The Dr. Lam Show
The Dr. Lam Show
Guide to Safe and Effective Heavy Metal Detox
Lots of online sources talk about detoxes as if they’re always simple, easy and safe. But the truth is that detoxes can be very stressful and taxing if your body is weak or malfunctioning. Here’s how to do a detox safely and without fear of side effects.
1:30 - Mercury Heavy Metal Toxicity
2:40 - Lead Heavy Metal Toxicity
4:00 - Aluminum Heavy Metal Toxicity
4:40 - Arsenic Toxicity
5:50 - Cadmium Toxicity
7:15 - Heavy Metal Testing - Hair, Serum, Urine
8:15 - Common symptoms of Heavy Metal Toxicity
11:15 - Heavy Metal Detoxing and Chelation
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Do you know how much damage heavy metals can do to your body? These harmful substances can build up in your system and cause a huge range of problems and symptoms. Unfortunately, heavy metal poisoning is also becoming more and more common these days, which is why it's important to be able to detox safely. It's very important for your long term health. You're listening to the Dr. Lam show where we give information advice on adrenal fatigue and integrative medicine. And we want to empower you to take control of your health in small and big ways to live your healthiest life. I'm Dr. Carrie Lam board certified in family, anti aging and regenerative medicine. All my working career my full focus has been mainly on functional and holistic medicine, and an emphasis in lifestyle and nutrition.
Dr. Jeremy Lam, MD:And hello, I'm Dr. Jeremy Lam. I'm also board certified in internal medicine and anti aging medicine. My career mission is to treat and reverse chronic diseases. Today we're going to be talking about heavy metal detoxes in terms of adrenal fatigue. In case you don't know what heavy metals are, or which ones you should be worried about, we're going to start with the most common toxic metals. The first one is mercury, a toxic metal. In the olden times, it was found in thermometers before the electronic age. It's also very common in amalgams or fillings that mercury was used for decades. Mercury now is also contaminated in fish, especially those found within two or three miles from the coast. Almost all fish nowadays, have some mercury, from the runoff in the water and soil. Larger fishes have more mercury because they eat smaller fish, and the mercury builds up in their system. Deep sea fishes are different, those found 60-70 miles from the coast, has less mercury. But those are very hard to find nowadays. So it's important to source clean fish if you can find them. And so Dr. Carrie, what's the next toxic metal?
Dr. Carrie Lam, MD:Yeah, so the next one is lead, commonly found in paints used in olden days. Nowadays, most of the new paints don't contain lead, but if you live in a home built in the 60s and 70s, the paint in the walls may have lead. Lead can be found in water pipes, and the sewage system in our homes. Also, lead is found in toys, so make sure you know where toys are coming from. Because there could be toxic levels of lead in them, especially if your child bites on these toys. You definitely don't want your child to be exposed to lead. And that's why pediatricians check your child for lead toxicity. Very young children should be protected from lead exposure or poisoning because if it accumulates, it is very difficult to get rid of it easily unless you have special ways to chelate them out, which we'll talk about later. So it's best to avoid them. Dr. Jeremy, what's our third metal to avoid?
Dr. Jeremy Lam, MD:The third would be aluminum. And that is something we use very often like aluminum foil, aluminum cans, canned food, all have aluminum. Aluminum can contaminate the brain and cause plaques and inflammation. So you should avoid aluminum and use glass instead. The other thing that has aluminum is deodorant. So check if your deodorant contains aluminum. The fourth toxic metal is arsenic, often found in groundwater and pesticides. So, what they're spraying to prevent insects to get on the plants and the food that you're eating. So that's how arsenic gets into your system and that can be toxic. Those of you who live in rural areas, using well water, it's important to have your water checked for these heavy metals regularly.
Dr. Carrie Lam, MD:Sometimes rice grown in certain places have higher levels of arsenic because the water is polluted with arsenic. There are ways to get the arsenic out of the rice, by boiling the rice three times. I know it's really hard and it will probably not taste too great, but it is important to remove arsenic. The fifth toxic heavy metal is cadmium found in paints like cadmium yellow, cadmium blue, that artists use. As an artist, I know that cadmium helps to actually bind the paint and help it go on smoothly. But this metal is harmful for long term use. Cadmium can also be found in pesticides and water in certain areas. This metal stays in your system and can be very hard to take out. So you got to be very careful on how you are taking in any of these heavy metals, as they do not belong in the body. Cadmium can be found in your body even after drinking polluted water 20 years ago, so it is an environmental hazard. These toxic heavy metals stays in your body for years as they are cumulative in nature. So if you suspect that you have some form of metals, talk to your health care professional. There are different types of testing for heavy metals. Dr. Jeremy, why don't you tell us a little about these testings?
Dr. Jeremy Lam, MD:You can do hair analysis, serum analysis and urine tests to detect heavy metals. At Lam clinic we order heavy metal testing, to identify toxic heavy metal exposures, and also help with detoxing and building a healthier lifestyle. So if you think that this is something that's going on in your body, you can give our staff a call at 714-709-8000. And if you enjoyed this podcast so far, make sure to hit the subscribe button. And now that we understand what heavy metals are and where we can potentially get what are some of the common symptoms that have been with heavy metal toxicity Dr. Carrie?
Dr. Carrie Lam, MD:We have to differentiate between acute and chronic. Acute metal poisoning is a medical emergency and you have to go to the ER right away. And that could be memory loss, joint pain, bleeding. Those are very severe if you have acute metal poisoning. If you suddenly drink water and feel nausea, vomiting, have headaches, breathing abnormally, confused, means it is an acute heavy metal poisoning. Or if you see your child eat some paint off the wall and they become loopy, then you definitely need to rush them to the ER, especially if they experience cramp or seizure. But we're going to focus on symptoms of chronic heavy metal toxicity. Tell us a little more about that. Dr. Jeremy,
Dr. Jeremy Lam, MD:Initially chronic heavy metal toxicity, do not display any symptoms. That's why it's hard to figure out. Simply because these heavy metals accumulate very slowly. Your body has the reservoir to allow these battles to hide, and so you feel nothing until the symptoms appear. By the time you feel symptoms, your body is weak, and the levels are high. So people go through their life and don't feel it and this has been the biggest challenge. Some people however feel some symptoms like achy joints, brain fog, difficulty concentrating. migrating discomfort. It's not really a pain, but migrating discomforts. You also can have floaters, brain fog, gastric discomfort that comes and goes. So all these are signals that the body is sending out. But we have to pay attention. Because these are so subtle, and so mild, that often escapes, our mind and thoughts.
Dr. Carrie Lam, MD:And you don't know what your body's signals are telling you because it could come from a lot of different places. So it's very important to find a practitioner who can diagnose. You have to analyze your own history of how much fish you've eaten, whether you have metal amalgams, any exposures in the past, or if you're a hunter, and had lead exposure. It's important to identify if you're having a difficulty with detoxing, and getting more and more sensitive, then, then you should deal with these heavy metals. So how do you deal with these heavy metals and the detox?
Dr. Jeremy Lam, MD:So, you really have to work on the detox pathway and make sure that your liver can detox. Your cellular matrix should be optimal to detox the heavy metal. The most invasive way is an IV chelation, where the heavy metals bind to the liquid iv. If you are having adrenal fatigue, or if your body's constitution is weak, you may not be able to handle chelation. We see cases all the time where they go through this and the body actually ends up more worse. The detoxification pathways are weak, and you end up having this re toxification reaction, worsening your condition. So oftentimes, we approach it more gently. Dr Carrie, what are these gentle approaches that we use?
Dr. Carrie Lam, MD:Make sure you don't do this by yourself, okay, even with a gentle approach of detoxing, because your body might be sensitive. Like you said about the retox, you can remove these toxins. However, if you can't and they continue to circulate, then you will feel worse and crash. It adds stress to your adrenals. There are gentle ways of doing it, with guidance. Vegetable juicing, using celery and other vegetables pull metals out of your body gently and slowly. Things like chlorella, spirulina and superfood greens are good for metal detoxing. One of my favorite supplements is glutathione which detoxifies the liver, the extracellular matrix, and recycling vitamin C. So, these are some gentle detox pathways to help your body get rid of metals gently without crashing somebody.
Dr. Jeremy Lam, MD:If you believe you have acute symptoms of heavy metal toxicity, don't delay and go to the emergency room immediately. But if your symptoms fit more with chronic exposure then long term changes is important. Here at Lam clinic, we can help you identify whether you have heavy metal toxicity and help implement heavy metal detox routine for better health and prevent further damage to your body. Don't hesitate to give us a call at 714709 1000 and we can help you get your body on the right track.
Dr. Carrie Lam, MD:If you like this information or found it useful, please subscribe and leave us a five star review. And we hope that you've learned a lot about heavy metal detoxes and share it with your friends and family. This is the Dr. Lam show. Remember that we're here to empower you to take control of your health.
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