memory, Developmental Disorders of the Uterus (Decreased Birth Weight, Preterm Birth, Poor Cognitive Development)

Lead exposure also causes diseases such as leukemia.

Lead sources are:

• Exhaust gases emitted by motor vehicles
• Permanent lipsticks
• Vinyl school bags
• Toys
• Batteries
• Hair dyes
• Chemical fertilizers
• Water resources
• House paints
• Fishing gear

3-Aluminum

It has a common usage area in our daily life. Aluminum is the third most abundant element on earth, after oxygen and silicon.

Al compounds, which are used in the production of many different products such as electrical appliances, packaging, construction and beverage boxes, are also used as food additives.

Adverse Health Effects of Aluminum: Poor Cognitive Function, Bone Disorders, Neurodegeneration (Alzheimer’s), Breast Cancer, Anemia, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, spinal muscular atrophy

Aluminum sources are:

• Cooking pots
• Al Foils
• Drinking water
• Antacids (stomach medications)
• Vaccines (Pneumococcus, Hepatitis A, HPV)
• Deodorants, cosmetics, hair products
• Lipsticks
• Food additives (Al potassium sulphate, Al sodium sulphate etc.)
• Canned acidic foods
• It is an inducer of chronic aluminum toxicity in lung, bone and central nervous system neurodegenerative diseases.
• Aluminum toxicity is also among the causes of Alzheimer’s disease.

4-Cadmium

• There is a clear relationship between increased depressive symptoms and blood cadmium levels. Cadmium can contribute to the etiology of depression by dealing with the catecholamine / serotonin system. Adult male rats exposed to cadmium found reduced serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine content in ALL brain regions.

Health Effects: Kidney Damage, Poor Calcium Metabolism (Kidney Stones, Osteoporosis)

• Cadmium resources
• Cigarette smoke
• Polluted air
• Nickel-cadmium batteries
• Dyes
• Phosphate fertilizers
• Insecticides

5-Arsenic

• Arsenic makes it difficult to remove mercury from the body.

• Arsenic components are used in livestock and poultry as antimicrotic at low doses.

• Exposure to arsenic continues as animals eat arsenic and we consume meat and other animal products from animals.

• In some areas, arsenic can be exposed to drinking water.

• Arsenic is also common in rice. Sometimes it is found in the water where the rice crop is grown, sometimes it is caused by poultry manure.

• There is an enzyme known as Tyrosine Hydroxylase in the brain. This turns the Tyrosine you eat from food eventually into Dopamine. Arsenic lowers this enzyme.

• Arsenic, which is commonly found in our food source, harms the body by inhibiting certain enzymes in the mitochondria. Anything that interferes with mitochondrial function will have major health consequences as mitochondria cannot produce the energy required for cells to perform normal functions. Arsenic also contributes to oxidative stress and inflammation by consuming endogenous antioxidants (such as glutathione).

Health Effects: Higher Risk of Preterm Birth and Fetal Death, Memory Problems, Poor Verbal Intelligence, Inflammation, Neuropathy, Bladder / Liver / Kidney Cancers, Adverse Gene Mutations

While all of these metals in themselves are already problematic, having the combined toxicity of several heavy metals can actually be exponentially more harmful than any metal alone.

In addition, toxic metals such as mercury, lead, arsenic and cadmium, especially Al, are higher in autistic children compared to healthy children.