I'm sad to report that everyone is lead toxic due to it being added to gasoline and emitted from cars for decades. Lead causes fatigue and damage to the nervous, reproductive, and renal systems. Learn how to detox it!
Lead is extremely toxic to humans. Exposure can happen quietly, without you realizing it, and the damaging effects - primarily to the brain - are often irreversible. In addition to the nervous and reproductive systems, lead impacts both the liver and kidneys (1).
One of the most common consequences of lead toxicity is high blood pressure due to lead accumulation in the kidneys. Detox the lead and people often seeing a normalizing of their blood pressure.
Women's bones release lead more slowly into the blood stream than men's. Meaning, lead can continue to be released into the blood long after exposure. This is of particular importance for women whom are pregnant, as the slower release of lead from the bones could negatively impact a developing fetus (Vigeh).
Once women reach menopause, they have faster bone cell turnover due to lowered estrogen levels. Lead begins leaching into their bodies from the breakdown of bone tissue. Symptoms like fatigue and brain fog begin to occur due to lead toxicity.
Lead is in the air due to coal combustion and fossil fuels. We breathe it in. While leaded gasoline is no longer used in the United States, if you live or travel to a developing country that does not use unleaded gasoline, you must beware! You are breathing in neurotoxic lead!
Ready to hear another scary thing? Lead persists for 500 to 1000 years in the environment. So, even though we no longer use leaded gasoline in the U.S., this deadly metal can still be found in the soils where it then gets into our food and water.
That's right: soil may be contaminated with lead sediment due to industrial or car exhausts, especially in densely populated areas. Growing your own vegetables under those circumstances is not recommended.
In China, the rapid economic development has led to alarmingly elevated lead levels being released into environment due to the mineral processing activities (4). As a result, lead has made its way into the country's water, soil, crops, and vegetable supplies and the levels here are much higher than other developed countries (4).
Water pipes used to be made of lead and many are still in use. They can leak lead into drinking water and contribute to toxicity that way.
Lead is also found in your beauty products. Yes, you are likely putting lead on your face daily to beautify yourself. Cosmetics, especially lip stick and mascara, have been found to contain shocking levels of lead. Be sure to buy lipstick that has been certified to be free of lead.
Lead was commonly used in house paint until the 1970’s. In 1978, lead-based residential paint was banned from use in the United States (5). But unfortunately, an estimated 30-50% of the population lives in houses built before that time. If you belong to this group, you are at greater risk of inhaling of miniscule paint chips and dust containing lead, and this can lead to lead toxicity. (5)
Attention parents: lead is the most common toxicant found in the drinking water of U.S. schools, via water fountains, coolers, and other water outlets (6). Another danger is lead-based paint, as it is the most common source of exposure for children under 6 years of age who have suffered lead poisoning (7)
You need to know these and the other widespread sources of lead so that you can identify how it is entering your body. These sources include:
There is no safe level of lead exposure for children (5). Exposure to lead - be it in childhood infancy or even in utero - is especially damaging and toxic to a developing nervous system.
In fact, it has been proven that there is a direct link between, "low-level lead exposure during early development and deficits in neurobehavioral-cognitive performance evident late in childhood through adolescence." (2). Lead poisoning in children can lead to such things as brain damage, low IQ, developmental delays, hyperactivity, and even hearing loss (2).
Some of the primary symptoms of lead toxicity include:
Loss of memory (2)
Loss of Vision (2)
Cognitive and behavioral problems (2)
Brain damage
Mental retardation (2)
Antisocial behavior
Violence
Delays in growth and pubertal development (14)
Let's start with its effects on the central nervous system. Lead is a potent neurotoxin that can cause learning and behavioral impairments, especially in young children (7, 18, 19). Exposure to it may result in detrimental effects to both brain development and function (12, 20).
It has also been found that exposure to lead early in life may cause neurode-generation in later life. (2). Among the many neurocognitive effects of lead are: brain damage, mental retardation, memory loss, vision loss, behavior problems, antisocial behavior, and even violence. (2)
I mentioned that lead also effects hormone production. Lead has endocrine disrupting properties (EDCs), which interrupts hormone regulation in the body (21). Among the hormone activities it interrupts, lead has been shown to inhibit progesterone and impair prolactin production in females; these imbalances can lead to lead to irregular periods.
Lead builds up in the ovaries, which then causes delays in both growth and development during puberty, as well as reduced fertility. cells of the ovary, causing delays in growth and pubertal development and reduced fertility in females. For males, lead negatively affects growth during puberty (21). A 2017 study found that lead toxicity directly impairs sperm function and may lead to such things as low sperm count or testicular degeneration (22).
Exposure to lead may also bring about a deregulation of the immune system, along with reduced immunosurveillance. Immmunoserveillance is critical because it is the process by which the body's cells scan for foreign pathogens - including toxins and chemicals - as well as for pre-cancerous and cancerous cells (17)
An antagonist is an element that can help to push or detox a metal out of the body. The following elements work as potent detoxifiers of lead:
A Urine Metals DMSA Challenge Test is a far more reliable method for determining lead toxicity. The reason a urine test is so useful and provides meaningful results is that urinary excretion is the major route for the elimination of lead.
When it comes to lead, new research reveals that elimination of this toxic metal takes longer than previously thought and long-term retention of this toxic metal is not to be underestimated. This is why patience with detoxing is so important.
Of course, your recovery from toxic effects depends on such things as the severity of your symptoms, the levels of metal toxicity in your body, and how long you have been suffering from your adverse health conditions. At the very least, many experience a vast reduction in their symptoms with detoxification via mild chelating agents, mineral supplementation, and use of an infrared sauna, all of which are part of a comprehensive Myers Detox Protocol program.
Metals can often do the same jobs as minerals. So when we are mineral deficient, the human body is forced to accumulate metals to accomplish certain processes necessary to for us to survive. A Myers Detox Protocol program is one of the best programs to remove all heavy metals from the body, including lead, so we can get back to better health. The program utilizes over 20 different methods at once to remove ALL toxic metals safely and deeply, while replenishing the minerals your body actually needs. Many nutrients are given on a Myers Detox Protocol to aid the body's removal of excess lead
So what is Myers Detox Protocol? I'm glad you asked!
Myers Detox Protocol replenishes your minerals, helps you to restore balance to your body, and gives it energy so that it can push an overabundance of metals and other substances out when it no longer needs them to function.
Presently, humanity is exposed to the highest levels of toxic metals in recorded history, up to several thousand times higher than even several hundred years ago due to industrialization. The danger of toxic metals in our environment is greatly aggravated due to low mineral content of our food supply, as well as the contamination of our food supply. If one does not consume preferred minerals in the diet, the body will pick up whatever toxic metals it can from the food, air, and water as substitutes to perform various functions in the body. A key principle to remember is that an abundance of essential minerals in the diet and via supplementation protects the body against toxic metals.
It's time to restore balance to your body with Myers Detox Protocol!