Why should chlorella never be used as a chelator?

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Q: << Andy and all,

Why should chlorella never be used as a chelator? Also, why should

high sulfur foods not be used? >>

A: The "sulfur" group in these foods is usually a thiol - an SH group stuck onto

the carbon backbone of a molecule somewhere. One of these molecules is the

amino acid cysteine. Many proteins in your body have cysteine in them.

Thus, your body is full of -SH groups that belong to you.

If you take something that has one sulfur in it, then that just goes and

bumps the mercury off of one of the sulfurs that belong to you. Next time

that mercury runs into another sulfur that belongs to you it might stick

there. Since chlorella is just a good cysteine source, and all the other

"sulfur foods" contribute molecules that have one sulfur in them in the

active form, what happens is you make the mercury atoms play pinball among

the proteins in your body. They bounce hither and yon - and mercury does its

damage when it sticks to a new sulfur group that belongs to you, or comes

off of one. Since the "sulfur foods" contribute molecules with one sulfur

they don't hold onto the mercury any better than you do, and they greatly

increase the amount of damage the mercury does without really removing much

of it.

Lipoic acid (as dihydrolipoate which your body converts it into), DMSA and

DMPS each have TWO thiols per molecule so they hold onto the mercury atoms

tighter than your body does and have a chance to really escort the mercury

out instead of just stirring it up. Thus these are CHELATING AGENTS -

chemicals with 2 or more binding groups per molecule so they hold on to the

metal atom tightly. Chlorella, cysteine, penicillamine, glutathione,

"sulfur foods," etc. are not chelating agents in any legitimate chemical

sense.

<<Should alpha lipoic acid only be used on a rotational basis and if so why?

LA should only be used on a rotational basis because it affects the body

balance of other elements, most notably copper and zinc. It does not

deplete the body of these - it actually causes the body to conserve them.

Thus if you take LA continuously every 3 hours you will eventually build up

greatly increased levels of copper, zinc and perhaps other minerals. By

skipping at least half the time you ensure that your body maintains a

reasonable balance of copper and zinc, but still greatly increase mercury

clearance from the brain and other organs.

Also, it is impossible to mobilize the mercury and get it out without doing

SOME damage. This is minor as long as you allow some time between campaigns

to let it heal up, but you don't want to keep going so long it becomes

significant.

<<I am currently using alpha lipoic acid (100 mg 3 times per day on a

continuous basis) on myself to help chelate lead. >>

I don't know if LA is effective for chelating lead. DMSA, however, is

absolutely excellent at that.

I do know of several people who took LA 1-3 times a day this way and suffered

long lasting neurological and cardiac problems due to mercury concentration

caused by the rise and fall of blood LA levels. Two of these people

subsequently have relieved these problems via proper use of LA (every 3 hours

when taking it), demonstrating that a proper administration schedule is key

to using any chelating agent safely.

Lots of people take LA pretty randomly with no ill effect. Doing it "wrong"

is no guarantee something bad will happen, which sometimes leads people to

ignore the risks.

Vitamin C supplementation is also well known (and properly demonstrated in

the medical literature) to reduce lead levels.

Given the choice of two effective methods to reduce your lead levels, if I

were you I wouldn't use the LA for it. LA may well work but I would stick to

something I KNOW works if given the choice.

<<I am using chlorella and garlic (which I think is high in sulfur)>>

Yes, garlic is high in "sulfur."

<< on my 4.5 year old

autistic son during the 11 day "off" period of our DMSA cycle. Thank

you.

Dave >>

As you can see above, I would suggest doing it differently.

Andy Cutler

Onibasu Link: http://onibasu.com/archives/am/402.html