There are many foods that can help you detox from heavy metals that can get to your body in various ways on a daily basis.
In this article, we are going to tell you 7 certain foods for heavy metal detox that are easily accessible, in a fresh form, or even in a freeze-dried form that have a long shelf-life and come from the best possible source!
Why Are We Talking About Heavy Metal Detox?
Detox diets are often portrayed as a popular dieting strategy and aimed at promoting weight loss. Yet heavy metal detox diet shouldn’t be viewed as a temporary week-long diet.
A Lifestyle Change to Reduce Heavy Metal Toxicity
Heavy metal detox should be viewed as an opportunity to change your lifestyle and focus on eating clean, organic food. Diet and lifestyle changes will be beneficial for immune system function, gut health, liver function and more. Heavy metal detoxification should involve all aspects of your life.
Detoxing our bodies from heavy metals and chemicals is something we should think about regularly in order to foster lifelong wellness and good gut health.
One thing to be aware of, however, is that while you work on overcoming metal poisoning, you might actually notice some symptoms getting worse before they get better. Potential heavy metal detox symptoms can include fatigue, loss of appetite and digestive issues.
What Will You Find in This Article:
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What is heavy metal detox and why do we need to get rid of heavy metals from our body?
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How do we come in contact with heavy metals?
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Are there heavy metals in all food or just in certain foods?
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How to remove heavy metals from the body naturally and what foods remove heavy metals from the body?
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What is the easiest way to begin helping your body with detoxification?
What is Heavy Metal Detox?
The word detox is widely known and often used casually without understanding its real meaning. Without understanding the need and essence of heavy metal detox, we can easily do more harm than good to our bodies.
Essentially, when we talk about detox, we refer to the natural heavy metal detox, in other words, the removal of all the toxins in our bodies. Why do we need it?
On a day-to-day basis, we are exposed to many harmful chemicals and toxic metals of which we aren’t even aware. Heavy metal toxicity can happen just like that. You could be consistently exposed to toxic metals due to your job, for example.
When you come in contact with heavy metals — either by inhaling them, ingesting them, or touching them — you run the risk of developing heavy metal toxicity or heavy metal poisoning if the levels in your body become high.
Why is Heavy Metal Detox Important?
Heavy metal exposure is unfortunately happening each and every day. We can get toxic heavy metals from tap water, the air we breathe, and the certain foods we eat.
Heavy metal toxicity has proven to have significant harmful effects on our health causing diseases like malignancy, reproductive health problems, metabolic disorders, and mental health complications. Some people can even develop life-threatening conditions due to heavy metal poisoning.
Every day our organs like the liver, kidneys, and intestines are working hard to serve our bodies. Our body clears itself from most toxins through feces, urine, and sweat.
Since it seems like all the work is done, why should we worry about heavy metals and detoxification?
To help our liver, kidney, and intestines lymphatic systems, we should seriously consider adopting healthy lifestyle choices which play an enormous role in helping flush out the heavy metals from our bodies. For people with heavy metal poisoning, a heavy metal detox may be essential to prevent life threatening complications.
How to Remove Heavy Metals from Our Body: 7 Foods That Help to Detox from Harmful Heavy Metals
The easiest way to begin helping your body naturally detox is to review your meals and all the food you consume on a daily basis. To minimize the effects of heavy metal poisoning or prevent it altogether, ensure that the food you put on your plate daily is clean and organic.
Nowadays pesticides often contain heavy metals and are used frequently on nonorganic foods. So bare in mind – your detoxing food ingredients should definitely be organic and from clean sources!
How to remove heavy metals from the body? Here are some foods that help you with heavy metal cleanse and detox for your liver and whole body:
1. Blueberries for Heavy Metal Detox
Blueberries are truly healthful berries. They contain natural aspirin called salicylates that reduce the damaging effects of inflammation.
Wild Nordic Blueberries (Vaccinium Myrtillus) contain the highest antioxidant content compared to other species, as confirmed by this third-party lab test analysis.
They are also very high in antioxidants, essential minerals, and have virus-fighting effects which prevent viral respiratory issues and protect cells from free radicals. Antioxidants are substances that help the body to eliminate free radicals, which are formed when heavy metals react with proteins and other substances, that are part of the body’s metabolism.
Wild Blueberries Can Fight Heavy Metals More Effectively
It has been proven that consuming organic wild blueberry extract may help detox heavy metals from the brains’ lymphatics and detoxify the brain by inhabiting a particular protein that blocks the brains’ cleansing process.
A Heavy Metal Detox Smoothie is a simple way to include healthy blueberry extract in your menu.
Nordic Wild Blueberry vs. Cultivated blueberryAntioxidants are substances that help the body to eliminate free radicals, which are formed when heavy metals react with proteins and other substances, that are part of the body’s metabolism.
When choosing blueberries for your heavy metal detoxification, make sure to get the best kind of organic wild blueberries for maximum effect!
Nordic Wild Blueberries are smaller in size because they have lower water content, but they make up for the size by having about 4x higher antioxidant levels, than any other cultivated blueberry!
These small wild blueberries can not be cultivated or grown in any form and are only found in rural areas away from pollution, so you know you get the cleanest and most nutritious kind of berries!
Below is a quick recap of the major differences between cultivated blueberry, American wild blueberry (Maine blueberry), and Nordic wild blueberries.
Difference between LOOV Bilberry wild blueberry, cultivated blueberry and Maine blueberryFresh Blueberries, Dried Blueberries, Freeze Dried Blueberries or Blueberry Powder?
If you can’t find any fresh Nordic Wild Blueberries in your area – don’t worry, you can always choose freeze-dried blueberries!
Freeze-drying is a universal method that preserves 97% of the original nutritional value! Also, it’ll give dried blueberries a longer shelf-life, up until 2 years, if stored properly!
Many freeze-dried berries are also available in a powdered form so you can easily add them to your smoothies, yogurt, and other delicious meals to start your heavy metal detoxification journey!
2. Cilantro Heavy Metal Detox
One of the ways to remove heavy metals from the body is through chelation. Chelation therapy is a medical procedure that involves chelating agents to remove heavy metals from the body. Chelation therapy may help to chelate metal ions and transport heavy metals out with the urine.
Cilantro leaves are believed to be anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, antifungal, antimicrobial and have significant chelating properties, that bind to heavy metals and take them out of the body. That makes cilantro a great chelating agent.
Cilantro is great for reducing heavy metal toxicity in your body. It is believed that paired with chlorella (another great chelating agent), cilantro chelation therapy is a good tool for heavy metal detoxes. Before taking chlorella extracts, always consult with your doctor first.
How to use cilantro in heavy metal detoxing?
Try adding fresh cilantro to each and every food, both cooked and raw. Add cilantro to your heavy metal detox smoothie, salads, vegetables, leafy greens, or even drinking water.
If you are not the biggest fan of cilantro distinctive taste, try blending fresh cilantro together with olive oil, and lime juice. Add some salt and you have a zingy dressing for your lunch or dinner, cooked vegetables or salads.
3. Lemons for Heavy Metal Detox
Fruits and vegetables high in vitamin C can reduce the damage caused by heavy metal toxins by acting as an antioxidant. Vitamin C helps convert toxins into a water-soluble form that may be eliminated easily from the body.
Lemons restart digestion by stimulating enzymes, and effective digestion is a core of detoxification. Foods high in vitamin C are bell peppers, organic blackcurrants, citrus fruits, organic wild blueberries, guava, parsley, kiwis, broccoli, papayas, strawberries, etc.
4. Garlic for Heavy Metal Detox
Lead-based paint and lead-contaminated dust in older buildings are common sources of lead poisoning. If you're worried about lead exposure, you might ask, how to detox from arsenic, and lead naturally? Herbs like garlic and onions both contain essential minerals and sulfur, which helps with heavy metal poisoning.
It is great for arsenic detox, as well as for lead exposure detox. Garlic promotes the liver to produce detoxification enzymes which help filter toxins from the digestive system.
5. Flax, Hemp, and Chia Seeds for Heavy Metal Detox
These seeds contain essential omega-3 fatty acids and are high in fiber. Fiber helps with cleansing the colon and omega-3 fatty acids reduce inflammation and are required in all liver functions, including detoxification.
So how to detox from mercury exposure for example? As fish and fish oils may contain heavy metals, especially mercury and other metals, it is not recommended to consume either fish or fish oil during detox due to mercury toxicity. Seeds rich in omega-3 will provide the body with necessary essential fatty acids when cleansing.
6. Green Vegetables and Leafy Greens for Heavy Metal Detox
Greens are some of the most powerful heavy metal, environmental toxin- and pesticide-cleansing foods, mainly due to the chlorophyll they contain.
Chlorophyll helps the liver detoxify, increases blood oxygen levels, and purifies blood cells. So how to detox from aluminum poisoning, for example? Aluminum detox would require a large number of antioxidants, and the best way to do this is to add as many green leafy vegetables to your diet as possible.
Make sure you have enough veggies like broccoli, cucumbers, kale, spinach, celery, sprouts, and arugula in your diet to withstand heavy metals.
7. Beetroots for Heavy Metal Detox
Beets have an important role in the liver and eliminate toxins and heavy metals. Beets are full of vitamins like B3, B6, and C and minerals like magnesium, calcium, zinc, and iron.
These vitamins and minerals help the liver to break down toxins. A fiber component called betaine in beets promotes digestion to effectively eliminate all the harmful heavy metals from the body.
What are Heavy Metals and How do They Get in Our Body?
Toxic metals include mercury, lead, arsenic, cadmium, and aluminum, which are all associated with unwanted diseases like malignancy, heart and circulatory system disorders, cognitive impairment, and many behavioral disorders among, children.
Heavy metals can get into the body in many and sometimes even sneaky ways.
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We can get toxic metals from tap water, the air we breathe, and the food we eat.
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Nowadays pesticides often contain heavy metals and are used frequently on nonorganic foods. So unfortunately heavy metal exposure happens in a daily basis.
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Many beauty products may contain a good amount of harmful heavy metals as well. For instance, you can find lead in some lipstick, and even some sunscreens have heavy metals in them.
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Car and house keys are often made of lead.
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Furniture contains protective finishes and fabrics which may contain heavy metals like antimony and cadmium.
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Another health stealer – aluminum, a toxic metal, rather than heavy metal can be found in some deodorants, tap water, in some medications, and even in salt and white sugar.
The problem is that we are exposed to all the above every day. Detoxing our bodies from heavy metals and chemicals is something we should think about regularly in order to foster lifelong wellness and health. Heavy metal detox should be normal and regular part of your life.
How Can Toxic Metals Harm our Body?
When heavy metals enter the body, they are entering into body cells where they begin to disrupt the normal function of proteins and DNA. As a result, the heavy metal exposure is not restricted to particular organs but is multi-systemic.
In the central nervous system, heavy metals can cause both mental disorders and degenerative neurological disorders. In addition, damage to blood vessels may lead to hepatic, renal, and cardiac damage.
Long-term heavy metal exposure can cause mutations in our cells’ DNA, leading to malignancy. So heavy metal detoxes are definitely something to consider making a permanent part of your lifestyle to fight heavy metal toxicity.
