Heavy metal toxicity can cause digestive issues. It did for me. Through running hair tissue mineral analysis (HTMA) tests on clients, I discovered that I wasn’t alone. Now I have a better understanding about how heavy metals affect the gut, by effecting other body organs.
Heavy metals interfere with thyroid, adrenal and liver function and all three organs have a huge influence on gut health.
The adrenals control inflammation. The thyroid regulates metabolism and motility and the liver helps clean out the small intestine and digest fat, protein and carbs.
People are not equally affected by heavy metals. Those who have trouble detoxifying, because of genetic reasons, have much stronger reactions to and symptoms from heavy metals.
Minerals and heavy metals compete for space inside our body’s cells. Too much heavy metals in our body pushes minerals out of our cells. This has a huge effect on our energy, metabolism, mood, heart health, stomach acid, immunity, hormones and nervous system.
The most common metals I see are mercury, aluminum and arsenic. Copper can also be an issue. While copper is a mineral, too much or not enough in the body (it’s being stored in the liver or brain instead of utilized by cells) can cause symptoms of anxiety, insomnia, racing mind and sugar cravings.
Lead is another metal that can cause massive health issues, but I haven’t seen it come up much on tests I’ve run on clients. Mercury is the most common, followed by arsenic and then aluminum.
Even when your body can detox well, if the exposure overwhelms the body’s ability to get rid of it fast enough, symptoms can occur.
Heavy metals and thyroid
The thyroid is particularly sensitive to heavy metals like mercury. And so many people have thyroid issues these day.
A slow thyroid makes gut issues more likely and can be a root cause for SIBO.
Thyroid and adrenal function can be improved by balancing the primary minerals (calcium, magnesium, potassium and sodium). And detoxing heavy metals helps the cells better absorb iodine and selenium.
Mercury accumulates from eating fish (like tuna), dental amalgams, vaccines or general exposure in the environment.
Mercury blocks both iodine and selenium from getting into the thyroid cells. Both minerals are vital for healthy thyroid function.
Symptoms of a slow thyroid are anxiety, depression, constipation, dry skin, brain fog, cold hand and feet, sleep issue or weight gain. Even if your thyroid labs look normal, it does not mean your thyroid is functioning optimally.
When the thyroid gets sluggish, metabolism and motility slow and set the stage for bacterial overgrowth in the small intestine, constipation and fatigue. Also, less blood circulates through the gut, slowing down the healing process.
And constipation means it is harder for your body to get rid of toxins. We need to move our bowels to detox heavy metals.
Mercury also interferes with the absorption of zinc, iron and sulfur. Zinc is a building block of immunity as well as stomach acid. We need sulfur for liver detox. And iron is essential for energy.
This is how mercury affects thyroid function, stomach acid, metabolism, energy, and immunity. And when the immune systems is not getting the right support, it can create vulnerability to gut overgrowths and infections.
Copper and the adrenals
Copper is both a mineral and a metal, but when there is too much in the body it can cause anxiety, fatigue, hormonal chaos, PMS and digestive issues like IBS.
Copper tend to accumulates when adrenals are weak and can weaken them further by raising anxiety and causing stress intolerance. It makes the mind race and causes sugar cravings. It creates a vicious cycle of adrenals stress that makes it hard to recover. Especially when people give in to sugar cravings.
Copper also wreaks havoc on hormones like estrogen and progesterone and can disrupt sleep.
Copper accumulates with stress and makes stress worse and in many ways it is the hardest to deal with because of the psychological effects. The body has a very hard time getting out of fight or flight.
Copper overload and aluminum toxicity was a big part of my multi-year struggle with IBS. My HTMA test revealed weakened adrenals, along with copper and aluminum overload. Recent tests have shown that I’ve since detoxed aluminum.
Aluminum and the brain
Aluminum has been associated with a greater risk of developing Alzheimers disease. Aluminum exposure comes from using regular deodorant, antacid tablets like Tums, aluminum cookware and aluminum foil.
My first HTMA test showed through the roof aluminium. High levels of aluminium have been associated with higher chance of developing Alzheimers and dementia. Luckily, I was only 32 when I took the HTMA test, so there was plenty of time to prevent this fate.
My HTMA retest 18 years later, showed the my aluminium levels went down significantly but I had sky high titanium from an dental implant with a titanium screw. I have since had that implant removed and am thinking of getting an implant with a ceramic screw.
How to address metals in the body
If you have heavy metal toxicity, it is a good idea to detox it. But you have to do it correctly or it may not work well or feel very good.
Before starting a metal detox the 4 primary minerals: magnesium, calcium, potassium and sodium, need to be balanced and supported. When they are out of balance the body does not have the energy or resources to detox. Detoxing will be too taxing on the body.
And because minerals and metals compete for space inside the cells, supporting minerals is a gentle way to crowd metals out of the body. .
Gretchen’s case study
Gretchen came to me complaining of fatigue. Her thyroid blood work looked ok so she wondered what was causing it.
Her hair mineral test showed high mercury, low selenium and iodine deficiency. Despite normal labs, her thyroid was not working as well as it should.
She did not have enough minerals in her cells. Mercury was blocking iron, iodine and selenium absorption. Lower than ideal iron in the cells (this is not the same as blood levels) and a slow thyroid can lead to fatigue.
Her potassium and sodium were also very low. These are the main minerals for adrenals function.
When low it suggests the body is in burn out. Adrenals that don’t have the right support could be anohter reason for fatigue.
Gretchen had multiple reasons for why she felt the way she did. Including copper build up in her system, which caused anxiety and a sense of cocooning away from the world.
I supported her thyroid with selenium, kept and her adrenals with added potassium, sodium and Vitamin C.
We also worked on the other minerals because they are low across the board. Including magnesium to calm her down.
How do minerals help gut health
By breaking up her high calcium we were able to speed up her slow system. And as we supported her adrenal, her inflammation lowered. And her bowels started moving better. She didn’t even realize that she was constipated.
After a few months she was ready to clear out the mercury and copper. As the metals left her system she had energy, a better mood, a clearer mind and no more bloating or brain fog.
She came to me because she was dragging through her day and had a hard time getting up in the morning, but experienced multiple symptom improvements of other mild gut symptoms, including intermittent bouts of depression and anxiety.
Arsenic sources
Arsenic is another common metal I see on HTMA tests. It may come from eating too much rice or drinking well water. High levels are a sign that the body is experiencing too much exposure or not detoxing well.
When you balance minerals and support adrenals and thyroid, you can detox correctly and a lot of mysterious symptoms fade away. When the body holds onto too many toxins, they interfere with organ function.
The HTMA test gives me so many additional clues on how the nervous system, immune system and metabolism are working and how burned out someone is.
These are crucial measures of how much energy someone has too heal. While a good supplement protocol may provide much needed support, a body that is in burn out or fight or flight has trouble healing.
You have to set the groundwork for healing first.
I hope this perspective gives hope that healing roadblocks can be overcome once understood and supported.
Understanding the state of the adrenals and thyroid is crucial. As well as measuring toxic load.
While there are other adrenal and thyroid tests available, they measure the body’s status in that moment, while the hair tissue mineral test tells us what’s been going on in the last 2 to 3 months.
Super low potassium and sodium are indicators of chronic stress leading to burn out, while super high levels indicate current stress and inflammation driving the body towards eventual burnout. It is such a great measurement of how stressed the body really is, when people don’t recognize the stress.
Having a meditation or breath work practice is not enough to regulate the system if it has been in burnout for too long. We need to replace crucial minerals and help the body hold onto them.
The HTMA helps do that by providing information that gut tests don’t.
A test like the GI Map tells us what’s wrong, while an HTMA test will shows why or how it happened. We get a wholistic picture and can take a more comprehensive approach.
If you suspect a build up of metals in your body, the HTMA is a good way to measure it, and the effects on other minerals.
I’m taking clients for the HTMA, as either a stand alone test or part of a 4 months program. Reach with questions by emailing me through the sidebar of this website.