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’m not alone. Now as a practitioner, I understand how heavy metals affect gut health by effecting other body organs and systems.
Heavy metals interfere with thyroid, adrenal and liver function. All three organs are vital for 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, or poor mineral status, have stronger reactions to and symptoms from heavy metals. Even when the body can detox well, when exposure overwhelms the ability to get rid of it fast enough, symptoms can occur.
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. Or not enough minerals allow more heavy metals to enter body cells. This diminishes energy, metabolism, mood, heart health, stomach acid, immunity, hormones and the 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 much on tests I’ve run on clients. Mercury is the most common, followed by arsenic and then aluminum.
Heavy metals and thyroid
The thyroid is particularly sensitive to heavy metals like mercury. And so many people have thyroid issues these day. Mercury blocks both iodine and selenium from getting into the thyroid cells. Both minerals are vital for healthy thyroid function.
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.
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 regularly 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. And when the immune systems lacks zinc, it becomes more vulnerabile to gut overgrowths and infections.
We need sulfur for liver detox. And iron is essential for energy.
This is how mercury effects thyroid function, stomach acid, metabolism, energy, and immunity.
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 giving into the sugar cravings that accompany it.
Copper also wreaks havoc on hormones like estrogen and progesterone and can disrupt sleep.
Copper accumulates more with stress and creates more stress in the body. There are many psychological effects. The body has a 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, copper toxicity and aluminum overload. Recent HTMA tests have shown that I’ve since detoxed the aluminum.
Aluminum and the brain
My first HTMA test showed sky high aluminium. Aluminum has been associated with a greater risk of developing Alzheimers disease and dementia.
Luckily, I was only 32 when I took the HTMA test, so there was plenty of time to prevent this fate.
Aluminum exposure comes from using regular deodorant, antacid tablets like Tums, aluminum cookware and aluminum foil.
An HTMA test from 4 years ago, showed sky high titanium from a dental implant with a titanium screw. I’ve since had that implant removed and the titanium levels are back to normal, according to my last test.
How to address metals in the body
If you have heavy metal toxicity, you have to detox it gently and correctly or it may be ineffective or too uncomfortable.
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 cells.
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 adrenal function.
When both are low it suggests the body is in burn out. Adrenals that lack these essential building blocks, could be another reason for fatigue.
There were multiple reasons why Gretchen felt fatigue.
She also had copper build up in her system, which caused anxiety and a sense of cocooning away from the world.
I supported her thyroid with selenium and kelp while giving her adrenals the potassium, sodium and Vitamin C they needed to function better.
We also worked on the other minerals that were low across the board. Including magnesium to calm her when she felt anxious.
How do minerals help gut health
By breaking up her high calcium we were able to speed up her slow system. And supporting her adrenals, helped stabilize inflammation. Her bowels started moving better. She didn’t even realize 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 better naturally without too much help and many mysterious symptoms fade away.
When the body holds onto too many toxins, it interferes with organ function.
Nervous system and metabolic health
The HTMA test gives many additional clues on how the nervous system, immune system and metabolism functions and if the body is burned out. It is a great addition to a gut test like the GI Map, which measures the biome and looks for infections.
A test like the GI Map tells us what’s wrong, while an HTMA test show why or how it happened and how to support the systems behind it.
Many people do supplement protocols without having the metabolic energy to succeed. A body in burn out or fight or flight has trouble healing. This can be fixed by taking a few steps back to balance minerals, thus supporting energy and metabolism.
Before starting a healing program you must have enough physical resources/resilience/energy to actually heal. The HTMA measures if you have the resources to start a supplement/antimicrobial protocol.
If you have hit a healing roadblock, there is hope and another way to go. Spend some time setting your metabolism up for healing, by addressing the thyroid, adrenals, immune system and nervous system. I can’t stress this enough. And always make sure you have the resources to detox before starting a detox program.
The hair tissue mineral test tells us what’s been going on with these crucial system during the last 2 to 3 months.
Super low potassium and sodium are indicators of chronic stress that has lead to burn out already.
Super high levels of sodium and potassium indicate current acute stress and inflammation that is headed towards burnout.
These are a great measurement the body’s stress levels that may not be felt emotionally.
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.
If you suspect a build up of metals in your body, the HTMA is a good way to test for it, and the effects it is having on thyroid, adrenals and other minerals.
I’m currently taking clients for HTMA testing and you can learn more here.
Reach with questions by e-mailing me through the icon on the sidebar of this website.
Angela Privin is proof that IBS is NOT an incurable disease, but a cry for help from a gut out of balance. When the body AND mind are complaining, it’s an opportunity to examine what’s not working and change it. After solving her own IBS mystery almost two decades ago, Angela became as a health coach to help others. Angela uses root cause medicine protocols personalized to the individual to solve each IBS mystery. Her tools are lab testing, dietary changes, supplementation, subconscious mind work and nervous system rebalancing . Learn more here.