Why detoxing heavy metals is so important

person Leigh Matheson

Why is everyone talking about heavy metals and detoxing?

Environmental toxins are everywhere! From the well known heavy metals like mercury, to the not so known toxins like fluoride (yep, your toothpaste!), they wreak havoc on our gut and brain and most importantly, we can’t avoid them! ADHD, Autism, degenerative brain diseases like Alzheimer’s, fatigue, autoimmune issues, digestion issues and bloating, can all be linked to environmental toxins and heavy metals.

Before scaring you with all the reasons we should be avoiding these heavy metals and toxins at all costs, it is important to establish that these tiny molecules are unavoidable. Instead of staying away from them at all costs, we need to understand where the easy wins are, the big needle movers you really SHOULD be avoiding, and what you can do to offset the damage of the toxins you will inevitably be exposed to.

Should we be worried about environmental toxins?

The reason these chemical toxins and heavy metals are so dangerous is they take a long time to feel the effects. Highly toxic heavy metals like arsenic and mercury are high on everyone’s radar because if you are exposed to a toxic dose of those, you won’t survive very long. But what about the lesser known, slower acting toxins that are pumped into our food and slipped into our daily routines under the guise of being safe. What the safety tests often miss are the long term impact of these substances causing chaos for your gut and brain. The food ingredients, that could more accurately be described as chemicals, you’ll see on that back of labels as emulsifiers or maltodextrin; Well these toxins serve as food for disease causing bacteria like H. pylori or yeast (we shouldn’t blame the bacteria, they are just doing their job in the wrong place). And it is not just gut bacteria, pleomorphic bacteria tasked with cleaning up the harmful acids inside your cells (commonly know as parasites) also feed on these toxins and can grow out of control to become a problem.

It’s not just chemicals, heavy metals we’re more commonly exposed to like lead or aluminium can build up in the brain to block neurotransmitters and can lead to ADHD, autism and depression. In your gut, these metals can destroy your gut microbiome, cause leaky gut and malabsorption issues

Where are environmental toxins?

Toxins and heavy metals aren’t hard to find. There is no surprise that using lots of aluminium foil can increase your exposure to aluminium. But there are also lots of big culprits hiding in plain site, simple things you can swap out from your routine that can move a massive difference to living a low tox lifestyle:

Food

Chicken

Chicken feed typically contains mycotoxins that can seriously impact your immune system and defence against cell mutations. It also contains ingredients designed to spike the chicken estrogen levels to grow faster. They are also routinely fed antibiotics to survive the dirty conditions. And even worse, cheaper caged chickens are also often fed other chickens enhancing the biomagnification effect. So if you eat chicken, try and buy organic, not just free range.

Fruit and Vegetables

Always wash your fruit and vegetables, especially those that do not have thick skin. They often retain harmful chemicals from pesticides. When you think pesticides are a precise chemical concoction optimised for killing bugs, you can imagine how continuous consumption of these chemicals can wreak havoc on your body. You can add baking soda or vinegar to help reduce the bacteria and pesticides on your produce.

Fish

Fish is also a high risk area for mercury. That’s because our excessive mining practices and coal burning have contaminated our oceans. This waste is absorbed into the water and ultimately the food our fish eat. Worse yet, due to a process called biomagnification, it’s a problem that will get worse with each generation of fish. To reduce your exposure, choose wild caught Salmon or Tuna, these fish also have lower exposure than fish higher up the food chain like swordfish.

Cleaning products

Deodorant

This one is super important because you use deodorant everyday and directly apply it into a major lymphatic gland, which is your bodies natural defence system. If you buy a standard deodorant for around £3 from the supermarket, you are probably spraying, benzene, aluminium, parabens, phthalates directly into your armpits. Swap the aerosol out for a natural deodorant and you’ll stop polluting and blocking the glands that’s supposed to flush the toxins out.

Laundry detergent

Your skin is your largest organ, so the clothes you wear are very important. Your standard high street laundry detergent has you wearing a coat of formaldehyde, surfactants, petrochemicals, DEA and fragrance. Fragrance sounds nice but it’s a nasty umbrella term that can mean thousands of different chemicals. Fortunately there are now completely natural laundry detergents to help avoid these chemicals.

Microplastics

You’ve probably heard lots about microplastics, how they are damaging our oceans, but they are also damaging our bodies. They disrupt our hormonal system and can reduce fertility. The main culprit here would be to stop heating food in plastic and switch your containers to glass.

Inherited Heavy Metals

This one is annoyingly hard to avoid, but the same way heavy metals build up the food chain, they also increase in concentration through generations. So if your great grandfather was a coal miner, its likely the heavy metals they absorbed, have been passed down to you. The good news is the techniques below can help to offset that and reduce the concentration of those heavy metals.

Does the 3 day juice detox really work?

So what can we do to detoxify our bodies? Are 3 day cleanses where you spend 90% of your time on the toilet followed by a week long strict vegan diet effective? Well the answer is, for those that can get through it, they are effective in cleansing the colon and flushing the body of waste. But just as if you were to only take your bins out once every 6 months, you would still have a rubbish problem. Most toxins typically are not hanging around in your digestive tract waiting to be flushed, typically they hide in your nervous system and organs. A routine that comprehensively brings these toxins out of hiding first is the foundation for a better long term solution.

The other problem is that a super restrictive diet does not suit everyone, and is not particularly sustainable for most people. Of course the cleaner your diet the better, but create a mindset aiming for balance. Rather than beating yourself up for a moment of indulgence, it is better to have a protocol you can use to offset the damage from that meal. For that reason, a continuous approach that helps forms a low tox lifestyle is the sustainable way forward.

Incorporating the advice in the next section helps to create a routine that stops more toxins from coming in, seeks out the toxins that are hiding inside you and constantly flushes out the toxins on a daily basis.

The lifestyle changes that make a difference

The holistic approach to low-toxing your routine means addressing food, exercise and mindset. Here are things you can incorporate into your routine to make a sustainable impact:

Detoxing Herbs

Shilajit

Shilajit is a herbo mineral resin contains fulvic acid which is a powerful antioxidant to detox heavy metals from the brain.

Celery juice

Celery juice has a very high H302 content and contains sodium cluster sales to diffuse the charge of heavy metals, making them easier flush out.

Zeolite

Zeolite is a natural mineral that contains clinoptilolite which reduces the build up of plaque and binds to heavy metals readying them for elimination

Full Spectrum Seamoss

Seamoss contains 92 minerals and prebiotics to help restore the gut microbiome and chelate heavy metals from the digestive tract.

Black seed oil

Black seed oil helps to reverse the impact of oxidised stress all over the body. It contains a powerful antioxidant called thymoquinone which offsets the oxidative stress caused by pollutions and toxins.

You can combine three of these herbs in our Gaia’s Detox bundle for a complete protocol to detox the gut and brain safe for everyday use.

Grounding

Being in contact with the earth, walking barefoot on grass, swimming in the sea, even hugging a tree has a powerful detoxing effect. As well as removing free radicals, lowering stress, and reducing inflammation, grounding helps to activate the lymphatic and glymphatic system to help flush toxins out of your system. If you live in a flat or somewhere where walking barefoot is difficult, you can also try purchasing a grounding mat or blanket.

Deep Breathing

Deep breathing, including the breathing techniques made famous by Wim Hof, is another great tool you can use to help detox. Two rounds of 20 deep breaths is enough to cause vasodilation, enhancing blood flow and again activate the lymphatic and glymphatic system to help drain those toxins once they’ve been bound to and release by the herbs.

Whenever a health trend goes viral, that’s the time to be weary and do your research. You’ll be shocked at how powerful the advice above can be and the benefits stretch far beyond just detoxing toxins.

We accept we cannot avoid toxins altogether, but we can take a stand and make the switches away from the mainstream products and status quo to stop adding all of the extra nasty toxins into our daily routine.

Reference Sources

https://www.medicalmedium.com/blog/heavy-metal-detox

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6025252/

How Not To Die by Michael Greger, 2016

Ultra-Processed People by Chris van Tulleken, 2024