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Mercury In The Gut

Messages
94
Does anyone know if mercury in the gut can be successfully chelated by ALA or would that solely require the work of effective probiotics?
 

stridor

Senior Member
Messages
873
Location
Powassan, Ontario
It is difficult to know where to start with this question. If you have mercury in the gut then by default you will have mercury other places as well, including the brain. Since ALA crosses the blood-brain-barrier, it is a good choice to chelate.

If you are considering going in this direction then you would be wise to follow the recommendations that comprise The Cutler Protocol. This is the method that I used to lose the mercury.

The protocol starts with the safe removal of any amalgam fillings and ALA can not be taken until this is done. Not safely at any rate.

Some people choose to add things like chorella but it is not necesary. ALA will get the job done. If you are considering this then I would move on it. I was 10 years too late and have some residual health issues. I have a blog if you are interested.
 

stridor

Senior Member
Messages
873
Location
Powassan, Ontario
@Eastman Interesting hypothesis. And it could be 100% true but I just want to point out a few things. This is in no way to be taken as a criticism for your post. As I said, it could be true:

a) All the testing was done in vitro and using a known quantity of mercury in stomach acid. This doesn't even come close to what is going on in vivo. For example, does the addition of bile salts and pancreatic enzymes affect the affinity of soluble fibre for Hg or does the gut flora change anything?

b) The main problem with mercury is the 15-20 year (likely 20 for those of us with methylation issues) half-life in the brain. (This half-life only starts after all exposure to Hg stops.) This is also a way that mercury is unique. Becoming trapped and with time, concentrated behind the blood-brain-barrier. Strawberries do not cross the BBB and will do little to really help a person who is experiencing the symptoms of toxicity.

c) My diet was high in lots of these foods. We had over 1/4 acre in strawberries on the farm and peanut butter was a mainstay at our house. Peanut butter and maple syrup are to die for.

d) It is generally accepted that most of us will have our greatest Hg exposure from our dental fillings this form of mercury is absorbed at 80% and bypasses the gut entirely. Foods are not going to be a big help.

e) One of the problems with ideas like this is that a person is entreated to waste time following them. Anyone seriously toxic needs to get a Hair Test and move forward with chelation. This is a true poisoning and there can be permanent damage. Time matters. If they also wish to add some of these foods to the diet, fine....but chelate, chelate, chelate.

f) So it could be a helpful adjunct but I doubt that it is a big gun. I would like to know the mercury loading of vegetarians who eat a lot of these foods. Including those who eat fish and those who choose not to, compared with the rest of us.

g) At the end of the day, I suspect that the equation of "mercury in" and "mercury out" (and associated genetics) will have a greater impact on toxicity that the number of strawberries eaten.

Thank-you for bringing this article to my attention.

 
Messages
94
@stridor I've actually been chelating via Cutler's protocol for some time now and will continue to do so until I have essentially no reactions from ALA. I realize that I'm removing Mercury from my brain and other organs (hopefully) but was simply curious as to whether or not any studies, information or personal experiences had shown ALA to be effective in removing Mercury from the gut specifically. I know bad bacteria can harbor Mercury and other heavy metals in the gut causing dysbiosis and intense reactions to supplements (especially methylation related supps). This has been very true for me. I'm looking into culturing my own strains of bacteria alongside chelation with ALA/DMSA to see if this helps the process as a whole. I currently take mfolate, mb12, ab12 and various cofactors.

I will also check out your blog shortly.

@caledonia Any input?
 

stridor

Senior Member
Messages
873
Location
Powassan, Ontario
@Tigger That's different. If you are on Cutler's Facebook site then you have likely met my brother, Brian. I was left with significant gut issues after my run-in with mercury. When I talk about it being a true poisoning and that permanent damage can occur, in part I was referring to the gut.

You are right in that mercury can be found in the cell walls of yeast in the gut in particular. It has even been theorized that the body allows for more yeast or candidiasis to help cope with an elevated body loading. Personally, I don't see the adaptive advantage over just letting it leave out the back door.

Dysbiosis is complicated. You are right in that the presence of metal can impact the gut biome. Even things like iron. But as well Hg can skew the immune system which can impact the gut biome. And candida appears to be able to impact the immune system as well and divert its attention away from the gut.

I wouldn't need many sheets of paper to catalog everything that I know on this subject but to be fair research is still in its infancy.

I am assuming (but don't know) that my gut loading of mercury is comparatively as low as the rest of my body at this stage. But between the decades of gluten exposure when there were clear signs that my body didn't like it, the mycoplasma infection that can flatten villi as effectively as celiac and getting my colon out - leaving me with a permanent SIBO state and leaky gut....I am not optimistic that there is anywhere for me to go with this.

Many people make a full recovery with Cutler's Protocol though and I suspect that Hg levels must drop. I have wondered whether the more seriously poisoned recover as well. Does the stomach acidity return to normal? Does bile output and pancreatic enzyme output also return to normal? There are many inputs that need to be rectified in order for a gut to truly heal.

That was a long-winded way of saying that I can not answer your question with any authority.
 

caledonia

Senior Member
@stridor I've actually been chelating via Cutler's protocol for some time now and will continue to do so until I have essentially no reactions from ALA. I realize that I'm removing Mercury from my brain and other organs (hopefully) but was simply curious as to whether or not any studies, information or personal experiences had shown ALA to be effective in removing Mercury from the gut specifically. I know bad bacteria can harbor Mercury and other heavy metals in the gut causing dysbiosis and intense reactions to supplements (especially methylation related supps). This has been very true for me. I'm looking into culturing my own strains of bacteria alongside chelation with ALA/DMSA to see if this helps the process as a whole. I currently take mfolate, mb12, ab12 and various cofactors.

I will also check out your blog shortly.

@caledonia Any input?

To answer your original question, I don't think probiotics alone are going to cut it. It seems to me that ALA would grab onto mercury wherever it is and chelate it out.

Also vague memories of stuff Yasko said about gut bugs harboring mercury, and I think killing the gut bugs to help get rid of mercury. And then some stuff about metallothioneins (a lot of which resides in the gut) and their role in helping get rid of mercury. William Walsh also had talked about metallothioneins and trying to raise them to get out mercury.

Someone on the Cutler forum asked a similar question:
http://onibasu.com/archives/fdc/149542.html

To which Cutler says it's basically not an effective way to remove mercury from the gut and ALA etc. is the way to do it:
http://onibasu.com/archives/fdc/149623.html

Rich Vank also said metallothioneins wouldn't work to pull mercury out of cells:
http://forums.phoenixrising.me/inde...-mercury-glutathione-vs-metallothionein.8860/

If you're having a lot of gut issues due to chelation, I would look at whatever Cutler says to do for the gut, and also the 4R Gut Rebuilding Program (see my signature link). Especially step 1 where you remove any offending foods, and kill off the bad gut bugs. A lot of people seem to think you can pour on probiotics and that alone will fix things.

Then, of course, keep chelating. If you get enough mercury out, it should get better.

I did have a big reduction in gut issues about a year and a half after I got my last mercury filling out. I no longer needed herbal anti-fungals to stop flu-like symptoms. Things have remained ok with my gut even after starting chelation.
 
Last edited:

caledonia

Senior Member
It is difficult to know where to start with this question. If you have mercury in the gut then by default you will have mercury other places as well, including the brain. Since ALA crosses the blood-brain-barrier, it is a good choice to chelate.

If you are considering going in this direction then you would be wise to follow the recommendations that comprise The Cutler Protocol. This is the method that I used to lose the mercury.

The protocol starts with the safe removal of any amalgam fillings and ALA can not be taken until this is done. Not safely at any rate.

Some people choose to add things like chorella but it is not necesary. ALA will get the job done. If you are considering this then I would move on it. I was 10 years too late and have some residual health issues. I have a blog if you are interested.

@stridor , can you post a link to your blog so I can check it out?
 
Messages
94