Could it be Mercury Poisoning?
I have just had a very interesting visit with a friend, who over the years, has been my intellectual opponent on the subject of nutrition. He has some radical views about the poisons and toxins that average people consume on a daily basis without knowing it, and he has rejected the notion of packaged foods for quite some time.
Additionally, years ago he deliberately rid his household of all chemicals. You might think this means only CLR, or other industrial-strength degreaser-type chemicals, but no, he is talking about items as innocuous as Bounce Dryer sheets! I guess this is the reason that I usually choose to debate him - I couldn’t believe that something as innocent as Bounce dryer sheets could be considered hazardous to one’s own health.
Recently, I have wondered why I seem to be fighting my own brain. I am not stupid, however I do sometimes do incredibly stupid things. Now in my fifty-first year, I seem to be doing more, not less, stupid things. Also, I am finding it harder and harder to remember names, and even events that recently have happened. Worse, I am constantly beating myself up and feeling depressed, which is not exactly healthy for one’s self-esteem. Lastly, I have become listless and find myself often without enough energy to do any kind of brain-work.
So the question of toxicity has suddenly become more relevant to me… is it possible that I have poison in my body? I can say with certainty that I do not spend any time considering that everyday household products might contain toxic ingredients. For example, I have never believed that tap-water contains toxic substances, as my friend believes - particularly in a rural mountain town with freshwater streams everywhere. I am now slowly becoming convinced that maybe tap-water is poison, even if mildly so. All tap-water contains chlorine, and it isn’t difficult to find information about the harmful effects of chlorine. Even worse, one might be fooled into thinking that bottled water in plastic bottles is the solution, but apart from the ridiculous expense of it, we have all recently learned that the plastic bottles themselves are toxic - they leach carcinogens slowly into the water they contain! The water in the bottles is nothing special either, in fact in some cases, it is just ordinary tap-water packaged into convenient containers. So water is something to pay attention to.
The other thing is detergents. You might not think of toothpaste as a detergent, but just for argument’s sake, let’s include toothpaste in the general category of household detergent. What I have learned is that the foaming agent of practically all recognized brands of household detergent is something called sodium lauryl sulfate. This is the same chemical that is used in industrial applications, such as cleaning engines or machines… think about it… do we really want the same chemical in our mouths (toothpaste) or in our hair (shampoo)?
A report published in the Journal of The American College of Toxicology in 1983 showed that concentrations of SLS as low as 0.5% could cause irritation and concentrations of 10-30% caused skin corrosion and severe irritation. This is stuff that the majority of us use every day.
But the true concern for me, after this recent visit with my friend, is mercury poisoning. This topic arose because he has an ebook which he is interested in selling, and he asked me to read it. This came right on the heels of a PBS program I watched a few days ago about the relationship between nutrition and brain-function (ultrabrain, by Mark Hymen), which although the subject-matter was not exclusively about mercury poisoning, the program did touch upon the subject.
Now, you might ask, how can one possibly be exposed to mercury? Where is it coming from? The answer is simple… your FILLINGS! That’s right - your fillings. There is a truly frightening video on youtube that shows the alarming toxins that a single amalgam-filled tooth emits. Not only does the tooth emit gas at all hours of the day, it emits more gas when exposed to pressure, heat, or chemical reaction with some types of food.
You can watch the video here:
So, my path from wondering about proper nutrition has seguayed to the other important topics of healthy drinking-water, and the effects of the possibility of mercury poisoning.
I have decided to get a heavy-metal blood test done, to see if there is any mercury in my blood, and I have also decided to pursue healthy water and whole foods as my first faltering steps into a better lifestyle, and hopefully a better-functioning brain. If there is mercury poisoning in my system, I will not hesitate to have the eight silver amalgam fillings in my teeth immediately removed.
I’ll keep you posted as I find out more.
