(NaturalNews) With all the recent news about iron pills that might harm you (http://www.naturalnews.com/034021_i…) and a popular dietary supplement that was exposed as having surprisingly high levels of aluminum sulfate (http://www.naturalnews.com/034005_A…), NaturalNews has received numerous emails from readers wanting to know how to actually remove heavy metals (and light metals, for that matter) from their body.

On top of the items mentioned above, there is also aluminum and mercury in many vaccines (http://www.naturalnews.com/031870_f…), and people take in mercury from eating sushi, too (http://www.naturalnews.com/029189_s…). There’s also a problem with copper exposure, as people who take in too much copper may literally lose their minds or become delusional (http://www.naturalnews.com/034037_A…).

The bottom line in all this is that we are being assaulted with heavy metals through medicines, personal care products, cosmetics, industrial chemicals and even some fraudulently marketed health products.

So what can you do about it?

Step one: Get tested – blood, hair, urine

Before you can treat metals toxicity, you need to determine what levels of metals you actually have contaminating your body’s tissues.

As metals toxicity expert Roy Dittman explained in our recent interview, a blood test alone cannot accurately determine your level of metals toxicity. Many metals quickly pass from your blood to your tissues, where they may lodge and cause serious long-term health problems such as:

• Iron lodged in your heart tissue can cause heart disease.

• Aluminum lodged in your brain tissue can cause Alzheimer’s or clinical insanity.

• Mercury lodged in your brain can cause autism spectrum disorders.

• Lead lodged in your bones can interfere with red blood cell production and even white blood cell production.

To get tested, find a local doctor or naturopath who can run these tests and offer you an intelligent diagnosis. Get your tests done, review your results, then decide your next course of action.

Step two: Consider treatment to remove the metals

The most widely accepted treatment for removing heavy metals is chelation therapy, and its efficacy for certain metals is widely accepted across both conventional and holistic medical practitioners.

Chelation therapy involves your doctor or naturopath placing an IV line into your arm (or other location), then dripping a chelation agent into your bloodstream. The most common chelation agent used today is ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid or EDTA. As the University of Maryland Medical Center explains (http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/…):

“Chelation therapy using EDTA is the medically accepted treatment for lead poisoning. Other heavy metal poisonings treated with chelation include mercury, arsenic, aluminum, chromium, cobalt, manganese, nickel, selenium, zinc, tin, and thallium. Chelating agents other than EDTA are also used to clear several of these substances from the bloodstream.”

This page goes on to explain:

“Heavy metal toxicity in humans has been associated with many health conditions, including heart disease, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Alzheimer’s disease, immune system disorders, gastrointestinal disorders (including irritable bowel syndrome, or IBS), and autism.”

Be sure to replenish the good minerals

Although there is tremendous controversy about the use of EDTA for removing plaque from arteries, it is widely acknowledged that EDTA very effectively removes metals (and minerals) from the body. The good news is that EDTA binds to heavy metals and allows your body to easily eliminate them. The bad news is that EDTA also binds to beneficial minerals such as zinc and calcium, taking them out of your body as well. For this reason, health practitioners who administer EDTA chelation typically recommend remineralization treatments with healthful minerals following chelation.

There are many other areas to explore in the realm of metals detox. I don’t have all the answers for you here, but you may wish to explore various detox cleanses using apple cider vinegar or lemon juice as the primary liquids. Just “juicing” fresh vegetables and fruits with lemons is, all by itself, somewhat of a heavy metals detox (although it probably won’t eliminate inorganic metals lodged in brain tissue).

We hope to bring you more stories on this topic in the near future, especially as so many people have a heightened interest in removing copper, aluminum, mercury and even excess iron from their bodies. Eliminating excess iron, by the way, is easily accomplished by donating blood. But make sure you get tested first, and discuss treatment options with your doctor or naturopathic physician.

This is one topic in which even conventional doctors may have very practical knowledge. Although conventional doctors typically have a poor understanding of nutrition, removing heavy metals from your body is an area in which they may indeed be quite useful. Licensed naturopaths are also an outstanding resource for this.

How to get “good” minerals into your body

It’s simpler than you think: Simply feed minerals to your plants, then eat the plants. You can do this seasonally with a home garden or year-round with a sprouting machine. The sprouts will take up inorganic minerals and convert them into organic minerals which are then compatible for human consumption. Obviously, make sure the minerals you feed your plants don’t contain harmful metals (like mercury or cadmium), or else your plants will absorb those, too.

Never consume inorganic minerals or metals (i.e. minerals made from rocks) if you can avoid it. Certain metals should always be avoided where possible, such as mercury, aluminum, cadmium, arsenic and lead

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/034049_heavy_metals_removal.html#ixzz1ceH8aHad