There has been a lot of hype surrounding the presence of heavy
metals in foods such as fish, or from environmental sources like
pollution. While there is a real risk of consuming too much of these
compounds, cleanse protocols have attracted controversy.
Cleanse protocols attempt to reduce the presence of toxins in the
body, supposedly improving health and wellbeing. In this article,
we’re going to take you through everything you need to know about
cleansing, cleanse diets, and how to really rid your body of heavy
metals all without selling any cleanse products or detox teas!
Toxins, Toxicants, and Toxicity
The ambiguity surrounding cleanses and cleanse diets tends to hinge
on the idea of poorly-defined ‘toxins’. Despite the media buzz
surrounding toxins, there is almost no actionable definition
provided by those in the field of detox and cleansing products or
diets. So, what is a toxin? Loosely-defined, a toxin is a
naturally-occurring poison that has harmful effects on the body.
Toxicants are a more specific group of chemical compounds that enter
the body through food, drink, and air. These compounds are man-made
and are often the subject of sensationalist headlines because of it.
Toxicants include pesticides, preservatives, and other artificial
additions to food. Toxicants are man-made compounds, but they should
not be confounded with healthy food additives like artificial
colors, or other additions such as beet juice extract.
When we look at cleanse diets, toxins are used to describe a wide
variety of different compounds from preservatives and emulsifiers to
heavy metals, pesticides, or any form of synthetic chemicals. First,
it is important to note that synthetic chemicals and preservatives
are not inherently unhealthy many should be limited within the diet,
but their consumption is not unhealthy by itself. Second, being
artificial is no guarantee of being unhealthy and being natural is
no guarantee of being health-promoting. Compare arsenic and
synthetic Alpha-GPC – arsenic is totally natural but extremely
poisonous, whereas artificial a-GPC is very healthy but produced in
industrial labs.
When talking about toxicity, heavy metals are a real concern that
should be treated as such. Be careful when you’re met with a claim
about “cleansing toxins” ask which compounds. You can cleanse your
body of heavy metals because they exist and have scientific evidence
surrounding them, which is why we’re going to discuss them
specifically, and what you can do to improve your health by reducing
undesirable metals from your system.
Cleansing Diets
The first thing to avoid is any commercially-produced cleansing
diet, detox diet, or supplement to this effect. Very few chemicals
are able to actively reduce toxins in the body, and they tend to be
aimed at counteracting excessive consumption of dangerous chemicals.
For example, activated charcoal can be considered a “detoxifying
agent” because it removes toxins from the body, but it only removes
one key toxin from the body in cases of overdose or poisoning
(acetaminophen poisoning, specifically).
As we will discuss, dieting is a great tool for overall health and
plays a key role in the development of a balanced, healthy body free
from toxins, but no number of green smoothies or expensive teas will
cleanse your body of toxins.
Does the Body Need Cleansing? The Basics
Heavy metals tend to enter the body through tainted water or
low-quality food sources. They are found in high concentration in
poorly-farmed fish, but can be found in almost any poor-quality food
item. Lead poisoning has many potential sources:
Plant foods grown in high-lead soil
Old lead-based paints
Poor quality water supply
Game that has been shot with Lead bullets
Interacting with lead in a professional capacity (e.g. factory
worker)
Poor-quality toys and trinkets that use lead
There are many ways to interact with lead in your day-to-day life,
which is part of what makes it such a persistent and worrying health
concern. However, lead poisoning is not the only heavy metal that
you may want to cleanse from your body. Similarly, mercury poisoning
has been associated with a diet high in poorly-farmed fish products
like sardines and tuna.
The real problem with defining the need for
cleansing the body of heavy metals is that you don’t often need
to. Heavy metals are not a specific category of dangerous food
compounds, rather they are examples of common nutrients you might
already know: minerals. Common minerals like chromium, zinc, and
even iron can be considered toxic in sufficient doses.
With health concerns like heavy metal toxicity, the key factor is
the dosage – any mineral sufficiently dosed can pose serious health
risks. This is why cleansing is so rarely a problem – the body is
prepared to deal with mild overdoses of these compounds and the
liver and kidneys provide a reliable filtration system. In rare
cases where heavy metal poisoning does occur, medical intervention
is often the best solution.
“Cleansing” Your Body of Heavy Metals
Even in cases of non-medical heavy metal dosage, there are some
benefits to improving your ability to reduce the content of certain
metals like iron, which can cause digestive problems when consumed
in excess. However, be sure that you’re not causing deficiency
deficiency in heavy metals is often more damaging than a mild
overdose.
While we’re generally skeptical of cleansing protocols, there are
legitimate ways that you can provide your body with nutritional
support for the removal of heavy metals. Compounds that aid in this
process are called chelating agents, and are often used in hospitals
for dealing with cases of lead and mercury poisoning.
Chelating agents are compounds that bind to heavy metals in the
digestive and circulatory system to remove these harmful metals from
the body. As mentioned above, synthetic chemicals can play an
important role in improving health and wellbeing chelating agents
tend to be synthetically produced but play an active role in the
reduction of genuine toxins within the body.
The problem with chelating agents is that they tend to excessively
reduce the circulating levels of important minerals such as iron and
zinc. As mentioned above, deficiency in these minerals is an easy
way to expose yourself to some unpleasant symptoms. Deficiency is
the greater concern for these elements than surplus or overdose.
Furthermore, many chelating agents are controlled substances. Whilst
you may be able to address an iron deficiency at home through
supplementation, you’d struggle to acquire an effective dose of
sophisticated chelating agents they’re simply not for sale.
Clearly, it is important to avoid excessive consumption of heavy
metals, but also important to avoid clinical-strength chelating
agents. Not only are these compounds difficult to find, you are
unlikely to need this strength and even less likely to be safe when
using them. For this reason, it is important to utilize
tried-and-tested methods of cleansing to improve your health and
wellbeing.
Cleansing that Actually Works (Dietary Guidelines)
There are many ways to improve the filtration of heavy metals from
your system. These tend to center around reinforcing existing
systems that filter these dangerous compounds from your system. This
includes diet, hydration, and supplementation.
Water is the best place to start when filtering heavy metals. The
liver and kidneys filter heavy metals through the urinary system to
clear the body. Drinking more water increases your ability to filter
these metals and increases the rate at which they leave the body. If
you’re looking to cleanse the body, this is central to the way that
cleansing really works.
Dietary fiber is another way that you can improve the
removal of heavy metals and other real toxins from the body. As
with water, dietary fiber contributes to the rate of binding and
removal of heavy metals from the digestive system. Dietary fiber is
the “bulk” that binds to water and other substances in the digestive
system, aiding in the removal during bowel movements. An increased
quantity of fiber in the diet means an increased net removal of
heavy metals, water, and other compounds.
Vitamins and minerals should be kept in an effective balance to
combat the excessive retention of heavy metals. Many minerals are
associated with the proper absorption and metabolism of others. For
example, deficiency in copper can cause poor iron metabolism which
is associated with an excessive concentration of iron in the wrong
parts of the body[4]. Improving your vitamin and mineral intake can
balance out these deficiencies and contribute to a healthier overall
environment within your body.
Plant foods like fruit and vegetables are nutrient-dense and contain
many vitamins and minerals relative to both their weight and calorie
content. They are also the only source for ‘phytonutrients’ a class
of nutrients similar to vitamins that have wide-ranging health
benefits. Phytonutrients play many roles in the body from general
anti-inflammatory to organ support, and they may even provide
benefits in the digestion and removal of heavy metals and other
harmful compounds from the body. A diet that is rich in unprocessed
plant foods like berries, dark green vegetables, and whole grains is
a great way to increase your health and wellbeing.
Certain supplements may contribute positively to this process.
Supplements that target specific mineral overdoses are rare, but the
best approach is boosting the natural function of the liver and
kidneys to ensure that they are managing your resting levels of
heavy metals. As mentioned above, a certain quantity of serum metals
is essential for proper health, wellbeing, and optimal function.
Boosting the health of these vital organs is a great way to ensure
that you are remaining at safe circulating levels of heavy metals
without causing essential mineral deficiency.
There are a number of supplements that can produce a positive effect
on these organs and their ability to cleanse your body of excessive
heavy metals. These supplements can provide a great addition to a
well-balanced diet, and have health benefits above and beyond
heavy-metal cleansing. Here are some examples:
Glutathione (especially through N-AcetylCysteine)
Milk thistle extract
Vitamin C
Vitamin D (especially D3 supplements)
Vitamin E
Summary: What Should You Do Now?
Cleansing your body of heavy metals is a delicate process you have
to find a balance between removing excess heavy metals and avoiding
deficiency in essential minerals. The best way to achieve this is to
boost the efficiency and function of the body’s natural filtering
processes. Improving your natural metal-cleansing organs, the
kidneys and liver, is a matter of improving your nutrition and
hydration. Certain supplements can also improve the natural
metabolism of these heavy metals or their removal from the body.
Chelating agents are another option when heavy metals need to be
removed rapidly. However, these medical-grade compounds are
difficult to acquire and can easily strip your body of essential
nutrients like iron and zinc. This is another example of how
“cleansing” heavy metals is only relevant for those who are
suffering from an advanced case of overdose or genuine heavy-metal
poisoning.