Diet And Supplements To Help Heal Mercury Damaged Brain?

[Whichway?]

I've got mercury induced damage from having a large number of mercury amalgams for several years and then having them removed which probably gave me significant exposure. I have done hair tests and chelation with alpha lipoid acid which produces symptoms typical of mercury exposure.

I'm following the Andy Cutler low dose chelation protocol, but its been a very slow process for me due to my illness and my metabolism seems to be very "brittle". I'm not too bad within a certain window of stress and fatigue, but pushed even a little bit past that I crash badly.

I know this forum doesn't generally like supplements, and many of the naturopaths recommend high high doses of omega 3 oils for brain and body inflammation.

From a Peat point of view, how can I try to give myself the best diet and selected supplements to help with this issue?

 

[GutFeeling]

Ray recommend succinic acid, vitamin b1 and protein for heavy metal Detox. Taurine is probably very useful

 

[Constatine]

Chlorella seems to aid in mercury detoxification: The Long-Term Algae Extract (Chlorella and Fucus sp) and Aminosulphurate Supplementation Modulate SOD-1 Activity and Decrease Heavy Metals (Hg++, Sn) Levels in Patients with Long-Term Dental Titanium Implants and Amalgam Fillings Restorations

 

[Whichway?]

Chlorella seems to aid in mercury detoxification: The Long-Term Algae Extract (Chlorella and Fucus sp) and Aminosulphurate Supplementation Modulate SOD-1 Activity and Decrease Heavy Metals (Hg++, Sn) Levels in Patients with Long-Term Dental Titanium Implants and Amalgam Fillings Restorations

Its not so much the detoxification side of it. Moreso the repair and regeneration if that's possible of damaged cells and neurons. In a young person while they are growing these processes require a lot of energy and nutrients, and I assume it would be the case in older people like me who are having to repair a lot of cells or damaged proteins as the mercury is removed.

Many practitioners recommend a lot of omega 3s, but I want to stay away from that one. Not sure about other nutrients or whether a high dose multi vitamin and mineral might be useful in these cases?

 

[Constatine]

Lions mane mushroom is useful for brain repair, I'd start with that. There are an incredible amount of substances that increase neurogenesis. Even green tea potentiates the action of bdnf in the brain.
There is also drugs like the nootropic noopept which are pretty useful for recovering from brain damage. It also acts at least partially via increasing bdnf and ngf expression and it's effects seem to only increase over time. That said I wouldn't recommend such nootropics until you've tried somewhat safer approaches. Again lions mane would be my first recommendation.

 

[StephanF]

I would stay away from EDTA, there are reports that it could do more harm than good. I have a testimony from someone that had Parkinson symptoms after large dental work involving amalgam. Here is a DropBox link:

Dropbox - MY PARKINSON'S STORY.pdf - Simplify your life

Open cell chlorella is good, that is what I read. I used also a detox formula from Advanced Bionutritionals, they don’t offer that particular supplement anymore but maybe they have something similar. This helped me tremendously to clear up my brain fog a few years ago. Here is a picture of the back label. See attached. Selenium will bind with mercury and it is then no longer bioavailable. That a professor in nutrition told me. That is why ocean fish won’t suffer from mercury poisoning.

 

[Whichway?]

I would stay away from EDTA, there are reports that it could do more harm than good. I have a testimony from someone that had Parkinson symptoms after large dental work involving amalgam. Here is a DropBox link:

Dropbox - MY PARKINSON'S STORY.pdf - Simplify your life

Open cell chlorella is good, that is what I read. I used also a detox formula from Advanced Bionutritionals, they don’t offer that particular supplement anymore but maybe they have something similar. This helped me tremendously to clear up my brain fog a few years ago. Here is a picture of the back label. See attached. Selenium will bind with mercury and it is then no longer bioavailable. That a professor in nutrition told me. That is why ocean fish won’t suffer from mercury poisoning.

Thanks. Yes I know to stay away from EDTA. I’m only using alpha lipoic acid (ALA) and DMPS for mercury chelators. I am interested in Boyd Haley’s eramamide if it makes it through the human clinical trials successfully. However even if it successful and better at mopping up mercury than ALA is, you still have to heal the damage that mercury has done both going in, sitting around in your CNS (half life is estimated at 30+ years), and on its way out of your body.

 

[burtlancast]

You should have stayed away from Cutler's protocol, as he advises ALA and DMSA in the beginning of the treatment which can further increase brain content of mercury. ( do a searche here for Cutler and read the threads)

Chlorella is a marketing scam.

Vit C helps but doesn't get mercury out of the body.

DMPS is still the best treatment, with DMSA and ALA only at the end (after 1.5-2 years).

You can add iodine and magnesium which are known to increase excretion of heavy metals.

Selenium is good as it inactivates mercury, but the complex will then remain in the body.
Add Vitamin E which protects against the effects of mercury.

If you want to repair neuronal damage, add garlic which has been proven to protect neurons in all brain degenerative illnesses.

Stay away from fluoride in water and toothpaste.

 

[TeslaFan]

DMPS is pretty good, as long as you take it no more than 8 hours apart. It won't cross over BBB, which is a good thing in this case. Once DMPS-Hg conjugate gets captured by kidneys, it will be taken out in urine. DMPS will conjugate with some unbound Zinc, too, which is good, since free mineral ions, not hosted in enzymes, are generally bad.

Otherwise, increased protein, with B vitamins, is a good approach, since body will need extra.

Do yourself a favor and stay away from Chlorela, or any Sulfur in general. Unlike DMPS, these single sulfur compounds cannot hold Hg, but will move it. That makes a difference between getting better, or ending with a neurological condition later in life.

With Mercury, it is better to do nothing, than to do a wrong thing.

 

[burtlancast]

There are no animal studies showing garlic can improve mercury poisonning once it has occurred.

But neither are there studies showing it redistributes mercury to the brain.

In the meantime, it has been proved garlic raises glutathione levels, which mercury depletes. Glutathione protects against mercury toxicity in at least 4 different ways:

1. Binding to it and preventing it from causing damage to enzymes and cells [32]
2. Preventing mercury from entering the cell, where it does the most damage [32]
3. Helping transport and eliminate it from the body [31]. A study on rats poisoned with mercury suggested that glutathione is important for removing mercury via bile [33].
4. Serving as an antioxidant that may neutralize free radicals such as hydrogen peroxide and lipid peroxides that are produced by mercury [32].

Also, sulfur compounds from garlic have been shown to protect neurons in brain degenerative diseases, Parkinson included.

"Sulph-Hydryl group in garlic oxidizes mercury, cadmium, lead and makes them water soluble"

"Garlic at the higher dosage causes a decrease in mercury accumulation in the brain in animals treated with methyl mercury. This protective effect is
because of a smaller amount of mercury absorbed into the brain as a result of the increased excretion of mercury from the body by garlic.

The protective effect of garlic is probably caused by sulfur compounds combining with the heavy metals in the body and promoting excretion through bile to the feces. Studies have also shown that the absorption of garlic through the respiratory tract can limit the effect of lead (29)."

(Heavy metals detoxification: A review of herbal compounds for chelation therapy in heavy metals toxicity)

 

[GenericName86]

You should have stayed away from Cutler's protocol, as he advises ALA and DMSA in the beginning of the treatment which can further increase brain content of mercury. ( do a searche here for Cutler and read the threads)

Oh great, I've been using ALA (not consistently but on off) so I'm screwed.

 

[burtlancast]

Oh great, I've been using ALA (not consistently but on off) so I'm screwed.

You're not screwed since obviously you still have all your faculties and you're not afflicted with a degenerative illness.

You'll slowly improve over time with the right treatment.

People who really get screwed are those genetically unable to excrete well mercury, and who attempt amalgam removal without prealable DMPS chelation, which can be life-threatening.

 

[burtlancast]

More information about glutathione and mercury:

-Mercury lowers glutathione levels in the body:

As a result of the binding of mercury to glutathione and the subsequent elimination of intracellular glutathione, levels of reduced glutathione are lowered in several specific types of cells on exposure to all forms of mercury.
Glial cells,27 human erythrocytes,28 and mammalian renal tissue24 have all been found to have significantly lowered levels of reduced glutathione, a major source of oxidant protection.

Mercury, as well as cadmium, generates highly toxic hydroxyl radicals from the
breakdown of hydrogen peroxide, which further deplete glutathione stores.27

- Glutathione depletion leads to neurological damage:

There is evidence that glutathione depletion can lead to neurological damage; low levels of glutathione have been found in Parkinson’s disease and cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury.29

- Three roles of glutathione against mercury toxicity:

Glutathione, as both a carrier of mercury and an antioxidant, has three specific roles in protecting the body from mercury toxicity.

1. Inactivation by direct binding:
First, glutathione, specifically binding with methylmercury, forms a complex that prevents mercury from binding to cellular proteins and causing damage to both enzymes and tissue.30 Glutathione-mercury complexes also reduce intracellular damage by preventing mercury from entering tissue cells and becoming an intracellular toxin.

2. Elimination from the body:
Second, glutathione-mercury complexes have been found in the liver, kidney, and brain, and appear to be the primary form in which mercury is transported and eliminated from the body.24
The transport mechanism is unclear, but complexes of glutathione and mercury are the predominant form of mercury in both the bile and the urine.31

Glutathione and cysteine, acting as carriers of mercury, actually appear to control the rate of mercury efflux into bile; the rate of mercury secretion in bile appears to be independent of actual bile flow. When bile flow rate is increased or decreased, the content of mercury in the bile changes inversely so net mercury efflux from the liver remains unchanged.32
However, increasing bile levels of both glutathione and cysteine increases the biliary secretion of methylmercury in rats.13 Other studies have confirmed this data in animal models.33-35

Conversely, glutathione depletion inhibits biliary secretion of methylmercury in animal models and blocking glutathione production appears to shut down biliary release of mercury.35

Cells of the blood-brain barrier (brain capillary endothelial cells) release mercury in a glutathione complex. Inhibiting glutathione production in these cells inhibits their ability to release mercury. 23 Mercury accumulates in the central nervous system primarily in astrocytes, the cells that provide the first line of defense for the central nervous system against toxic compounds.36 Astrocytes are the first cells in brain tissue to encounter metals crossing the blood-brain barrier. They also contain high levels of metallothionein and glutathione, both carriers for heavy metals. It is hypothesized that astrocytes are the main depot of mercury in the brain.37
In studies with astrocytes, the addition of glutathione, glutathione stimulators, or glutathione precursors significantly enhances the release of mercury from these cells in a complex with glutathione. Fujiyama et al38 also suggest that conjugation with glutathione is the major pathway for mercury efflux from astrocytes.

Glutathione also increases mercury elimination from renal tissue. Studies in mammalian renal cells reveal glutathione is 50 percent as effective as the chelating agent DMSA (2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid) in preventing inorganic mercury accumulation in renal cells.39

3. Direct protection against the toxic effects (oxidation) of mercury
Third, glutathione increases the antioxidant capacity of the cell, providing a defense against hydrogen peroxide, singlet oxygen, hydroxyl radicals, and lipid peroxides produced by mercury.30
The addition of glutathione to cell cultures exposed to methylmercury also prevented the reduction of cellular levels of glutathione peroxidase, a crucial antioxidant enzyme necessary for protection against the damaging effects of lipid peroxidation.30

As an antioxidant, glutathione appears to protect against renal damage resulting from inorganic mercury toxicity. The co-incubation of rat renal cells with glutathione and inorganic mercury was significantly more protective of renal cell injury when compared to inorganic mercury exposure alone.40

Antioxidant levels – specifically glutathione, vitamin E, and ascorbic acid – are depleted in renal tissue exposed to mercuric chloride (inorganic mercury), and the addition of glutathione increased levels of both vitamin E and ascorbic acid in renal cells exposed to mercuric chloride.24

And lastly:
Mammalian cell lines resistant to mercury toxicity have been cloned.41 They do not readily accumulate mercury and are resistant to the toxic effects of methylmercury or inorganic mercury.

An outstanding characteristic of this cell line is that glutathione levels are five times greater in these cells than the parent cells from which they originated.
The authors of this study conclude that the mechanisms of resistance were primarily due to glutathione’s ability to facilitate mercury efflux from cells and the protective binding of mercury by glutathione to prevent cellular damage.


So, if i had mercury toxicity like you, i would do everything to boost my endogenous glutathione levels with garlic and other supplements.

(as opposed to direct glutathione supplementation)

 

[TeslaFan]

Oh great, I've been using ALA (not consistently but on off) so I'm screwed.

Andrew Cutler does not recommend ALA early, nor alone. Protocol is DMPS (ideally) or DMSA alone, for several months, then DMPS/DMSA + ALA, in the second stage, and each according to its half-life properties.

DMPS alone is the safest, but also only if taken orally according to its half-life properties. DMPS injections, for example, can turn you disabled due to redistribution of mercury.

 

[GenericName86]

Andrew Cutler does not recommend ALA early, nor alone. Protocol is DMPS (ideally) or DMSA alone, for several months, then DMPS/DMSA + ALA, in the second stage, and each according to its half-life properties.

DMPS alone is the safest, but also only if taken orally according to its half-life properties. DMPS injections, for example, can turn you disabled due to redistribution of mercury.

I had just heard about the general health benefits of ALA so started taking it but now I'm worried i've moved some mercury around, needless to say I've stopped taking it now. I was taking it with vitamin c as i read it helps to recycle it or something.

 

[Kram]

I recently read about intranasal NAD+ (there is evidence the NAD is bioavailable and reaches the hypothalamus and hippocampus and raises NAD levels) and intranasal insulin (The Benefits of Intranasal Insulin and How to Make It Legally at Home Without a Prescription – Lostfalco.com). Just some ideas.

 

[burtlancast]

Protocol is DMPS (ideally) or DMSA alone,

Cutler also claims provocation tests with DMPS for diagnosing amalgam poisoning are dangerous and have caused fatalities.

Without of course giving a single shred of evidence.

This is word for word the claims of Stephen Barrett and his infamous Quackwatch, for which Cutler was the un-official spokesman.

The reason being of course that should the DMPS provocation test be found reliable, it would open the flood gates for massive class action lawsuits by poisoned amalgam patients against the American dental association.

One can easily find scientific articles of DMPS provocation tests in children with dosages even higher Cutler claims are dangerous. I even posted some in earlier threads.

 

[burtlancast]

DMPS injections, for example, can turn you disabled due to redistribution of mercury.

There's no scientific studies backing up this claim, while there is articles proving it does not redistribute mercury to the brain in animals.

The same can't be said for DMSA, which Cutler advises to take upfront, and who's been proved to redistribute mercury to the brain in animals.

So, Cutler was not only working against the correct diagnosing of amalgam poisoning, he also needed to send poisoned folks down the wrong path with his DMSA and ALA.

He was the perfect embodiment of my signature down a few lines.

May he rot where he's lying now.

 

[TeslaFan]

There's no scientific studies backing up this claim, while there is articles proving it does not redistribute mercury to the brain in animals.

The same can't be said for DMSA, which Cutler advises to take upfront, and who's been proved to redistribute mercury to the brain in animals.

So, Cutler was not only working against the correct diagnosing of amalgam poisoning, he also needed to send poisoned folks down the wrong path with his DMSA and ALA.

He was the perfect embodiment of my signature down a few lines.

May he rot where he's lying now.

Wow, dude, take it easy. Not sure what Andy Curler did to you.

There are reports by injured patients... humans patients, from DMPS injections. Being Redirected ...

While, at the same time, countless reports from people getting better from Cutler's work.

Piece.

 

[burtlancast]

There are reports by injured patients... humans patients, from DMPS injections. Being Redirected ...

Dmpsbackfire.com...?

That's another derivative of Quackwatch, repeating almost word for word their stock of lies about DMPS and the DMPS challenge test.

Nobody takes them seriously.

They have their own anonymous patient report (which anyone can create and publish in a few days ) which screams BOGUS.

They even cite conman Klinghardt, big proponent of chlorella for mercury poisoning, as an authority.

Or even Dr Elmer Cranton, another unofficial spokesman for Quackwatch, who claimed

"Scientific research shows that once a source of excessive mercury exposure is eliminated, half of the remaining mercury in the body is excreted naturally in less than 3 months, with no treatment whatsoever. Even methyl mercury is naturally eliminated from the brain. Mercury is eliminated normally in urine, feces, hair, skin, sweat, bile, etc. One year after excessive exposure has been eliminated, 95 percent or more of the excess mercury is gone from the body with no specific treatment."

(Cranton should read autopsy reports of the brain of deceased dentists, where the mercury content was 60 times higher than the normal population: the half-life of mercury in the brain is 30 years)

When you start looking for published scientific reports of DMPS injuring patients, that's when you come up empty handed.