If brain fog, tiredness, bloating or pain are weighing you down, you may have a build-up of heavy metals.
- Figure out if your symptoms are related to a build-up of heavy metals
- Discover ways to minimise and avoid daily heavy metal exposure
- Find out what you can do now if you’ve been exposed
So, the bad news
We’re all exposed to heavy metals through food (especially non-organic), water, air, toiletries, cosmetics, amalgam dental fillings and vaccines.
A long period of low-level exposure can result in the accumulation of heavy metals in our tissues (mainly in our fat stores), which cause symptoms including the following:
- Pain – particularly aching joints and headaches.
- Tiredness and fatigue – the feeling that you want to rest your head, and have trouble carrying out your daily tasks.
- Inability to concentrate – when you simply can’t focus or deal with things in your life.
- Breakouts, redness and other skin disorders – our skin is a secondary detoxification organ, so when we’re overloaded with toxins, we can get rashes, redness, acne or spots.
- Mood swings and energy roller coaster feeling - where you get dizzy, tired or irritable between meals.
- Bloating and other digestive issues such as abdominal pain, inconsistent bowel movements (this can include constipation and diarrhoea).
- Painful and irregular periods, PMS, low fertility and other reproductive issues.
- Difficulty conceiving or maintaining a pregnancy can also be linked to heavy metals.
Heavy metals are now also strongly linked to serious degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and heart disease.
Some, like fluoride, has been shown to cause brain damage and in at least 50 scientific studies it has been linked to lower IQ, especially in children.
The accumulation in our bodies takes place over the years so the older we get, the more likely we’ll get worse effects.
The good news
You’re reading this article! We’ll help you recognise whether heavy metals could be affecting you or your loved ones and explain what actions you can take today to deal with them.
"Limit your exposure to heavy metals in food, water, air, toiletries, and more to help brain fog."
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Limit your exposure to heavy metals
Here are the main culprits and the actions you can take to avoid them:
| Heavy Metal | Common Sources | How To Avoid |
| Cadmium | Cigarettes and E-cigarettes, chemical fertilisers. Many cacao and coffee products. | Give up smoking, eat more organic food, read Natural News and ConsumerLab brand test results and ask for cadmium test results before buying cacao and coffee. |
| Lead | Soil and water (particularly places with a history of industrial pollution). Several cacao products. High levels have been found in some protein powders. Many conventional lipstick products have been found to be contaminated. | Eat organic where possible. Drink spring water - you can collect directly from your closest spring or order online in glass containers or install a reverse osmosis filter. Install a shower filter (bonus: it will help you avoid chlorine exposure too). |
| Arsenic | Cigarettes, pesticides used in agriculture, foods especially rice, some protein powders, underground water sources. | Eat organically grown produce. Replace rice with quinoa, buckwheat, amaranth (they're much lower in sugar too). Make your home ‘shoe-free’ so you don’t walk in contaminated dirt. |
| Mercury | Amalgam dental fillings, vaccines, fish and seafood. | Research any vaccines you may (or may not) need thoroughly. Eat smaller fish like sardines and anchovies rather than larger fish like tuna and swordfish, which have higher mercury levels. Replace your fillings for non-mercury containing (ideally at a holistic dentist). |
| Fluoride | Tap water (dependent on your area), take-out coffees, eating out, toothpaste. | Drink spring or filtered water - choose reverse osmosis filter because carbon filters don't filter out fluoride (although some sell fluoride filter add-ons). Switch to natural/organic fluoride-free toothpaste. |
| Aluminium | Medications, vaccines, antiperspirants, foil, canned food. | Research and consider medications and vaccines carefully. Go for aluminium-free deodorants and cosmetics. Store food in glass and ceramic containers. |
What you can do now to detox from heavy metals
Now, if you’re experiencing symptoms that you think may be related to heavy metals, it could be a good idea to work with a nutritionist or naturopath who specialises in this area to get your levels tested (this could mean hair, nail, blood or urine testing). They would then work with you on a specific protocol to remove the metals from your tissues.
In the meantime, it’s great for all of us to protect our bodies against these toxins, so we’ve put together a safe and natural approach, so you can do everything possible to protect your cells and help remove heavy metals.
Top foods for removing heavy metals
| Food | How It Works | How To Eat It |
| Pure Organic Chlorella | Shown to bind with mercury and aluminium and supports liver detoxification. | Start on ½ tsp (or 2 tablets) per day added to water with lemon or your favourite juices or smoothies, after 1-2 weeks increase to 1 tsp (or 4 tabs) per day, then after 3 weeks, move up to 2 tsp (or 8-12 tablets) per day. Extra note: If you can't avoid drinking tap water or eating fish, protect your organs by taking 1 tsp (or 4 tabs) of chlorella before and after. |
| Pure Organic Spirulina | Shown to reduce the toxic effects of cadmium and arsenic. Rich source of complete protein. Protein is needed for detoxification enzymes in the liver. | Take 1-2 servings per day added to water with lemon, juices, smoothies. Take an extra dose on workout days. |
| Organic Coriander (cilantro) and Parsley | These herbs have been used traditionally to bind to heavy metals and for their anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial benefits. | Use a big bunch in your green juice. Chop and use to garnish your soups or in salads. Make pesto with the herbs and have a few tablespoons per day. |
| Organic Cucumber | Contains high levels of silica that causes aluminium to leave the body. | Use ¼-½ a cucumber every day in salads, with dips, in your green juice or smoothie. |
| Organic Turmeric | Contains protective compounds that help the liver do its job. | Use a 2cm chunk of fresh turmeric in smoothies, on salads, as a marinade with olive oil and lemon juice. Stir a teaspoon of powdered turmeric into soups, cooked brown rice, curry. |
| Organic Berries | Contain high levels of Vitamin C, which is important for removing lead from the body. | Eat a 100g portion of berries each day (the type will depend on what’s available or in season – blackberries and redcurrants are fab). Great for breakfast, snacks or smoothies. Add other Vitamin C-rich fruits and vegetables, such as lemons, red peppers (capsicum), broccoli, or 2 tsp Organic Burst Baobab powder. |
“Try organic spirulina, chlorella, coriander, turmeric and berries to help get rid of heavy metals.”
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IMPORTANT NOTE ON SPIRULINA AND CHLORELLA FOR HEAVY METAL DETOX
When using spirulina or chlorella in your daily diet - and especially for detoxification - it’s very important to ensure you only choose a high quality clean source that is not only Certified Organic and but is also tested and is 100% free from heavy metal contamination (as well as many other nasty toxins that occur in microalgae).
Unfortunately, even if the product is Certified Organic it doesn't mean the water, soil and environment in which its grown are free from heavy metals, pollution and radiation.
And the scary bit is that in order to sell a product in stores or to consumers in the U.S. and Europe brands don't need to show proof of any test results for heavy metals, bacterial contamination, radiation or other dangerous toxins.
As a result a lot of microalgae products on the market are of inferior quality and actually contain heavy metals themselves!
Why?
Because it's hard, time-consuming and many times more expensive to source high quality micro algae. Direct trade is very rare in this industry (most brands source their products from wholesalers who buy them from a few large commercial farms) - meaning many of the supergreen products available today are exactly the same.
It's much cheaper to grow algae with chemical fertilisers or in less than clean environment, using water that may not be pure and feed that may be contaminated.
Organic Burst Spirulina and Chlorella are known for their purity and are completely free from heavy metals or any other toxins. They are grown on our amazing organic farm in Southern Taiwan - known as the purest source of organic spirulina and chlorella.
We've studied many samples from farms all over the globe before choosing our source and only one stood out by far - not only because it was so much purer but also its taste and smell were so much more pleasant than the rest (which is a sign of quality and purity).
Our farm uses only pure mineral water and tests all our organic plant feed as well as the microalgae itself throughout the cultivation and production. Our products have never shown any trace of these harmful substances.
...That's why so many people continuously say they experience a huge difference in how they feel when taking our spirulina and chlorella, and cannot believe the difference in taste and smell when they switch to them.
You can get going on the changes now, just start small, one step at a time and it’s easy! We’re doing it ourselves too! Get in touch with us on Twitter to share your experiences.
