Monday, February 9, 2009

Heavy Metal I Can't Rock Out To

Two weeks ago I took a comprehensive hair analysis test to check for minerals which includes 9 heavy metals which are toxic - so I am all hyped up to talk about the results. This is the third hair analysis I have given my lovely locks to, each time I waited about one or two years in between - cause otherwise I would have to shave my head or look like a scraggly victim of the hair bandit! The Mineral Check Hair Analysis is really easy to do if you have someone to help you cut the hair close to your scalp but it takes a "heaping tablespoon" of hair to tip the little scale, meaning your hair may be a wee bit thinned when it's all over.

The pic above are my recent results... in all three tests I have had done since 2005 my "good" minerals always were in check (yay!), but the heavy metals played musical chairs on me. Ones associated with fire retardants on bedding etc. all got alot lower for me over the years because I switched to organic everything in my home & fridge. But by the second test I suddenly had out of range high levels of arsenic. I traced this back to the use of Ume Plums Seeds that I was recommended to crack from the pit & eat by a Chinese medicine doctor: DO NOT EAT THE SEEDS of fruits, they contain poisons because nature wants to reproduce rather then be eaten.
(NOTE TO CHINESE MED DOCTOR): *WTF???*
The third hair test (most recent) I had even worse levels of arsenic and now mercury in out of range levels too!

I would like to say that before having these heavy metals in my system I did not have the severe Multiple Chemical Sensitivities that I do now, nor did I have the convulsive seizures and level of fatigue. I investigated possible places I could have continued to get arsenic poisoning from and found out that the bottled water (Fiji) I used to brush my teeth, drink and cook with contained measurable levels of arsenic.
(NOTE TO FIJI): *Not cool Fiji, I understand ya'll want to keep the true minerals in your volcanic bottled water & you rock for not UV filtering your goods, but come on Fiji, put a filter on there for the poison please! We might enjoy head banging to Metallica but drinking it in your water makes me want to bang my head on the wall!*

So what's girl to do when she's got heavy metals she can't rock out to? How do we avoid toxins in our air, water and food - and why don't doctors in the US get with the program and take notice that these pollution problems are causing people adverse health problems. I can not imagine all the people that have heavy metals, plastics, aldehydes and other chemicals in their bodies that are causing the migrating pains, cancer, allergies, diabetes, seizures, migraines and gawd knows what else.
I am most certain that my mercury levels spiked from eating fish these last 2 years and I find it highly disappointing that humans have caused so much pollution in our oceans that to eat a natural and healthy diet comes with hazards that can ruin your quality of health. Wake up government! Wake up big pharma! Wake up medical system! And wake up chem industries!!! Do you like to lay sleeping so that you can make money off the ailments we now have due to your blind eye?

How do we come in contact with these metals?

Arsenic: "Arsenic is a very toxic substance that is found in food, water and household items. Tobacco smoke, laundry detergent, bone meal, sea food, beer and even drinking water are a few of the items arsenic can be consumed from. If you work in a job that produces any kind of pesticide, agricultural insecticide or spraying of any of these, you are at risk of arsenic poisoning. Other jobs that are at risk are copper smelting, mining, sheep dipping and metallurgical industries. Continued exposure to arsenic builds up in the system and there is an accumulated effect."

Mercury: Fish, dental fillings, batteries, light bulbs, thermometers, vaccines, landfills.

Bismuth: "Bismuth poisoning occurs primarily from the ingestion of bismuth chelate, particularly by the increasing numbers of colostomy patients."

Antimony: "Batteries, antifriction alloys, small arms, buckshot, and tracer, ammunition, cable sheathing, matches, medicines, antiprotozoan drugs, plumbing soldering, - some "lead-free" solders contain 5% Sb, main and big-end bearings, in internal combustion engines (as alloy), used in the past to treat Schistosomiasis; today Praziquantel is universally used used in type metal, e.g. for linotype printing machines, used in pewter." It is used in fire proof clothing, toys and other household products.

Aluminum: "Over the counter medications, buffered aspirin- people with arthritis could possibly take up to 700 mg of this metal each day, digestive aides such as diarrhea and hemorrhoid medicine, hygiene aids such as antiperspirants and douches, food that has been cooked or stored in aluminum pots and aluminum foil is another source, stainless steel cookware has been used for a short period of time aluminum traces begin to enter the food, there are six aluminum salts that have been approved as food additives in the United States- the salts most commonly used are sodium aluminum phosphates. They are added to cake mixes, frozen dough, pancake mixes, self-rising flours, processed cheese and cheese foods and beer (in aluminum cans), an average sized pickle contains 5 to 10 mg if it has been treated in an alum solution which is commonly done."

These are just a few examples of how these metals creep into our lives, bodies and our health. The companies that add these metals to our products will argue the point that little amounts are not harmful, and this is absolutely true. But they don't take into account that we are being bombarded everyday with products, food and water that all contain a variety of little amounts of toxic heavy metals - while at the same time not educating the public about the danger of using these products all together. Your body is equipped to filter out some metals but many are accumulative and are very difficult to safely remove through the body, making it a precarious health hazard once they are already in. Some metals do not belong in our body on any level, such as Antimony & Lead which I have in a tiny amount in my system - yet in nature I would never have come in contact with these poisons. Other metals such as nickel and arsenic are expected to be found in small amounts since they always have occurred in the natural environment, including many food and water sources.

So here is the dilemma - once I have this information in my hand that I have heavy metal levels that are out of range, what choices do I have to get them out of my body in order to resume a life free of seizures and with alot less of many other symptoms which make the quality of my life suck.
1. I cut out the fiji.
2. I am taking some homeopathic detoxifier stuff.
3. I am starting amino acid pills to chelate the metals out.
4. Fill in the blank here- cause I don't really know what to do......

xoxo

7 comments:

  1. Leslie, This is a great way to post a heavy topic! I haven't done the hair analysis test yet, and now that I've read your post it inspires me to consider it ... perhaps when I'm in the zone for getting more information. YOu know the zone has to be in sync with the plan life has. Your approach gives a girl some 'what to do now' stuff, and that is something to rock out to.

    Mahalo, Mokihana

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  2. A few years ago I heard from a chemist that antimony is released from upholstery textiles and fleece fabric clothing that is made from recycled pop bottles.

    He made the point that recycling materials that were not designed to be recycled could have un-anticipated harmful consequences.

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  3. Mokihana -
    Depending on what types of symptoms you have, getting a hair anaylsis can be really helpful. I personally like doing at home tests and sending them into the labs, rather then having to go to the doctor's office. Thanks for your enthusiasm!!!

    Linda-
    I heard that Antimony is used as a fire retardant in a bunch of stuff like that also - including children's toys! That is pretty gross, considering the latest studies about how sick it's made firemen from being in thier uniforms. I dont sell anything at my store that is made of recycled bottles - I had the opportunity of getting sample fabrics like that and I didnt like them at all.

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  4. Wow. I never thought about having the hair checked. It makes perfect sense, too. I'm going to get this done. I hope they can test alien hair, it'll be interesting to see what's in there and why it weirded out my hair after MCS. My guess it's got lots of Cleveland sulfur and a bunch of drywall chemicals.

    I just moved from Cleveland to Madison, fleece clothing capitol of the world. God hates me...

    Sodium aluminum phosphate is used in just about every frozen food that has breading. It's almost unbelievable how much is out there, in the very food people eat. And it's only used because it's cheap.

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  5. Hey Lou Cheese...
    You know my hair color had changed after getting the aresenic poisoning, it turned jet black for a while and is just now beginning to turn back to it's old color which is a dark red brown.
    It is really crazy what the companies put in our food, and then when people get sick from it with depression and mood swings they give them some pharma drugs, and then when those drugs make them overweight or get kidney problems, the give them some more drugs and offered stomach surgery, and then when that causes them pain they give them some pain killers---- etc....
    My whole thing is, i want to avoid any type of drug train they'd love to put me on and just get this crap out of my body.
    oh NOTE TO FOOD INDUSTRY & THE FDA: *Stop doing that! it's gross!*

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  6. It is sad you have to be so careful about everything these days, like what type of fish you eat. There are several lists, one put out by the FDA even!, that list the fish with the highest mercury/other heavy metals, and which ones are safe.

    I can not find one now, but worth googling. Tuna of any kind is horrible, as are most large predators (that accumulation bit, eating all the mercury from the smaller fish gives them very high amounts) as is almost anything you can catch yourself (not sure about that, maybe it is because they are closer to the source?) Alaskan salmon is the only one I can remember, but then, I don't eat fish any more because of the protein!

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  7. Hey Meg!
    I know the fish thing is very disapointing. I have only been eating fish for 2 years- prior to that I had not eaten any seafood for about 13 years.
    I only two types of fish, the wild alaskan salmon and farm raised catfish that is raised here locally and very pure.
    Mercury is one of the elements very hard to test with hair, it migrates and is not usually deposited in hair as much. I could have had high levels during the other tests but it doesnt always show up in this type of analysis. I did eat tons of seafood growing up in New Orleans, used alot of toxic paints containing heavy metals as an artist, and then had my mercury dental fillings removed when i was around 25 years old.

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