Re: Actually cilantro can be dangerous for some mercury

Hi Owen,

I'm sorry I shouldn't have posted such a short message without expanding but there's been a lot of discussion about mercury and chelation on the Candida Forum recently and I just feel I'm going over the same subject. Plus I'm certainly not any kind of expert on cilantro or mercury, but that's partly the point.

First I said cilantro might not be safe for *some* mercury toxic people, not all.

Obviously any sort of chelation programme should be done carefully and with some sort of understanding of the process as mercury isn't something to be dealt with lightly. My reasons for posting a caution about cilantro is that not much seems to be known about it's pharmacology and there are aren't any specific protocols set out which instructs people how to chelate with cilantro. There's obviously evidence that cilantro does chelate mercury but would people know exactly how it works, how much to take (1 leaf or a bunch of leaves?), when to take it, how often to take it (every day, every couple of hours)????

If thousands of people read curezone messages every day and a certain percentage read that cilantro chelates then go straight out and buy a load of it and start juicing, it's possible they may stir up too much for their body to handle leading to a possible redistribution of the mercury. The redistribution theory comes from the work of Andy Cutler, a PhD chemist who has researched the chemistry of mercury and developed one of the safer chelation programmes. He believes chelation should be done frequently (ie every 3-4 hrs, including throughout the night) using very low doses of the chelators alpha lipoic acid, with DMSA or DMPS. Much more is know about these three chelators, their chemical structure and how they behave in the human body etc. His programme seems to be one of the safest ways to chelate....perhaps not *completely* safe (can chelation ever be completely safe) but apparently one of the safest. The frequency is to keep blood levels of the chelator constant to minimise side-effects and possible redistribution.

This might not suit everone...not everyone wants to take substances like DMPS or DMSA and would rather go the natural route and stick to things like cilantro and chlorella. They may well do fine but they won't really understand the process and thus have no control over what's happening in their body.....this is particularly dangerous for people who are very sensitive and quite ill....ideally they should carry out chelation in a more controlled fashion for their own safety.

I've read testimonies of people who've used cilantro (and chlorella) and had very bad reactions, ie a worsening of their symptoms or developing new symptoms (confirming theory of redistribution when chelation is done haphazadly and without control). I personally have had bad responses to chlorella and also felt quite odd when I started eating cilantro.

Yes chelators should be used AFTER Amalgams have been removed (wait 3 months before starting ALA), but even then if the person doesn't know how much cilantro to use, how often etc they're not really in control of the process. So they are still putting themselves at risk if they use cilantro *after* Amalgam removal as they don't know if they're going to be one of those who reacts badly. Also they might not be able to afford to buy tonnes of vitamin C and other supplements which support chelation and minimise side-effects, and this again should be taken into account as to how slowly or quickly they chelate, though obviously with anyone the slower is always the safest.

It's really about protecting the most vulnerable from the potential dangers of chelation.

Anyway I've rambled on a bit, I hope that makes things a bit clearer.

Anne


some useful links....

http://www.noamalgam.com
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/Autism-Mercury/
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/frequent-dose-chelation/