Heavy Metals in our Bodies | Heavy Metal Poisoning Symptoms And Signs | Causes Of Heavy Metal Poisoning | Diagnosis of Heavy Metal Poisoning | Heavy Metal Poisoning Treatment | Fasting to Detox Heavy Metals | Other Ways to Detox Heavy Metals | Heavy Metal Detox Diet Foods
Can you do a Heavy Metals Detox through fasting? Are you suffering from health problems to which you have not found the answers? Do you have symptoms like joint pain, fatigue, migraines, sluggishness, brain fog, anxiety and nervousness, insomnia, and poor memory? Do you find issues with bacteria and yeast overgrowth, skin eruptions, mood deregulation, and attention deficit? If you do, it may be a case of heavy metal toxicity.
We live in the modern age and are always exposed to toxins. There is a continuous onslaught of harmful chemicals from mundane daily things like plastics, air, high-potency industrial cleaning agents, etc. Added to these are the thousands of new chemicals that make their way into our homes and workplaces daily. If you are experiencing any of the above symptoms, it could indicate that a particular kind of toxin or heavy metals are to blame.
Heavy metal toxicity is one of the greatest medical threats we face. This arises from metals like aluminum, copper, mercury, lead, cadmium, arsenic, and nickel. While toxicity from heavy metals is a common happening in these times, its diagnosis is not simple. Heavy metals maintain an elusive presence in our bodies and do not reveal themselves easily. We are exposed to them daily from multiple sources, like metal cookware, aluminum foil, batteries, old paint, and even the food we eat.
If you are looking for a safe and natural way of heavy metals detox, Intermittent fasting may just be the thing you need. Detox fasting is an effective way to flush toxins from the body and improve brain function, energy levels, and overall well-being. In this article, we’ll explore heavy metals fasting and consider other methods to determine the most effective.
Which Heavy Metals are Present in our Bodies, and What is Their Function?
Heavy metals are present in our bodies in trace amounts naturally. Metals like chromium, cobalt, iron, molybdenum, copper, manganese, magnesium, nickel, selenium, and zinc are required by our bodies to perform specific biochemical and physiological functions. Not being present in the right amounts can lead to many deficiency diseases and syndromes. These would require intervention by a healthcare professional and treatment along with medications. However, when these heavy metals are present, it also leads to undesirable symptoms that must be diagnosed and treated.
What Are The Symptoms And Signs Of Heavy Metal Poisoning?
The symptoms of heavy metal poisoning will depend on the kind of metal causing the toxicity. The time length of the symptoms will also depend on what type of metal it is. For example, with lead and arsenic poisoning, symptoms will not appear for 2–8 weeks, while cadmium poisoning will show symptoms within a few hours of exposure.
Symptoms of heavy metal poisoning (acute) may include the following:
- Confusion
- Numbness
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Coma
These symptoms arise if you have been exposed to an excessive amount of heavy metal all at once. For long-term (chronic) exposure to heavy metals, the symptoms may include the following:
- Headache
- Weakness
- Tiredness
- Muscle pain
- Joint pain
- Constipation
Causes Of Heavy Metal Poisoning
There are many causes of heavy metal poisoning. Some of the most pertinent ones include the following reasons:
- Food containers and cookware that are improperly coated
- Ingesting paints that are lead-based paints
- Ingestion of herbicides, pesticides, and insecticides
- Food
- Medicines
- Industrial exposure
- Air and water pollution
Diagnosis of Heavy Metal Poisoning
If you are in the doctor’s office with a suspected case of heavy metal poisoning, your doctor will order one or more of the following tests to diagnose the condition accurately:
- Liver Function Test
- Kidney Function Test
- Blood smear and complete blood count
- Urine test
- Electrocardiogram or EKG
The symptoms and signs of exposure will help the doctor decide whether to order the tests. The most tested metals are mercury, lead, arsenic, cadmium, and chromium.
Treatment Options For Heavy Metal Poisoning
If you are suffering from an acute case of heavy metal poisoning, you will, in all likelihood, be treated with some agents called chelating agents. When injected into your blood, these agents bind to the heavy metal and are excreted through urine. Doctors use penicillamine, dimercaprol, and calcium disodium as common chelating agents.
Chelating agents are only used if there is an acute heavy metal poisoning case. This is because these agents also deplete essential minerals like iron from your body. Another downside of chelating is that the chelating agent also enters the blood and travels to the brain.
Other treatment options for heavy metal toxicity include stomach pumping to remove metals, oral administration of activated charcoal, hemodialysis in the case of kidney failure, and intravenous fluid administration (IV).
How to do a Heavy Metals detox through fasting
When we undergo the process of detoxification, toxins in the body are neutralized and eliminated from the liver, kidneys, colon, lymph nodes, lungs, and skin. The practice of fasting precipitates this process because when there is no fresh ingestion of food, your body gets a chance to cleanse itself of the toxins clouding it.
Fasting, especially intermittent fasting on a long-term basis, can be an effective way of detoxifying your body from the harmful presence of too many heavy metals. Exposure of humans to pesticides and heavy metals is not usually monitored.
However, a study measured exposure to cobalt, arsenic, chromium, lead, mercury, and nickel before and after a fast. In the report, nickel levels in the urine decreased by 15%, and arsenic levels in the urine decreased by 72% during the ten days. Additionally, only cobalt and chromium traces were detected before the fasting period. Glyphosate, a component of pesticides, was found in some subjects before but not after fasting.
In addition, there was an analysis of hair samples to detect pollutants. In the 22 subjects where this testing was done, lead levels decreased by 30% during fasting. Heavy metal toxicity symptoms like hunger, bodily discomfort, fatigue, and disturbances in sleep decreased significantly after ten days of fasting.
Another study was carried out on healthy male subjects aged 25-28 while fasting during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan to demonstrate the effects of fasting on heavy metal presence in the body. The study found significantly lower levels of chromium, aluminum, mercury, manganese, and cobalt after the test subjects fasted for 14 and 28 days. There was also a much–reduced blood lead level after 28 days of fasting. However, there was no significant reduction in copper and cadmium levels after the fast. Again, after the fast was concluded, the hair sample analyses showed a significant decrease in mercury, lead, cadmium, manganese, and aluminum.
From the above-concluded studies, we can see a correlation between intermittent fasting and heavy metal detox. Now, there are many types of intermittent fasting methods to try out. You could start with a simple 5/2 diet plan where you eat normally for five days of the week and consume food within 500-600 calories on the remaining two nonconsecutive days. If that feels easy, consider a 16/8 daily fast, where you abstain from food for 16 hours a day and only eat in the remaining 8-hour window. Once you are comfortable with this, you may want to try an alternate-day fast, where you only eat on alternate days.
Ensure you are comfortable with the fasting hours and gradually ease into the routine. It may be difficult at first, but remember the benefits your body is getting from naturally detoxifying harmful levels of heavy metals! Stick to your diet, and you will benefit from eliminating heavy metals from your body.
Here we outline the 10 types of intermittent fasting: the best schedule for you.
Other Ways to Combat Heavy Metal Toxicity
Here are some other things you can do besides heavy metal fasting that will help you eliminate heavy metals from your body.
Limit Fish Intake
Fish, particularly those that live for a long time, tend to accumulate mercury in their bodies. Tuna and swordfish have high mercury levels. Because reducing the amount of metal you ingest through food is an important part of heavy metal detox, you may want to limit or eliminate this option from your diet.
Dental Fillings
If you have silver-colored fillings, chances are they are made from an amalgam of mercury. Consider asking your dentist to replace them with resin fillings in tooth color.
Get Mercury-Free Vaccine Shots
Some shots, like flu shots, contain a mercury-based preservative called thimerosal. Remember to ask for an injection that does not have this preservative; these are easily available.
Avoid Pollution
Air and water pollution are significant sources of harmful and toxic heavy metals. Protect yourself from polluted environs and only drink filtered water.
Stay Away From Old Paint
The paint had lead in it until recent times. If you are working in an old structure, there are strong chances that you will be exposed to lead paint, so be careful of these places and see a doctor if you fear lead poisoning.
Consume Cilantro
Cilantro or coriander, has been proven to be a natural cleanser. Get a small amount of fresh cilantro and have it each day for a few weeks. It will cleanse your body of toxic heavy metals naturally.
Foods to Have While on a Heavy Metal Detox Diet
Here is a list of foods you should have when practicing a heavy metal detox.
- Cilantro
- Garlic
- Wild blueberries
- Lemon water
- Spirulina
- Chlorella
- Powdered juice of barley grass
- Curry
- Tomatoes
- Green tea
- Probiotics
These foods will naturally cleanse your body of heavy metals and make your detox period smooth. Avoid foods like brown rice, large fish, alcohol, and non-organic food.
Conclusion
I personally have done several heavy metal detoxes, and even removed my old metal fillings in my teeth to remove the toxins from my body. Heavy metal toxicity can have terrible effects on your body, and the fish we eat and other environmental toxins can build up in your body over time. I feel great since detoxing!
Heavy metals detox through fasting is an amazing method to help the detox process. By abstaining from food for a certain period, the body can use its energy to focus on eliminating toxins like heavy metals. Fasting has also been shown to increase the activity of certain detoxifying enzymes in the body, which may aid in removing heavy metal toxins.
It is important to note that fasting should be done under the guidance of healthcare professionals, as it can have potential risks and side effects, especially for certain individuals. It is also worthwhile to consider other methods for heavy metal detox, like chelation therapy and consuming a diet high in antioxidants.
I recommend starting here to learn more about these types of fasting which are the MOST popular, starting with 16/8 Fasting, click on these guides below to learn more:
16/8 Fasting Guide, 14/10 Fasting Guide, 18/6 Fasting Guide, One Meal a Day Guide.
Also need help fasting? Check out these Top 6 Fasting Mobile Apps we recommend to help you on your journey.
