You might think there’s no way your child needs a heavy metal detox, but many parents who have already gone through issues of heavy metal contamination thought the same thing. 

Historical Metal Cases

One well-known case is one that happened in Flint, Michigan in 2014 when the drinking water for the whole city was contaminated with lead. The city had changed their water supply source from Lake Huron to the Flint River. This caused water distribution pipes to corrode and leach lead and other contaminants into the population’s water. 

This situation was a human-made public health crisis with tens of thousands of Flint residents exposed to dangerous levels of lead. They suffered symptoms such as headaches, stomach cramps, constipation, trouble sleeping, fatigue, muscle and joint pain, irritability, and loss of sex drive. One of the biggest problems with lead poisoning, just like other accumulations of heavy metals, is that people don’t look or feel sick. But the whole time they are being exposed, more and more of their cells are suffering and/or dying. When the damage gets to a critical point, there will be organ shutdown that can lead to death. 

The Different Types of Metal We’re Exposed To

Lead isn’t the only heavy metal that causes potential issues with health. Others that may be found in water that you won’t necessarily be aware of as it’s happening include arsenic, barium, cadmium, mercury, copper, uranium, and chromium. Other heavy metals such as aluminum, antimony, barium, strontium, and vanadium may be contaminants coming in from the atmosphere and environment. And still others such as beryllium, bismuth, platinum, tin, titanium, and manganese may be industrial or product contaminants. 

The bottom line is that we are surrounded by heavy metals. Live in the wrong place where there’s a lot of contamination of the soil and water and you end up with these heavy metals in your body. More challenging, you may find yourself surrounded by a medical system that sadly does not educate nor diagnose this sort of medical challenge as plainly as we’d all hope. 

What Heavy Metal Accumulation Looks Like 

Heavy metals affect us negatively. I’ve heard one case of tin toxicity (which has not been verified by a doctor however has been verified by a naturopathic practice). The husband of the family worked in his father’s business cutting metals, and tin was one of the main metals in those materials he worked on. When he took a bath, fine black particles lined the bathtub. The mother of the family was also contaminated from this tin dust, which was most likely transmitted to the entire family via the washing machine that was contaminated. But the worst part was that his son had neurodevelopmental problems and couldn’t speak normally.

When we started a heavy metal detox program for the mother, she also initiated the footbath part of it with her children. And within a week, her boy started speaking better, astonishing his speech therapist. His improvement has accelerated greatly ever since. 

Natural Methods for Heavy Metal Detox

There are many things that parents can do to start heavy metal detox for their children. Some of them may be things you are already doing on a regular basis. Below is a list of four of them.

Eat organic foods

In a study years ago, children who were switched to organic grains, nuts, fruits, and vegetables in their diet were found to have significantly fewer levels of contaminants that their bodies had accumulated. This occurred within a week. This doesn’t mean that their bodies were rid of all of the heavy metals and pesticides that quickly, but it does mean that their levels were remarkably improving. With heavy metals, they begin depositing in organs. The contaminants in the blood will be removed by the body’s detoxification systems first, then organs are next. Organ cleanses when done correctly take a minimum of six weeks for each organ.

Check out different types of clay footbaths

Nature has provided us with different types of clay that are healing and soothing to the body. These different clays contain their own special combination of minerals. And minerals are what helps pull out the heavy metals. Minerals act in a specific way in the body. 

For example, if you take a lot of zinc, you end up developing a copper deficiency. This is because zinc is an antagonist of copper, and vice versa. Every mineral has its antagonistic minerals (and vitamins), and agonists, or nutrients that the mineral works with as well. Thus, any old clay is not necessarily going to be the right one to do a heavy metal detox for the specific heavy metals your body holds. 

Take organic fruit and vegetable supplements

There are many good organic fruit and vegetable supplements that are on the market. I like Juice Plus the best, but there are other good ones. When you provide these organic supplements that contain hundreds of medicinal ingredients, the medicinal components get to work and do the detox process for you. For children, these supplements may be found in gummy form and should only be offered at the discretion of your primary medical care provider.

See an expert in heavy metals and detoxification

As much as you may read about these topics on the internet, unless you visit an expert who has had academic training on the topic, you won’t be addressing the issue properly. With 17 possible toxic metals, and then another 20 minerals and trace elements that can rise to toxic levels, balancing the nutrients is not child’s play. As mentioned before, by increasing or decreasing one mineral or heavy metal, you affect several others. 

The bottom line is really what is your intuition telling you? Do you feel like this article is speaking to you? If so, that may be the nudge you are being given to check into it more thoroughly. Find a doctor you can trust to discuss what you’ve been exposed to and what you are witnessing in your own health profile. One of the greatest investments you can make is in following your own intuition and in your own family’s health.