You may be familiar with Heavy Metals from the context of lead poisoning in children. But did you know there are many others, and that exposure could be through pollution, food, dental fillings and cosmetics??
In this episode of the Midlife Mommas, Cam and Amelia explain what heavy metals are, what vital organ systems they affect, how to get tested for them, and the detox protocol that Cam is undergoing right now!
If you've ever eaten fish, ever used cosmetics with pigment, or have any dental fillings, you'll want to listen to this one. Oh wait, that's EVERYBODY!
This isn't meant to scare you. We aren't alarmists. But it is intended to inform you about the dangers of heavy metal exposure and explain how to detox from them.
00:00 Movie plot about legal assistant uncovering poisoning.
04:21 Research found acceptable heavy metal levels; serious health risks.
08:40 Various symptoms may indicate chronic toxicity buildup.
12:55 Special urine collection and chelating pill test.
13:30 Chelating removes heavy metals for detoxification.
19:35 Concern about potential exposure to heavy metals.
22:41 Yesterdays' activities: walking, sauna, detox tips.
25:00 Regularly consult a functional medicine provider for esoteric tests.
26:34 Guaranteed to find someone for listening today.
Stay Connected!
Amelia
Cam
Midlife Mommas IG: https://www.instagram.com/midlife.mommas/
Please share, rate, and review the podcast. We appreciate you! ❤️
You may be familiar with Heavy Metals from the context of lead poisoning in children. But did you know there are many others, and that exposure could be through pollution, food, dental fillings and cosmetics??
In this episode of the Midlife Mommas, Cam and Amelia explain what heavy metals are, what vital organ systems they affect, how to get tested for them, and the detox protocol that Cam is undergoing right now!
If you've ever eaten fish, ever used cosmetics with pigment, or have any dental fillings, you'll want to listen to this one. Oh wait, that's EVERYBODY!
This isn't meant to scare you. We aren't alarmists. But it is intended to inform you about the dangers of heavy metal exposure and explain how to detox from them.
00:00 Movie plot about legal assistant uncovering poisoning.
04:21 Research found acceptable heavy metal levels; serious health risks.
08:40 Various symptoms may indicate chronic toxicity buildup.
12:55 Special urine collection and chelating pill test.
13:30 Chelating removes heavy metals for detoxification.
19:35 Concern about potential exposure to heavy metals.
22:41 Yesterdays' activities: walking, sauna, detox tips.
25:00 Regularly consult a functional medicine provider for esoteric tests.
26:34 Guaranteed to find someone for listening today.
Stay Connected!
Amelia
Cam
Midlife Mommas IG: https://www.instagram.com/midlife.mommas/
Please share, rate, and review the podcast. We appreciate you! ❤️
Cam, are we talking about heavy metal music today? We're taking you back. We're gonna talk about heavy metals in our body. I love it. Let's do it. Hi. I'm Cam, Holistic health coach, mom to 2 humans and 4 pets. Hi. I'm Amelia, laboratory scientist by day and food scientist by night. Welcome to our show. Join us as we share our holistic approach to life after 50. You can expect real life stories with a dash of humor and a ton of truth. If it happens in midlife, we're going to talk about it. So hit that subscribe button and follow along. We're the Midlife Mommas. Hi. Welcome back to the podcast. We are gonna talk about a heavy metal detox Today, what in the heck? Why are heavy metals in our bodies, and why should we get them out? Yeah. Absolutely. I just thought it was great that Cam suggested we do our intro. We always try to do Something fun with heavy metal music, and we're kind of teenagers from the eighties. So, yeah, it went right up there. That's not my genre typically, But I am very interested to hear about heavy metal detox. Yeah. So what in the world are heavy metals? Why don't you tell us, miss Yeah. Absolutely. So heavy metals are, defined as metals or metalloids With high densities. And what does that mean? It's just basically like what the atomic weight is, but you will know them because these are familiar words, in the vernacular or whatever in casual culture, lead, nickel, chromium, mercury, Cadmium, thallium, or a metalloid such as arsenic. And arsenic, we know is poison. So all of these things in large amounts can be quite toxic to our bodies. Yeah. So let's talk about Erin, Brokovich for a minute. What was her story? Yeah. So I don't know if any of our listeners have seen the movie, but I've seen the movie with Julia Roberts. It's quite old now, but that movie was around, an attorney. Well, actually, I don't think she was an attorney to start Erin Brockovich, but she was hired on as a legal assistant to an attorney. And it turns out that a whole lot of people that lived around a, I wanna say, a power plant ended up getting cancer. And there were lots of different kinds of cancers. I think there may have been some birth defects involved. And just all of these weird symptoms that nobody really they couldn't Colate into one thing and it was trivalent chromium poisoning. And so anyway, if you haven't watched that movie, I think it's from the nineties. After you listen to this episode, go back because this is some nasty crap to get to to leave in your body. Yeah. Absolutely. So that's what that is. So now how in the world did it get in our bodies? So there's lots of sources for heavy metal, but most common you would hear about is fish. So I do know the larger the fish, the more contaminated the fish may be. And as a food a former tuna eater a lot, so that's a that's definitely a source of, let's say, mercury because it's a bigger fish. And sea bass is another one. Trying to think of some other ones that are big like that. Yeah. Absolutely. So these these, heavy metals get trapped in the bodies of these fish, through pollution. And then when you eat their body, it basically transfers to you. And so I just wanna kinda go back for a quick second. I know this isn't, You know, maybe not interesting to everybody, but heavy metals can do a lot of damage to the cells in your body, to the individual cells. It can cause the membranes to be damaged. It can cause the DNA to be damaged, and the DNA is your genetic material. And it can disrupt protein function and inhibit enzymatic pathway. So we've talked on the podcast before about the chemical messengers in your body, the hormones. So it sounds to me like heavy metals can disrupt almost every bodily function in your body. Yeah. And I always think about brain. I always feel like when I hear about heavy metals or, like, lead poisoning in kids, you know, kids, it's always related to the brain part, so I'm sure that that's involved in what you just said too. Oh, yeah. Absolutely. Because in the research I did, the just A side note, the World Health Organization actually publishes yearly, the acceptable levels of these heavy metals, But they can the heavy metals can disrupt all your systems, your gastrointestinal, your respiratory, your cardiovascular, Reproductive. That movie actually, I think, talked about some women who had miscarriages, but neurologic. And so, also, you know, obviously, your brain is part of your neurology. So I think, you know, there's some some super bad stuff, Cam, but, yeah, you know, having impaired brain function, none of us won't die. No. No. I know. Is it is it menopause or is it heavy metals? Like, what is it? Right. Yeah. Let's eliminate the risk of heavy menopause. But, You know, there's some other places we can find heavy metals besides fish. Right? Oh, yeah. So now your dental fillings. So I I was married to a dentist for 20 years, and they use mercury as one of the in the silver fillings. That's one of the ingredients. So, yeah, that's 1. And then food, like your vegetables, especially if they've been, sprayed with any kind of pesticides. So lettuce, spinach, rice, eggs, Any food like that that's been sprayed, that's another source of heavy metal. Yeah. And you might not know. Right? So, you know, I mean, there's been such a big push to, for vegetables to be pesticide free or whatever, but you really don't know. So we really should be washing our food, which we already know. But there's also contaminants in in in the environment, and these are pollutants that we might not know about. So, this is a really serious concern for a lot of Some of it we can prevent exposure and some of it it's gonna be pretty tough to detect. Right. So water is another source, so filtered water is important. And even then, you know, I lived in old houses for many years. Mhmm. We did have reverse osmosis in some of the houses, but not in all the houses. So what are the pipes made out of? What is that doing to your water? What are you drinking? Who knows? Yeah. Absolutely. And you'd mentioned lead poisoning in, in kids' Cam, that was most of the time from pain. So if you live in an older home that has layers and layers of paint, That might be a source of contamination. So, yeah, there's just it's almost limitless the number of places where you can be, affected by this, but you have to do the best you can. One that I found really interesting interested is some pigments include pigments in cosmetics contaminated with heavy metals. So be very careful. I know you are, Cam. You only, you're you're great about what you put on your skin, but we have to remember that it's just what we put in our bodies, but what what we put on our skin, their skin is our largest organ so that's a risk as well. Yeah. And I I read about the cosmetics, and I do scan most of my things just trying to clean it up. But this is a new new habit. Like, not what about the other, You know, 45 years before, you know, but the coloring in the cosmetics is what I read about. I don't know if you came across that research too. Yeah. I sure did. And the and the last one is really interesting. I didn't have a whole lot of information beyond they the it said electronic devices can actually Calls I Are we eating them? What are we doing? I'm not sure about that. I'm not sure about that. I didn't go delve deep into it. I guess I was just kinda Florida, the number of places where we could be exposed to heavy metals. Yeah. And so we're gonna get into the protocol because I'm actually on a heavy metal detox at the moment. One of the supplements I'm taking that by my natural path doctor gave me was a fiber. And I read the fiber label today, and guess what it says on there? What? Warning. This may contain lead. And I was like, are you kidding? Oh my gosh. You know how California has extra labeling on their products? Have you ever noticed that? Well, I would encourage you to read the label a little bit closer because my fiber that I'm taking from my natural path for this heavy me metal detox Might have lead in it. I was like, what is happening here? Yeah. That's pretty crazy. I I yeah. I don't even know what I I I don't even know what to say about that either. I was like, what is happening? So yeah. So we've talked about the sources. So what are some of the symptoms? Like, how do you, you know, what What how does this show up in your body? Right. So there are a lot, and some of them can be indicative of lots of things wrong. So the ones I found were Abdominal pain, diarrhea. This one was really interesting to me, scratchy or itchy throat or or weakness. And so, you know, I think I I still I keep going back to that Erin Brockovich movie because it the symptoms were so diverse, and of course these people We're in acute toxicity. Like, they had been exposed, I say acute. Maybe it was more chronic and it was just an accumulation Gen of the chromium toxicity, but, you know, that's the way this happened is these heavy metals build up in your body, hence, you need the detox. So Some of the symptoms may be a little bit nebulous and it may not be obvious that there's something really wrong here. Interesting. And so also included, like, Abnormal heartbeat, I've had that before, but that's also a sign of menopause. So, like, you know, anemia is interesting. I have several clients right now that working with low iron. So that's interesting. Memory loss, that's what I remember, memory loss. You know, you always hear about kids and lead poisoning. And when you buy a house, They always have you sign off on the disclosure whether there's lead pain in the house or not. And I feel like that was in the seventies. Do you know if that's Drew, I think I was like, some zombies. And before. And also, kidney and liver damage. So I think if we think about this in Terms of just like your your example with the fish cam, these heavy metals will accumulate in your body, in your organs, and cause them to stop functioning. So your heart, your brain, your liver, your kidney, all of which we need for life, if we have large deposits accumulating over time of these heavy metals, they stop working right. Yeah. That's not good. It's not good. Not good. Yeah. So my personal story is, like, how in the world did I even get here? I had an extended blood test done by my functional med And there was 1 it was a cardiac. Like, it was expanded. It it had the thyroid, but it was an expanded heart that I've never done before. And there's a test called TMAO. We wanna do you know anything about that test? I don't. I don't. I'm not familiar with that one. Okay. So that particular test is a way to, assess, like, heart attack and stroke risk. Okay. And it came back yellow. So on this test, it was like, you know, green, you're good to go, yellow, and then red. So it was yellow. So we had a little conversation. She said, I'm not too worried about this. You know, this could be high because maybe you ate fish before you took the test. It was a blood test. Okay. And then we started talking, and, I have a history of not eating meat and then only eating fish for many, many, many, many years. And then I was also married to a dentist for 20 years, so who knows if I was contaminated with the mercury from the fillings. I I don't know. Okay. So, anyway, those things combined. She's like, well, because of your history, let's, you know, go ahead and do this this expanded, The heavy metal test. Yeah. It's So the way this went down Hold on. Let me just interject real quick. I did a quick look, And this this came from Cleveland Clinic. This is That's where it's from. Yeah. Trimethylene N oxide, And it's a metabolite derived from gut bacteria, can powerfully predict future risk of heart attack, stroke, and death in patients who appear to be otherwise healthy. So apparently, this is kind of a new test. This was published, was published back in 2015. And it goes into a whole lot of things that are not gonna be interesting to to our listeners, but I will probably go back and read this with my science nerdiness. But it does sound like it's something relatively new in the last 10 years. So glad to know it's out there. Yeah. The the test was amazing. It was called the Cleveland Heart Lab, and it was an expanded blood test. Yeah. And it had all kinds of markers. It was really neat. Also, it did the size of your particles and your cholesterol and Oh, yeah. Yeah. So that was really exciting too to get all that data. But this particular test came back yellow. She's you know, after a conversation, we decided to move on. So I wanted to tell you a little bit about the test, and I I don't know if there's other tests, but this is what I did. So it's a urine it's a urine test. So that means they're going to test the urine for heavy metals. So there's a pretest. So you collect your urine without taking these special pills, and that's your pretest. And then you take these pills, and it's Something called DMSA, which is a compounded pill I had to get from the compounded pharmacy. And what this pill does is it chelates your cells. So it pulls the heavy metals out of your cells, and then you basically pee it out. So then you collect your urine for 6 more hours, And then you have a post test. So you have pretest, what was in your urine before, and then these pills, what did it pull out? And so we have a before and after, if you will. Right. In just one day. Yeah. Uh-huh. That is super interesting. And you you mentioned this. This is a word that, you know, again, science geeks like me and like to Chelating is literally what you said. So it provides a substrate or a substance for these heavy metals to attach too. So once it pulls the heavy metals out of the cells, the stuff in the pill actually binds to the heavy metal so that you can then excrete it. And that's really common form of detox, I think. There's other types of detox that have the very similar effects where it pulls something out, binds to it, and then you excrete it either in poop or urine. That's generally the way it works. Or sweat. In this case, sweat is another Yeah. Yeah. Another thing. And the interesting thing about it, you can also there's charcoal that also so she prescribed this. But the thing about it that I'm finding challenging is Timing your meals, timing your other supplements because it's pulling all things out. And so so the way it works is the protocol I'm doing 2 rounds of the protocol. I'm 3 days on and 11 days off. And the 3 days on, I'm taking up to 9 of these DMSA pills throughout the day between my meals. And then the other part of the protocol includes includes a lot of glutathione and vitamin c to support my immune system while this is happening because I mean, I kinda feel like it's violent. I don't know if that's true or not, but it is violent. It feels it sounds like it would be. Now I always take glutathione, but I've never taken this much glutathione, and I really honestly take vitamin c sometimes in the winter. So Right. So I'm taking things that I'm not normally Taking. And then in the morning, there's a breakfast shake that has different vitamins in it, and then this fiber that might have lead in it is part of the morning protocol Because making sure you go to the bathroom is super important. So you're pulling the stuff out. You need to make sure it leaves. Mhmm. Absolutely. So how have you felt? Like, has it made you Made you feel nauseated or tired or anything like that? There was one day I felt nauseous for a minute. I feel really tired. Well, today, I feel tired. The last 2 days, I've been tired. There was one day I felt amazing. I was like, this is amazing. I'm so great. But I just feel really inflamed, And I feel puffy. Okay. And I have and I have thyroid. So, like, for example, I think I've shared the story when I tried to do a fast with my husband. I don't know if it was a 1 or 2 day fast, and I, like, literally was bloated, and I was like, this is horrible. That's kinda how I feel. Now I'm eating, but that's what my body does under on under stress. It bloats out. So I feel really bloated. The scale's gone up a couple pounds, which makes no sense because I'm I feel like I'm eating less actually Right now, it's just it's tie timing meals is interesting. So, yeah, that's what's going on. I feel a little spacey. Oh, I I can understand that. So go back to the feeling inflamed. Are there other symptoms besides feeling bloated? Like, what what does it mean to feel inflamed? I just feel puffy. Like, I can see it in the mirror. Like, my face feels puffy. I just feel a little puffy. It it reminds me of when I Go out to eat a lot. Oh, yeah. And I get inflammatory oils at the restaurant. That's how I feel. Or it reminds me of the time I fasted with my husband, which I will never do again. So it just feels like that. And I know it's temporary. Like I said, I'm going through 2 cycles. So I've done the 3 days of the pills. So now I'm in the 11 day off cycle. And during the off cycle, I'm doing, like, still vitamin c, still glutathione, and then there was this mineral supplement. So I think, like, she's just trying to, like, replace whatever whatever she's pulled out in the 3 days. So So that's what's going on. Did your doctor tell you to expect anything? Did she tell you that you might feel this way or give you any, like, I don't know. I know in there's, like, a 3 page protocol. And one of the pages talked about some people have a response on the 3rd day When the mercury starts to move on the 3rd day of taking these compounded pills, and maybe rashes, and I did not experience that. So And I would say the 4th day, so the day after I stopped taking the pills, I thought felt amazing. But now the last 2 days, I'm just really Tired. So I don't know what's going on. I'm just experiencing it all. That is really wild. I had another oh, Are you peeing and pooping more than you normally would? I would say the pee is more and the poop is not always the more. So I'm I gotta keep the fiber going. I know. This is very interesting. Were there any foods that they said even on your off days that you cannot have? Yeah. I'm fish free for a month. Oh. So Okay. Alright. But other than that, any plant foods that you're not allowed to have? Everything's fine. So no fish oils. Some my skin feels really dry. That's another weird thing that I've noticed. So maybe that's why I'm inflamed because I'm not taking the omega threes. It could be a combo. Yeah. So no omega threes and no fish for a month, so makes me sad. And so tell me again where you are on this and how much more you have to go. I feel like I'm on day number 7 or 8, and I have, like, 30. So I've got a week to go. Yeah. You definitely have a way to go. So you've already done one of the 3 day pill thing, And now you're in the off, and then you've got to do another set of the 3 day pill thing and then another set of the off. Yes. So this is a, emerging story. Let's see what's happening. Awesome. And then do you have to do the urine test again once you complete the regimen? So my science brain says that, but when my heavy menopause came back, they were in the yellow, from the heavy metal test. And so she's like, I don't know if we need The retesting. Oh, I see. So I so she's being kind with my pocketbook, but I would also like to be curious, Like, did it work? Like, what's happening? Something's happening. Yeah. And what about did she say this should be an annual test? Like, should people do this every year or every 6 months or every 5 years, anything like that? I can't imagine Going every 6 months, and she did not mention that. I will make sure when I have a follow-up appointment what's next because I could see that we're exposed to it, and we we probably all have it in our in our system, but mine maybe was elevated enough for her to act. Now when I went to get the supplements from the place. The lady that was helping me, she had to go through 5 cycles of this heavy metal detox. So I feel gracious that mine's only 2 cycles. Yeah. Wow. Wow. So, basically, the number of cycles that you have to go through depends on the results of the test. Sounds like it. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Just say, like, I feel like I'm missing nutrients. That's how I would describe it. I feel inflamed, and I feel like I'm not getting the nutrients that I normally get. That's how I feel. Well well, do you think that you're missing things because of the Timing of foods and you're not eating enough, or do you think that the agents, those pills that have the chelating agent is pulling the nutrients out? I feel like it was being pulled out, and I think the 11 days is to rebuild yourself before you go back in for another 3 days. That's my That's my impression. That's not science is my And how about your workouts? Are you're are you doing the same amount of workout that you did before? Yeah. I'm still strength training twice a day. We're gonna go for a walk this afternoon. I am doing more sauna because, infrared sauna is one of the The ways to get it out of your body, so I'm getting in there and sweating it all out as much as I can. Yeah. I actually went to the sauna yesterday for the first time because I don't have 1 in my home. I have to go to a a business, and it felt so good. And sometimes it doesn't feel as warm, but yesterday, it felt the Perfect temperature and I was just soaking it in. It was amazing. So and, you know, I've heard and maybe you can verify this that if you go into the infrared sauna Regularly, you begin to sweat faster than if you just do it periodically because I don't sweat immediately. Yeah. Okay. I'm really interested. I don't know. Sometimes I work out, and then I get in there, and sometimes I'll turn it on and heat, like, heat up with it, or sometimes it'll be on and it's hot. So I haven't really tested that. That's interesting. But I I'm sweating a lot. Well, this lady who used to, be the manager of this business where I go, I said something to her. I was like I think it was after the 1st or 2nd time I had been. I was like, you know, I really didn't sweat until the very end. It was very little. And she was like, oh, well, your body has to get used to it by the time you come regularly, and she didn't give me a time frame. She's like, yeah. You'll basically open the door, and Once you sit down and start sweating. But that just never happened to me. But then again, I only go that I can go months without going at all. Right now, I'm trying to go at least once a week. But I think the sauna is great and not just for detoxing for heavy metals, but for detoxing other things as well. Totally. And also it's like a healthy stress and It actually is similar to a cardio workout. So if you don't wanna do cardio, just head to the sauna and get your heart rate up that way. So yesterday, all I did all I did, I walked. I mean, it wasn't totally vigorous, but, I mean, you know, it was a walk. And so, yeah, I went to I went to the to the sauna and really enjoyed that. I mean, now that we're talking about detox, we got a few minutes left. You know, there's other ways you can detox. I mean, clearly, if you if you wanna detox from alcohol, you can stop drinking and increase your water. And I actually have heard that beets are really good at detoxing your liver, and so I try to especially because it's beet season, and I'm a food person. So I literally ate beets last night more because I love them, but there's some things like I love a roasted, dandelion root Tea, which is also purported to have detox effects. So there's lots of things you can do to detox your body even if you Don't have the resources at the moment to go through the whole heavy metal detox thing. A 100%. And another one I would add on there for your liver is a castor oil pack on your liver, which is Yes. Super affordable. That's amazing. And I did do that one day this week because I'm intuitively, I'm like, I need this. So I'll probably be more diligent about it this upcoming week, using the castor oil pack on my liver overnight. So Helps you go to the bathroom too. That's a real that's a really good one because your liver to a large extent and your kidneys to a lesser extent are your detox organs besides your skin, but, I mean, like those internal things. So yeah. So that's a great I had forgotten about that. We've done, like, whole episode on that Before not maybe not on castor oil the whole FSA, but we've mentioned it several times. Yeah. I go through cycles where I use it often. I just Intuitively, yes or no. Is it right for me right now? And I I I feel like it is right now. I need extra love there. But beets is another way to love on your liver and dandelion tea. Those are great. It's those are great suggestions for sure. Yeah. Absolutely. Is there anything else you can think of that we need to discuss about heavy metals specifically or less specifically about detox? You know, I just would be curious if you feel like something's off. I would follow that thread and ask questions and do research, but I won't go don't go around the rabbit hole of Google. Like, don't do that to yourself. But if you feel like something's off, then find someone you can talk to for sure. That's what I would say. Absolutely. And we can't plug this enough. We do it all the time. You know, a functional medicine provider in your area, someone that actually is tuned in To these, I'll say esoteric test only because they're not super common. It's not that they're out there weird. It's just that your normal general might not be looking, especially in an asymptomatic person for these things to be to be tested. But it's important because I think in the long run, you're gonna the better off for it. I took this my case to my, functional medicine or my functional nutrition group, And the group said the 2 guys that lead the group, they're like, yeah. A regular doctor would not do anything about this. Oh, okay. And so, Yeah. Very common. They wouldn't even know to test it, actually. So, anyway, it was just something that came up yellow on a on a different kind of test, and we're Just following the thread. So we'll see where it leads me. I love it. And I love you know, for our listeners, we bring you all sorts of Things that you may or may not have heard of or, hopefully, we're giving you information that you maybe you've heard about something and we can provide some insight. But Cam, you're you're our living breathing example. Like you're actually like the guinea pig for this thing, so we know what to expect. What do you say? Be an experiment of 1? Yes. Exactly. So you are doing it for us, and we really appreciate it. So we can't wait to find out After the whole month, we'll have to even if we don't do a whole episode, we'll actually update the audience to say, you know, this is what happened because I think it's really cool. I just hope my brain works better. That would just be amazing if my brain works better. Well, if that happens, I guarantee you, All of our listeners are gonna run out and find somebody to prescribe for listening today. You can find us on Instagram@midlife.mommas All of our other contact info, check out the show description below, And we will talk to you next week.