By Kathleen Douglas (BHSc)
Metals and minerals are requirements for many biochemical processes within our body, when we have too much or not enough then we need to work out the reason. Some times its because we are not eating enough healthy foods and diet adjustments can be made. However, for some people just eating healthily is not enough.
Minerals can become toxic in the body if they build up to a level that is out of balance with the body’s requirements. Minerals are very important to our body, they help the cells to do the work they are supposed to do e.g. calcium, magnesium, copper, zinc, iron. If you have an out of balance mineral ratio the excess mineral can have toxicity effects and the depleted mineral can contribute to a sluggish detoxification.
The interesting thing with minerals is they have one or two other minerals which are absorbed at the same cell receptor site. An example of these are calcium and magnesium, in this example because both calcium and magnesium are absorbed at the same receptor they cannot both be absorbed at the same time, so if you take a supplement containing both minerals, its likely only one will be absorbed and the other will either be excreted or stored elsewhere where it shouldn’t be. Both of these minerals are important and play crucial roles in the body, we need to be absorbing both of them. Which is why it is important to separate dosage if you are supplementing, leave a few hours between taking each one.
Heavy metals are metals which exist in the outside environment, they include: lead, mercury, titanium, nickel, bromium, aluminium. Heavy metals are not needed in our body and cause harm when they are there. Due to the environment we live in, most people have heavy metals in their body, there is no way to escape them. In our body we have things called metalloproteins, these little proteins move through the blood stream binding to metals and minerals and taking them to the cell receptor to be used.
Toxins include viruses, bacteria, non metal poisons, fumes and drugs.
Some viruses can sit latent in your system, waiting for the opportunity to expand and cause illness e.g. Epstein Barr (glandular fever), herpes spp. (chicken pox, shingles, cold sores),
Chelation is the process of removing metals/toxins by using a binding material, the binding material is put in the system either orally or via injection and it moves through the digestive system and blood stream attaching itself to the offending metal/toxin then is excreted via the kidneys or bowels.
Chelation can be quite a stress on the body if not done in a supportive way, chemical chelation is very effective, however may cause excessive stress on the kidneys causing damage. This is why a gentle chelation program is preferred. A chelation program is usually done over a period of 3-4 months, the program is designed to support and strengthen all eliminatory pathways while gently removing the metal/toxin. The goal of the program is to bind the toxins and excrete them safely through the bowels, avoiding stress on the kidneys, skin, brain and other elimination system organs.
