Ask the Experts: What are some of the best ways to avoid heavy metals?
Heavy metals are all around us. In air pollution, in our water supply, and even in some of our foods. It can be hard to completely avoid heavy metals but we have some tips on what you can do to reduce the amount going into your body.
Water, we need it to survive. Water is used for many things such as cooking, cleaning, drinking, and washing our clothes and ourselves. It is normal for metals to be in our drinking supply because they occur naturally during geological formations. When it rains outside that rain passes through rocks, and dissolves tiny qualities of metal into our water. This water usually finds a larger body of water that is used as a resource for drinking water and essentially poisons that water supply. Of course, our water supplies are monitored for metals but the EPA allows up to a limited amount of metals such as lead, chromium, and arsenic. These trace amounts of heavy metals may not affect everyone, but for the 40% of the population with an MTHFR mutation, those heavy metals can make a big difference.
Reduced ability to detoxify.
If you are one of the 40% with an MTHFR mutation then you know that you have a deficiency in your methylation cycle. Your methylation cycle is slower, resulting in the rest of your body’s processes being neglected due to a lack of nutrients that weren’t created as a result of your poor methylation. The methylation cycle relies on specific B Vitamins to run efficiently. Increasing your intake of these B Vitamins, either through diet or supplementation can help improve methylation. Click here to learn more about improving methylation.
The methylation cycle affects many things, and one of them is the speed of your body’s ability to detoxify. Without the ability to properly detoxify, toxins will build up in your system creating inflammation and causing discomfort. Therefore if you drink tap water with a trace amount of heavy metals in it, that trace amount will be stuck in your system and start a buildup.
The EPA has a complete list of the amounts of metals allowed in their systems which you can find here.
What is the solution?
· Drink filtered water
· Avoid tap water
· Avoid plastic water bottles
Air pollutants are harder to avoid but one trick is keeping your windows rolled up in the car when you are in big cities or areas with heavy air pollutants. Avoid foods with heavy metals. Rice has been known to contain arsenic because of its ability to highly absorb water (which contains trace amounts of arsenic) as it’s growing. Fish have also been known to contain heavy metals, the FDA has a complete list of the best fish to eat and which to avoid that can be found here.
What can you do to get rid of these built up heavy metals? Detoxing is one way to eliminate heavy metals from your body while at the same time removing other built up toxins (unmetabolized folic acid). When we see someone overloaded with toxins, we recommend detoxing and then supplementing your body with probiotics and digestive enzymes in order for your gut flora to balance out. Click here for BiomeIQ’s Digestive Enzymes Kit.
Already know your MTHFR mutation and want more specific information? Click here to take our survey.
Metals. (2016, September 21). Retrieved August 18, 2017, from https://www.fda.gov/food/foodborneillnesscontaminants/metals/
National Primary Drinking Water Regulations. (2017, July 11). Retrieved August 18, 2017, from https://www.epa.gov/ground-water-and-drinking-water/national-primary-drinking-water-regulations#one