Gill Jacobs explores the role of heavy metals in chronic candida and suggests a protocol for removing them.

With all the myriad of information out there on candida overgrowth and how to treat it, you could be forgiven for overlooking one key factor which could prevent resolution and a return to full health: removal of amalgam fillings and heavy metal toxicity.

Of course, following an anti-candida diet is still necessary, together with taking probiotics, good antifungals, and boosting the immune system. But you could save a great deal of time, and money, if you considered heavy metals as a fundamental barrier to getting well early in your treatment, rather than as an afterthought when nothing else worked. The National Candida Society has many members who attribute at least part of their recovery to mercury removal, and many practitioners are coming to realise the pivotal role that heavy metals play in candida overgrowth.

Amalgam Fillings and Heavy Metals
Whilst the debate rages about the harmful effects to health of amalgam fillings, often between worried patients and conventional dentists, there is a struggle to source reliable information about how to tackle removal safely, in order to avoid heavy metals being reabsorbed at new sites in the body. This is vital, as case-studies from the National Candida Society confirm. You could make yourself sicker by reabsorbing heavy metals pooled in the gut. But, why is it necessary to consider removal of amalgam fillings if you have health problems which persist?

Fact File
• Over the last 500 years there has been a 1000 fold increase of toxic metals stored within our bodies, principally lead, cadmium, aluminium and mercury.

• Over 90% of the mercury stored in human tissue is from amalgam fillings.

• The presence of mercury in the system increases the toxicity and the damage of all other known heavy metals, xenobiotics (environmental toxins) and biotoxins (micro-organisms such as fungal toxins and toxins produced from viruses), and food preservatives, excitotoxins and cosmetics, such as aspartame, food colourings, fluoride etc. These substances, as neurotoxins, are absorbed by nerve endings, disrupting vital functions of the nerve cell.

• Any illness can be caused by, or contributed to, or exaggerated by neurotoxins. Symptoms of chronic mercury toxicity include numbness and burning pain, fatigue, depression, insomnia and memory loss.

• Where heavy metal is concentrated, immune cells are rendered ineffective, deprived of blood, nutrients and oxygen. These areas become havens for anaerobic germs, fungi and viruses.

• When calcium is not in the bone, leading to osteoporosis, toxic metals replace the natural minerals.

• Mercury ions in the system determine the amount of oxidative stress. When mercury is removed oxidative stress is returned to normal levels.

• The enzyme for conversion of the fatty acid complex EPA is the first enzyme that is destroyed by mercury toxicity. Our red and white blood cells need EPA and DHA for greater flexibility, thus improving oxygen delivery and blood flow, essential in the detoxification process. Candida cannot survive in oxygenated cells.

Preparing the Ground
Before going on a specific programme, after removal, you should ensure that you have enough protein in your diet, and are drinking enough fluids. You should also have an adequate trace mineral base - substituting minerals can detoxify the body alone. Problems with constipation should also be addressed.

Dr Dietrich Klinghardt, MD, PhD, an authority in the field of metal detox and a leading teacher both nationally and internationally (www.neuraltherapy.com) recommends plant based foods such as chlorella and coriander, freeze dried garlic, Omega 3 fish oils, and electrolyte replacement. The order and sequence in which you take them is crucial however, as well as the skills of whole body dentists and practitioners, in assessing individual needs, according to levels of toxicity. Expensive laboratory tests can be substituted with bioenergetic testing, such as kinesiology.

When deciding on a detox programme after amalgam removal you should consider elimination through the gut as an alternative to the kidney route. Products such as the chlorella based NDF are extremely costly and only work via the kidney. However, the kidney only provides a limited surface area, because the nephrons do not renew themselves quickly enough. NDF redistributes mercury and heavy metals back to the connective tissue, making it unsuitable as an overall detox.

Far more effective, according to Dr Klinghardt, is to go through the gut. The gut lining has an area of two tennis courts, and the cells are renewed every three days. Stored mercury in cells is pushed back into circulation with cilantro and wild garlic, but at the same time you need chlorella in the gut to take it away via the stools. If there is not enough chlorella the neurotoxins are reabsorbed by the nerve endings in the gut wall, and are at risk of being redirected to the spinal cord, and the brain.

Good quality chlorella lines the gut wall, and mops up the free toxins found there. High toxicity and increasing symptoms need larger doses. This is very important, and differs from the usual advice to reduce supplements if detoxing intensifies symptoms.

Cilantro (coriander) should be taken thirty minutes after chlorella, because it causes the gall-bladder to dump bile, containing the excreted neurotoxins, into the small intestine, for removal by chlorella.

Garlic helps to oxidise mercury, cadmium and lead, and makes these metals water soluble, thus helping excretion. The selenium found in garlic is the most important mineral to protect against mercury toxicity.

Fish Oil. Mercury and other toxic metals attach and disable the cell, and to make new ones the body needs a good supply of fatty acids, especially EPA and DHA. Although EPA and DHA can be manufactured from oils other than fish oils, this process is too slow for the enormous demand for repair from heavy metal damage. You should ensure that the fish source is mercury and contaminant free.

Balanced Electrolyte Solution
Without a healthy autonomic nervous system, with good electric potential, toxins cannot be moved out of cells into the circulation for expulsion. Stopping ordinary table salt, and replacing it with natural ocean salt can help. Himalayan Crystal Salt is something to consider - less polluted than salt from the ocean, this salt not only replenishes electrolytes, but also helps to balance the body’s pH. The solution of dissolved rock salt needs a good quality energised water. For this consider two systems that change the structure of the water in very profound ways - the Grander or the Plocher systems (see below).

Exact dosages of all these foods and products need to be worked out on an individual basis. The programme needs to be followed for a minimum of three to four months, and for up to 24 months in severe cases. It is important to be aware that there are varying qualities of coriander, and different varieties. See below for recommended products.

Throughout, consider a basic daily intake of a living food, such as powdered organic green barley, to oxygenate the blood, and deliver life giving enzymes. Two new probiotics to consider are Prime Directive from Safe Remedies, and FloraGuard from BioCare. Prime Directive is recommended because of its ease of absorption, in that the beneficial bacteria come with their own food source, and thus the nutrition it provides is easily absorbed by the body because it is broken down by the bacteria. This is an excellent product for fatigue, and those who experience malabsorption. FloraGuard, from BioCare, combines plant oil extracts with probiotics, released in two stages, and practitioners are reporting very favourable responses for those with candida.

Until more dentists are trained, you may have problems finding one who is up to date with the latest procedures, and research. The International Association of Oral Medicine Toxicology has a list of about 60 dentists. For a copy contact Dr John Ahearne, Moonfleet Dental Practice, 30 Bournemouth Road, Lower Parkstone, Poole, Dorset, BH14 OES, enclosing an SAE.

Products:

Safe Remedies for Prime Directive & Green Barley - Tel. 01289 332888 www.saferemedies.net

BioCare for FloraGuard and fish oils Tel. 0121 433 3727 www.biocare.co.uk

Gill also produced the video, Clear from Candida, with Jane McWhirter, from a workshop on candida, including a one hour cookery demonstration, and a free recipe booklet. Please send cheque for £21.50 made out to Candida Workshops to GiblistonMill, Colinsburgh, Leven, Fife KY9 1JS. Tel: 01333 340311 www.positivehealth.com

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