cilantro (to Bernie) (warning: long)

[Guest guest]

Hi Bernie,

Well, I think this is one of those where I may be unable to

be anything but very long.

Yes, I've used cilantro. While I was getting my amalgams replaced,

I had some time to read about mercury detox. Cilantro kept coming

up. I also looked in juices books and herb books (of which I have

many) to see what might be helpful. In case it has not been apparent,

the idea of eating plants to heal things is quite normal to me.

I have a yardful of herbs and years of interest in such things.

If you look back in the archives, back around the end of Nov 2000

there is a long note from me in which I list details of my detox

plan. Part of the plan included drinking cilantro juice every day.

Also parsley juice and raw potato juice and garlic juice. (Those are

all reported to be good for heavy metals/mercury). I also

used 2 pounds of carrots a day to mix the cilantro, parsley and garlic

with. (The potato I drank by itself, it is a very weird juice!)

I used 1/2 bunch of cilantro and 1/2 bunch of parsley every day.

My last amalgams were replaced at the end of Nov 2000, and I stayed

on the juice plan during all of Dec 2000. (I was also doing all kinds

of other things, but you asked about cilantro, so I'm following that

thread...)

I really can't say I noticed anything much ( " good " or " bad " ) from

doing this. By the end of December I had been swayed by the

" Andy Cutler steady level in bloodstream " ideas of chelation, and

I had also become somewhat more convinced that it might be safe to

try ALA. So I did. I stopped cilantro juice (and parsley and

potato) cold. I am still eating a lot of cabbage though

I have a GIGANTIC bottle of cilantro tincture in my cupboard which

I made. ( " tincture " = herbal extract. Usually in alcohol.)

So far I haven't used it. At this point, my idea would be

to take it every 3 hours (or so), and take equal amounts of it.

I actually think I probably will do this experiment at some point.

There seems to be a lot of (anecdotal) evidence that cilantro works

to chelate mercury. One email list that someone pointed me to had

several notes about a woman who had eaten cilantro daily and had

some improvement followed by worse neurological symptoms (slurred

speech etc) than she started with. Although this is a " bad " reaction,

I take it as evidence that cilantro is, in fact, effective.

Staying with the " even levels of chelation " theory, I would, as I

said, want to experiment with a regular frequent amount. (I can

almost hear Andy saying " but you don't know how long it stays in the

bloodstream! " . True!)

There are quotes of Dr. Amy in the FAQ where she talks about not knowing

what specific constituent in cilantro is " the " ingredient that works,

and not knowing if that ingredient is present equally in all cilantro.

These are given among a number of reasons Dr. Amy doesn't recommend

cilantro.

The first ( " the " ingredient) seems really irrelevant to me. IF I

were trying to synthesize the stuff, THEN I would care about that.

I don't need to know the specific part, and naming it won't help either.

Using plants medicinally does not necessitate isolating or naming the

constituent parts. Whether all cilantro plants have equal strength

could be of SOME concern, in SOME situations that I could make up.

Likewise, the method of preparation, and specifics of preparation

(e.g. how much herb, fresh or dried, type of alcohol, how long tinctured,

etc etc etc) could be important. These would matter in doing something

measurable and reproducible.

So, let me ramble a bit about what sort of concern this might be,

and what sort it isn't. I'll take a couple of examples.

Example 1: I have enough tincture in my cupboard to take a couple

dropperfuls every couple hours for WEEKS. Except for a bit of sediment

at the bottom, it should all be " equal " . Whether the specific cilantro

plants I used were " stong " or " weak " in the chelating element(s),

they are the ones I used...... Tincture is very well preserved, and

whatever streght (or weakness) it has, it will remain quite steady.

Example 2: Suppose that we want to treat 1000 autistic children

with cilantro tincture. Besides answering the " how often to take

it? " question, we also need to get good at creating a steady dose.

That would mean making extracts in large batches, and using repeatable

procedures. You could still have some variation due to using different

sources of cilantro (different climate, soil, seasons....)

Some of that is controllable, but it is not as controllable as, say,

making ALA or DMSA in a lab. (Not that they are necessarily perfectly

controlled amounts!) This is not something I've looked into a lot,

so I don't know to what degree " same amount " is doable from batch

to batch. I think you could get mighty close. The issues would

vary with the method of preparation (e.g. tablets, tincture, juice,

powder, etc.)

Suppose that it turns out that VERY TINY amounts of cilantro

are very effective chelators. Like ONE dropperful of tincture, or

a few leaves, eaten. Then we had better get pretty darned exacting

about making the stuff the same each time.

Suppose, on the other hand, that we need to take large amounts, like

a tablespoon of tincture every 3 hours. We would still need to

make the stuff somewhat similar each time, but the details become

less critical.

The big drawback (the only big drawback I see) is that no one has

done any of this testing, measuring and recording effects. So, it

is the " try it out " method. Since we (that's " we " people who are

detoxing from mercury) already have some history with ALA and

DMSA (and other things), I doubt that anyone will do the work necessary

to find out how to use cilantro effectively for merc chelation.

That's just my guess.

Now, I hope you are not sorry you asked!

Moria

RESPONDING TO:

Message: 18

Date: Wed, 14 Feb 2001 21:47:04 -0500

From: Bernard Windham <berniew1@...>

Subject: anyone tried this??

> DELICIOUS RECIPE TO REMOVE HEAVY METALS

>

> Heavy metal poisoning is rampant. It is a major cause of hormonal

imbalances, cancer, thyroid> problems, neurological disturbances,

learning problems, depression, food allergies, parasites,> etc. etc.

This is a great recipe that is not only easy to make but also really

yummy! It is truly a healing food. One friend suffering from high blood

pressure due to mercury poisoning had her blood pressure return to

normal after eating 2 teaspoons of this pesto daily for only a week. So

whether you need to detoxify heavy metals from your body or just wish to

use it as a

> preventative measure, 2 teaspoons a day is all you need to take. This

pesto has now become

> a regular in my diet. Enjoy!

>

> CORIANDER CHELATION PESTO

>

> 4 cloves garlic

> 1/3 cup Brazil nuts (selenium)

> 1/3 cup sunflower seeds (cysteine)

> 1/3 cup pumpkin seeds (zinc, magnesium)

> 2 cups packed fresh coriander (cilantro, Chinese parsley) (vitamin

A)

> 2/3 cup flaxseed oil

> 4 tablespoons lemon juice (vitamin C)

> 2 tsp dulse powder

> liquid aminos (Bragg's)

>

> Process the coriander and flaxseed oil in a blender until the

coriander is chopped. Add the garlic, nuts and seeds, dulse and lemon

juice and mix until the mixture is finely blended into a paste. Add a

squirt of Bragg's to taste and blend again. Store in dark glass jars if

possible. It freezes well, so purchase coriander in season and fill

enough jars to last through the year.

>

> Coriander has been proven to chelate toxic metals from our bodies in

a relatively short period of time. Combined with the benefits of the

other ingredients, this recipe is a powerful tissue cleanser. Two

teaspoons of this pesto daily for three weeks is purportedly enough to

increase the urinary excretion of mercury, lead and aluminum, thus

effectively removing these toxic metals from our bodies. We can consider

doing this cleanse for three weeks at least once a year. It is delicious

on toast, baked potatoes and pasta.