Your life depends on your heart’s health. Yet, a poor diet, unhealthy lifestyle choices, too much stress, not enough sleep, and environmental toxin exposure can compromise your heart health. Toxic metals are one of these toxins that may harm your heart.
New research suggests that toxic metal exposure, even at low levels, can increase the risk of atherosclerosis, which can lead to heart disease down the line. This is not new for us “chelationists” as we’ve been using chelation therapy to address underlying heavy metal issues in those with heart problems. However, this research is very exciting to confirm existing scientific research and real-life experience at our clinic.
Today, I want to discuss the link between toxic metals and your heart health and what to do about it.
Importance of Heart Health
Your heart health is essential for your overall well-being. You need to be pumping to be alive and thrive. Your heart is responsible for pumping oxygen-rich blood and nutrients across your body. This is critical for the function of all your vital organs. It supports your physical stamina and decreases your risk of heart attacks, strokes, hypertension, and other serious conditions (1, 2).
Neglecting your heart health can have serious consequences. Shortness of breath and fatigue can seriously affect your quality of life. Heart disease has a serious impact on your life that can even lead to disability and death. Regular exercise, a healthy balanced diet, low stress levels, healthy lifestyle choices, and reduced environmental toxin exposure are all critical for supporting cardiovascular health and enhancing your physical and mental well-being.
What Is Heart Disease
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a person dies every 33 seconds from heart disease. It accounts for about 1 in every 5 deaths and it’s among the leading causes of death worldwide (3).
Heart disease or cardiovascular disease is an umbrella term that refers to any condition affecting your heart and blood vessels, or cardiovascular system. Coronary heart disease is the condition that most people think about when hearing the word heart disease. It’s also the most common type of heart disease.
Coronary heart disease occurs when your arteries become clogged with plaque. Your arteries supply blood to your heart. If plaque develops, your arteries harden and narrow, which decreases the blood supply. This means that your heart will get less oxygen and fewer nutrients. Over time, this will weaken your heart muscles and increase your risk of irregular heartbeat and heart failure. Plaque in your arteries can also block the blood flow completely causing a heart attack.
Other forms of heart disease include irregular heartbeat or arrhythmia, congenital heart defects, dilated cardiomyopathy, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, aortic stenosis, mitral valve prolapse, mitral valve regurgitation, heart failure, and heart attack. These are also serious conditions with potentially devastating consequences, including death (3, 4, 5).
What Are Toxic Metals
Heavy metals or toxic heavy metals are naturally occurring materials that offer no benefits for the human body. On the contrary, they can have adverse effects on our environment and living organisms, including your body.
They can interfere with normal biological processes. They may bind to proteins in your body that, under normal circumstances, would be activated by beneficial minerals, such as magnesium or zinc. They can increase oxidative stress and inflammation and result in chronic symptoms (6). Some common toxic heavy metals include arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), and mercury (Hg).
Common Sources of Toxic Metals
Common sources of toxic heavy metals may include:
- Lead paint dust, mainly in older buildings built before 1978
- Water contamination from old pipes or groundwater contamination
- Air pollution
- Industrial manufacturing and occupational exposure
- Non-organic fertilizer usage on crops
- Dental mercury amalgam fillings and unsafe removal of these fillings
- Cigarette smoke
- Unsafe coatings in cookware and food containers
- Certain cosmetics, hair dyes, tampons, and other beauty and hygiene products
- Certain medications and herbal supplements
- Food, including fish, chocolate, and tea
New Study on Toxic Metals and Cardiovascular Health
A new study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology has found that toxic metal accumulation in the body is linked to plaque buildup progression in the arteries, which can seriously impact cardiovascular health (7). These findings can inform our practice in preventing and managing atherosclerosis and heart disease by targeting heavy metal exposure.
What Is Atherosclerosis
Atherosclerosis is a major cause of heart disease. It is a condition in which fatty deposits, cholesterol, and other substances build up on the inner walls of arteries and form plaques. Over time, these plaques can harden and lead to the narrowing of the arteries. This can reduce blood flow to tissues and organs, which often results in serious health complications, including heart attacks, strokes, and peripheral artery disease.
Atherosclerosis leads to coronary artery calcium (CAC), which is a predictive measure for future cardiac events. CAC levels can be checked non-invasively. Risk factors for atherosclerosis include an unhealthy diet, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, smoking, diabetes, and as you will learn from this article, heavy metal exposure (8).
The Study on Toxic Metals and Atherosclerosis
Environmental pollutants, including heavy metals, have only been recognized recently as a potential risk factor for cardiovascular disease. However, there still isn’t enough research on the topic, especially when it comes to looking at its association with CAC. This study aimed to look at how urinary metal levels, biomarkers of toxic metal exposure, and internal metal doses affect CAC levels (7).
Researchers looked at 6,418 men and women between 45 and 84 years of age from diverse racial backgrounds. Participants didn’t have clinical cardiovascular disease. The data was gathered from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA).
First, they measured their urinary metal levels, including non-essential metals, such as cadmium, uranium, and tungsten, and essential metals, such as zinc, copper, and cobalt. Both types of metals are commonly seen in people with cardiovascular disease in the US population due to widespread industrial and agricultural exposure from fertilizers, oil production, welding, batteries, nuclear energy production, and tobacco smoke.
Researchers found that toxic metal exposure might be linked to atherosclerosis due to an increase in coronary calcification. They noted that CAC levels were higher at baseline and even higher after a 10-year period for measured metals. For cadmium, they noticed a 75% higher CAC over a 10-year period. For tungsten, they noted 45%, for uranium 39%, for cobalt 47% after 10 years. For copper and zinc, however, they noted a drop after adjusting for cardiovascular risk factors. They noted higher urinary metal levels in participants that were older, had less education, or were of Chinese descent, and higher urinary uranium, tungsten, cadmium, cobalt, and copper levels in those from Los Angeles.
These results correspond with another paper on atherosclerosis. A 2024 review published in Analytical Methods: Advancing Methods And Applications looked at the race elements in urine samples from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) (9). They found that small amounts of toxic metals can be found everywhere and also that even low levels of toxic metal exposure can impact heart health. The implication from the research is that heavy metal exposure is on par with smoking and cholesterol as significant risk factors for disease of heart arteries.
The study highlights that we need to make more serious efforts to control toxic metal exposure in our air, water, and food. Pollution specifically is one of the biggest risk factors due to agricultural and industrial activities and exposure. Additionally, we need to take measures not only to reduce toxins in our environment and decrease our exposure to them but to protect our bodies so we can counteract the potential effects of heavy metals.
Strategies to Improve Problems from Toxic Metals
We’ve all been exposed to toxic metals and we will continue to experience some level of exposure. So how can you reduce your exposure levels and reduce your risk for heavy metal-related health issues? Let’s see.
Reduce Your Risk of Toxic Metal Exposure
Reducing your toxic metal exposure is the first step! Follow a healthy diet and select food that’s low or free from heavy metals. Be particularly careful with fish and select species with the least mercury content. Pay attention to your cosmetics and personal hygiene products. Select menstrual products that are free from heavy metals. Check your home to make sure that there is no lead hiding in the paint, dust, or pipes. Avoid smoking cigarettes and second-hand smoke. Drink purified water instead of tap water.
Carefully consider removing any dental amalgam fillings as most of them are mercury-based with the help of a biological dentist. I have a very thorough post-amalgam removal protocol I’ve recommended for many decades that includes the use of chlorella and intravenous vitamin C.
If you are at a high-risk job for heavy metal exposure, wear protective gear and boost your heavy metal detoxification. Switching jobs is even better if you are able to.
Eat Foods That Help to Counteract Toxic Metals
Following a nutrient-dense, anti-inflammatory diet rich in whole foods is critical, however, there are some foods that can help remove and counteract heavy metals. I have written about these in detail in this article.
In summary, the following foods may help to counteract heavy metal exposure:
- Sulfur-rich foods: Cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, garlic, and onion are examples of sulfur-containing foods that can help in the process of detoxification.
- Foods high in vitamin C: Oranges, strawberries, grapefruit, kale, and red peppers can help reduce the toxic effects of heavy metals thanks to their high vitamin C content.
- Pectin-rich fruits and vegetables: Pectin is a soluble fiber found in pears, green apples, citrus fruits, cabbage, beets, and carrots. Pectin has been found to increase heavy metal excretion.
- Foods containing amino acids: Amino acids are considered natural chelating agents and can be found in corn, whole grains, spinach, turnips, plums, grapes, and pomegranates. Be mindful that some surprising foods, such as rice and rice-based products (arsenic) and carrots (lead), can be a source of metal exposure.
Support Detoxification
Supporting your body’s natural detoxification pathways is critical for removing toxic metals from your body. Drink lots of purified water to aid hydration and detoxification through sweat. Consider using an infrared sauna and getting sweaty during exercise to cleanse from toxins through sweating. Improve your lymphatic flow through exercise, rebounding, and dry brushing.
Try using grapefruits, prickly pear, cranberries, other berries, and olive oil in your diet for better kidney and liver detoxification. Add some liver-friendly herbs, such as milk thistle, licorice, ginseng, and garlic, to support liver cleansing and detoxification. Support your gut with daily probiotic supplements and foods rich in pre and probiotics.
Try Supplements to Reduce Heavy Metal Burden
You could also consider some supplements to support detoxification from heavy metals exposure:
- Zeolite: It is considered a toxin binder for removing toxic heavy metals from your body (10).
- Glutathione: It may support better detoxification and lower oxidative stress, cellular damage, and the risk of various health issues (11, 12).
- N-acetyl cysteine: It is a great antioxidant that can also support liver and kidney detoxification (13).
- Vitamin C: It helps detoxification, has metal-binding properties and is excellent for cellular and immune support (14, 15).
Consider Chelation
Chelation therapy is a great option for removing toxic metals from your body. It uses a chelating agent that binds to heavy metals in your body to allow easier elimination. Chelation is most commonly used for acute toxin exposure. However, it might also help with chronic toxic metal exposure.
After offering this therapy for 8 years prior, I was an instrumental part of the completion of the Trial to Assess Chelation Therapy, which was a landmark study in this field in understanding the role of chelation therapy for heart disease patients (16, 17).
Chelation therapy is usually provided through intravenous (IV) therapy. IV chelation therapy may decrease the negative effects of various toxic metals (18, 19). A 2017 review published in the Caspian Journal of Internal Medicine has found that chelation therapy helped to reduce cadmium toxicity (20).
I recommend a solution mix that contains significant amounts of vitamin C and a chelator (EDTA) that removes heavy metals (21). This mix is infused in a medical setting for select patients. It can also be considered for heavy metal-related heart issues.
I recommend that you learn more about the potential benefits of IV chelation therapy for heart health in this article. If you are in our area, we offer chelation therapy depending on your medical history and test results. Make your appointment here.
Other Articles to Read on Toxic Metals
Here are some other articles I have written about toxic metals:
- Heavy Metals in Food: Here Is What to Do
- Heavy Metals in Tampons? What Can You Do About It
- Heavy Metals, Mast Cell Activation, and Histamine Intolerance
- What Kinds of Foods Help to Counteract Toxic Heavy Metals?
- Lead Exposure and Nutrient Deficiencies: How to Improve Your Health After Lead Exposure
- The Risk of Mercury and How to Improve Your Health After Mercury Exposure
- Cadmium: Improve Your Symptoms from Cadmium Exposure
- Toxic Heavy Metals: How Are We Being Exposed?
- Understanding The Connection Between Heavy Metals And Heart Disease
- Chelation Therapy: Is It Time Now?
Other Strategies to Improve Your Heart Health
Finally, here are some further strategies to support your heart health:
- Follow an anti-inflammatory, nutrient-dense diet with lots of greens, vegetables, fruits, herbs, spices, sprouts, fermented food, nuts, seeds, grass-fed meat, pasture-raised poultry and eggs, wild-caught fish and seafood, and wild game, and remove refined, ultra-processed foods.
- Eat foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids, such as fish and seafood, and use omega-3 supplements.
- Hydrate your body well with purified water.
- Move your body throughout the day and exercise at least 5 times a day for 20 to 30 minutes, including cardiovascular workouts.
- Maintain a healthy weight or lose weight if you need to.
- Quit smoking or if you are a non-smoker, don’t start. Avoid second-hand smoke.
- Limit your alcohol consumption.
- Reduce your stress levels and support your mental health. Meditation, mindfulness, yoga, journaling, and gratitude are great options.
- Get at least 7 to 9 hours of restorative sleep at night.
- Monitor your blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol and get regular check-ups.
Next Steps
If you’ve been exposed to toxic metals, I recommend that you follow the tips in this article to protect your heart and overall health. My website has many articles on this topic to serve as a great resource.
If you are dealing with any symptoms of toxic metal exposure or cardiovascular symptoms and need advice on how to improve your nutrition and health, I welcome you to start a functional medicine consultation with me for further personalized guidance. I invite you to book your consultation here.
Check out my Histamine Intolerance Course here. Learn on your own time, from anywhere. Get an inside look at the most helpful functional medicine tests for pinpointing imbalances, ways to identify and manage the most common (and sometimes surprising) mast cell triggers, and learn what to eat, what to avoid, and why.
