Are Heavy Metal Detoxes A Scam?

[ThazMYchocolate]

Excellent. Have you considered trying coffee enemas? Many swear by them and feel that they are unparalleled when it comes to clearing up the liver. I recently talked to someone who had cured their CFS with four daily enemas, milk thistle and ALA.

No, as I do not tolerate even normal amounts of caffeine, I cannot imagine what that might do. ALA sounds doable, I have tried it a few months back and I didn't have a problem there.

 

[TheSir]

No, as I do not tolerate even normal amounts of caffeine, I cannot imagine what that might do. ALA sounds doable, I have tried it a few months back and I didn't have a problem there.

Sadly I have the same issue. It's less of the manic high of oral coffee, but there is still some caffeine entering your bloodstream. Feels great initially, but then follows the insomnia and the next day hangover.

 

[ecstatichamster]

Are you referring to chelation? Yes, I agree, chelation stirs up heavy metals and they can get redeposited in sensitive areas like the brain. I have found high dose thiamine hcl to be safe and very helpful.

There are several schools of thought on the subject. I decided to follow Dr. Costantini's protocol (thiamine hcl, high dose) instead of Dr. Lonsdale/Dr. Marrs/Elliot Overton's favorite, TTFD.

Dr. Peat told me through emails that the brain can be exposed to high levels of heavy metals when you stir things up, and it isn't worth it.

I don't know what this has to do with thiamine though.

 

[mostlylurking]

Dr. Peat told me through emails that the brain can be exposed to high levels of heavy metals when you stir things up, and it isn't worth it.

I don't know what this has to do with thiamine though.

I think he was referring to chelation via things like EDTA.

Lead poisoning is very serious; it is neurotoxic. If you've got it, the oxidative stress will shorten your life. I've found that thiamine hcl has been enormously helpful and I have never experienced any negative issues from it in the two years that I have taken high dose thiamine hcl.

The therapeutic potential of thiamine for treatment of experimentally induced subacute lead poisoning in sheep - Comparative Clinical Pathology

Lead poisoning remains a serious problem in veterinary and human medicine. A number of lead chelators have been used for treatment of lead intoxication, but none of them is completely effective to remove lead from all organs. Therefore, alternatives for the treatment of lead poisoning are...

link.springer.com

"Within 1 day following treatment, in the treated group, blood lead level (mean 243.5 μg/l) was significantly (P < 0.05) lower than that in group 1 (mean, 518.16 μg/l). Thiamine treatment significantly reduced ovary lead content. A significant reduction of serum zinc concentration was also observed in thiamine treated animals. These results suggest that thiamine might have some therapeutic effects on lead poisoning, but the zinc status of depletion should be considered during long periods of treatment."
This article does point out that a zinc deficiency can result so I suspect that supplementing zinc might be something to consider. But zinc supplementation can cause other issues (with copper, for example) so I think care should be exercised.

Decreased thiamine and magnesium levels in the potentiation of the neurotoxicity of lead in occupational lead exposure - Biological Trace Element Research

The relationship between blood lead (Pb) and serum levels of calcium and of neural nutrients such as thiamine and magnesium (Mg) has been determined in a Nigerian population that is occupationally exposed to Pb. Forty-seven male Pb workers were recruited as test subjects and 25 males unexposed...

link.springer.com

"This study has shown that relatively low BPb levels can enhance Pb absorption and also potentiate Pb neurotoxicity in the presence of decreased serum thiamine and Mg levels."

Thiamin (vitamin B1) effects on lead intoxication and deposition of lead in tissues: Therapeutic potential

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of thiamin on lead (Pb) poisoning in cattle. Fifteen Holstein male calves were divided into thre…

www.sciencedirect.com

"Thus, thiamin appeared to have no protective effect on the ability of Pb to inhibit this enzyme. But in the tissues analyzed, thiamin interacted with Pb in some way to prevent tissue accumulation, thus preventing clinical signs and death. These results suggest that therapeutic doses of thiamin may be of value in the prevention and treatment of Pb poisoning in cattle, and in other animals or humans exposed to high environmental levels of Pb."

Evaluation of edetate and thiamine for treatment of experimentally induced environmental lead poisoning in cattle - PubMed

Twenty mature Holstein cows were randomized into 5 treatment groups. Cows of groups 2 to 5 were given 2 mg of elemental Pb/kg of body weight for 28 days. Clinical signs of plumbism were scored, and blood for Pb, progesterone, and hematologic analyses was collected weekly. Cows also were examined...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

"Thiamine was not effective in reducing blood Pb concentration, and treatment with Na2,Ca-EDTA and thiamine plus Na2,Ca-EDTA was effective in reducing the concentration of Pb in blood. However, treatment with thiamine was more effective than treatment with Na2,Ca-EDTA or thiamine plus Na2,Ca-EDTA in inducing remission of clinical signs of plumbism."

 

[Hidden49]

Trying to increase the body's level of glutathione is tricky. However, thiamine hcl supplementation can/does increase glutathione levels. TTFD thiamine, however, uses glutathione in its chemical process so it depletes glutathione. TTFD thiamine made me feel horrible; thiamine hcl resolved my symptoms and normalized my glutathione level (blood testing). I've been taking high dose thiamine hcl for 2 years and have resolved most of my health issues.

Nice TTFD also made me feel horrible but using thiamine hcl works very well for me like it does for you

 

[ThazMYchocolate]

@Hidden49 how exactly did it make you feel?

 

[Hidden49]

Heavy metal detoxes are not a scam, but you can potentially end up with new issues that you didn’t have before from starting chelation therapies. Eg: heavy metals can be pulled out from deep inside the tissues (these deep ones probably wouldn’t have been causing any issues before), but now they’re out, they are now causing you new issues that you didn’t have before.

Also chelation therapy depletes essential minerals so you really need to make sure you have good potassium, mag, calcium, sodium, zinc copper, selenium,molybdenum levels first otherwise it can be a disaster.

Pectasol is probably the safest binder as it doesn’t deplete essential minerals and also contains some potassium and sodium itself.

Edit just read your post again properly; glutathione, saunas and massages are not likely to cause any issues like I mentioned at the start, it’s just serious chelators like EDTA, bentonite, DSMO that can possibly cause these issues.

 

[Hidden49]

@Hidden49 how exactly did it make you feel?

Just more energy, atp increase, more dopamine , better bile flow. I like using it with mag Malate

 

[ThazMYchocolate]

@Hidden49 oh, I am sorry I wasn't being clear, how did the TTFD make you feel, I am curious because I haven't noticed anything crazy

 

[Hidden49]

@Hidden49 oh, I am sorry I wasn't being clear, how did the TTFD make you feel, I am curious because I haven't noticed anything crazy

Oh it just made me feel terrible like liver pain, autistic symptoms, brain fog, fast pulse, pale face.

But it probably was a paradoxical reaction which people commonly get with TTFD. Taking selenium, Sam-E did help with some of the symptoms I got from it.

 

[Santosh]

The only two effective and safe heavy metal chelators are ALA and OSR, the latter being the only permanent binder that doesn't need to be taken according to its half life.

Anything else is either a fad or only slightly effective.
Coffee enemas and saunas definitely help along the process, but they don't chelate metals.

 

[Thyrochondrion]

What kind of symptoms did you experience?
To answer your question, the safest and most effective way of detoxing metals is based on keeping the organs of elimination clean and increasing adaptive metabolic energy (or commonly put, health). Then the body will begin to rid itself of metals and other toxins. This can take years, however. But it's the only way to remove meaningful amounts of metals from the deep tissue. In the meanwhile they will be incompletely surrogating minerals in various metabolic processes and thus decreasing the overall functioning of your body in insidious ways.

Things like IR heat therapy apparently speed up the process greatly. Lawrence Wilson had off the chart levels of aluminium, lead, cadmium etc in his hair for a few months straight when he was blasting his body with IR for 30 min a day. He was needing two hours less sleep by the end of it and was experiencing much stabler energy levels. I can send you his book about the subject if you're interested.

Can you send me the book?