These days, it is becoming common knowledge that toxins and pollutants are the root cause of many illnesses. There are the mutant babies in Iraq following use of Depleted Uranium in US bullets and shells in the first Gulf War, there are many examples of health challenges from such sites as Union Carbide in India, and in the US the EPA has maps showing Cancer clusters in areas for certain industries.
Many of us are wondering if we have dangerous toxins in our bodies and what we can do about it. Now, of course your Health Professional may tell you it is nothing to worry about, that the only reason chronic disease is increasing is because of an aging population. That would be fine except that the major concern is in our children. In Australia 20% of children at some time visit their Doctor with Asthma, one third will have diabetes or pre-diabetes, there are even signs of atherosclerosis in very young children, the first signs of future heart disease.
Removing toxins is often a difficult and painful process. There are the inevitable colon cleansers which remove rubbish from the bowel. These are really great, and work wonderfully, even though many Doctors say they are unnecessary. For heavy metals there are chelators such as EDTA and DMSA which specifically target certain metals. Unfortunately these also attack vitamins and minerals in the body and can, like most medications, be dangerous with long term use. This would be fine, except it often takes a long time to eliminate heavy metals such as Mercury and Lead.
Every Naturopath has their collection of herbs for elimination. There are many types, and they are of varying effectiveness. These are more like the colon cleansers.
Eastern Medicine has been using a volcanic mineral called zeolite for many years. There is a particular Zeolite called clinoptilolite which has a small particle size and safely removes heavy metals while leaving vital vitamin and mineral levels alone. Recently, a new technology was developed to activate Zeolite. The mineral is a cage like structure and when the cage is cleaned of impurities, it has a high affinity for removing toxins and heavy metals from the body.
So back to testing. If you are concerned about toxins in your body, there are a few ways you can find out for sure.
- Blood Tests. This is an on the spot reading of heavy metals in the bloodstream. It is fairly inaccurate as blood changes constantly.
- Hair Analysis. This is the most accurate way to tell levels of toxins and heavy metals. For some toxins the tests are very expensive, but a good hair analysis can be done in Australia for just $130AUS.
- Urine Analysis. By far the cheapest way to detect Heavy Metals, a simple kit is available that provides 8 Urine Tests plus 10 PH testers. This costs under $40AUS and measures heavy metal excretion. It does not show how much you have in your body and once the Urine Test shows clear, a Hair Analysis will give a more accurate picture.
As we said earlier, Zeolites would seem to be the most promising development in many years for removing dangerous toxins and heavy metals. So, if your testing shows the presence of Heavy Metals or Toxins, you might wish to try some Zeolite and then retest. Over time, you will see the difference.