This Heavy Metal Can Rob You of Your Memory or
Even Kill You ... And It’s Easy to Remove
You’ve probably heard about the dangers of heavy metal toxicity. It can contribute to cancer, neuropathies, and literally dozens of other serious health problems. But to me, the most disturbing consequences of heavy metals are their effects on the brain.
Previously, sound scientific studies have linked them to learning disabilities and neurological problems in young children. Then researchers connected various heavy metals with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s in adults.
Now, several new studies indicate that one heavy metal in particular can seriously impair cognition — and even lead to death — particularly in older women. This heavy metal is lead. As an older woman myself, these studies caught my attention.
Lead affects your brain
These studies show very clearly that the higher the quantities of lead in your body, the faster your memory is likely to decline. One study in particular assessed lead levels in a group of women between the ages of 47 and 74. The researchers found that loss of cognition was greater in women who had been exposed to lead over the years, than in women with recent exposure.
How did they figure this out?
Blood tests and hair mineral analysis can detect recent exposure to lead. Blood tests are more accurate than hair analysis, but either will give you an idea of whether or not you have lead toxicity. The authors of this report examined lead in bone tissue. This is a more accurate test to determine lead levels accumulated over time, although it isn’t practical for most of us. But lead doesn’t just affect your brain.
Lead affects your heart
High levels of lead in your body can affect your heart so adversely that it can be lethal. One study followed over 500 women between the ages of 65 and 87. The researchers found that those women with blood levels of lead higher than 8 mcg/dL were three times more likely to die of heart disease. Notice that these women were all over the age of 65. This is important.
Why older women?
You can’t escape lead. Although the government banned it as a paint additive in 1978, old chipped or sanded painted surfaces may still contain lead. And many plumbing materials, including water pipes and solder, used to contain lead. So older homes may have a lot of lead around that can get into your body.
In addition, lead from these products as well as batteries, car radiators, and some colored inks makes its way into our landfills and eventually pollutes our waterways, soil, and air.
The longer you’re exposed to lead, the more of a problem it poses to your health. If you’re over the age of 60, you’ve been exposed to more lead over the years than someone younger. Although they’ve removed it from these and other products, they haven’t removed it from the environment.
And once lead gets into your body, it’s there to stay — unless you use chelation therapy to bind it to another substance and pull it out. Unfortunately, some forms of chelation don’t work as well as others.
The best oral chelator, based on scientific studies, is modified citrus pectin (MCP). I wrote a small book on the subject, Modified Citrus Pectin.
Since I wrote this book, a small Chinese study supported MCP’s ability to detoxify lead. Researchers gave a group of children with lead levels higher than 20 mcg/dL 15 grams of MCP a day for four weeks. All of the children had a significant decrease in their blood lead levels. The MPC used in this and other studies was PectaSol. Since the size and weight of MCP’s molecules are critical to its ability to detoxify heavy metals, this is the only oral chelator I use and recommend.
PectaSol products for removing heavy metals have become more effective than before. PectaSol Chelation Complex (PCC) is a relatively new product that contains both MCP and sodium alginate — a substance found in seaweed known to remove heavy metals. PectaSol works in the circulatory system, while sodium alginate works in the intestines.
Any detoxification program should begin with PCC for at least three months to start removing heavy metals, pesticides, and other toxins. Then you can add PectaSol Detox Complete (PDC), a gentle chelation formula with sulfur amino acids and detoxifying herbs that binds to heavy metals in organs.
By taking both of these formulas, you can remove deeply embedded toxins without stirring them up and causing other tissues to absorb them.
Lead is a dangerous heavy metal that can rob you of your memory and ability to think. Its link to chronic heart disease may also explain why so many women get heart disease. Removing lead and other heavy metals with MCP can be a slow, effective way to improve your health. Especially if you’re over the age of 60.
Author:By Dr. Fuchs
[Ed Note: Dr. Nan K. Fuchs co-founded one of the first holistic health centers in the United States in 1976. She is the author of eight books, including The Nutrition Detective and Modified Citrus Pectin: A Super Nutraceutical. Dr. Fuchs has also appeared on more than 100 television and radio programs, where she advises listeners on nutrition, supplements and herbs, and other popular health topics.]
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