One of the core imbalances in which I work with patients is ridding their body of toxins. There are different types of toxins, some of them are are non-persistent, easier for the body to get rid of, and some of them are persistent, very hard for the body to get rid of. One of the most persistent groups of toxins out there are heavy metals like mercury, aluminum, cadmium, arsenic, and lead. You may be thinking that you don’t come in contact with these so you don’t have to worry, but unfortunately, since the industrial revolution, heavy metals have been pumped into our lives without us knowing.
Before we get into where we get exposure to heavy metals it is good to be aware of what symptoms can be associated with heavy metals. Since your liver has trouble getting heavy metals out of your body they tend to build-up in storage sites in the body. Storing toxins in fat is one of the only options so lots of heavy metals end up in your brain, which is made of mostly fat. Some symptoms of heavy metals in your body are fatigue, hypertension, memory loss, allergies, irritability, brain fog, weight gain, digestive problems, skin rashes, joint stiffness, balance issues, and immune dysfunction. These are the more common symptoms but know that heavy metals can cause many, many types of symptoms.
Unfortunately, heavy metals are everywhere in our environment and they are essentially unavoidable. Because some exposure is unavoidable it is important to reduce our exposure where we can. Some of the most common places we get exposed to heavy metals are:
-Cosmetics
-Mercury dental fillings
-Aluminum Cookware and Aluminum Foil
-Vaccines
-Cigarette smoke
-Pesticides and other chemicals sprayed on food
-Certain fish
-Poor quality supplements
-Deodorants
-Tap water
-The smoke from some factories
-High-Fructose Corn Syrup (found in many processed foods)
Many of us come into contact with these things on a daily basis so it is important to be detoxing from them all the time. This is done by ensuring that your body has the tools (nutrients) it needs to do this everyday. It is also important to avoid the things (like alcohol) that shut down the natural detox processes that need to be at their best. You can also make time for gentle detox therapies like infrared sauna and epsom salt baths. Are you getting the nutrients you need to detox heavy metals? At Balance Wellspace we can help you reduce your exposure to metals, up-regulate your detoxification to dislodge stored metals, and instill daily habits to keep your body kicking heavy metals to the curb.
Stay healthy out there!
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