Transcript
Speaker: So we'll start with mercury. Basically exposure to mercury begins even while we are still in the womb, so we can't really avoid it. All we have to do is try to minimize the damage that it can do by avoiding it as much as possible and supporting our natural detoxification system.
Speaker: So mercury is in the air. Large fish like tuna are a source of it. Many cleaning products have it. Many pharmaceuticals have mercury in it. Fertilizers, fungicides, they also have mercury in it. And a major source of mercury getting released into our environment is coal burning for energy production.
Speaker: There are various forms of mercury, organic and inorganic. One organic form of it is actually used in fish farming and many medications due to its strong antibacterial and antifungal properties. This is why, as you'll see later in the module on diet strategies, I recommend to always stay away from farmed fish. Even if it is organic salmon, I would still stay away from it because of this potential risk and there's other risk with farmed fish, of course.
Speaker: The problem with organic mercury is that it can easily cross the blood -brain barrier, so it means it can easily get into the brain and the central nervous system and it can bind to tissues, damage them, and it can cause us all kinds of neurological, cardiovascular, or respiratory problems. In fact, I looked at one paper that reported that
Speaker: Mercury poisoning and autism have nearly identical symptoms in some cases such as self -injurious behavior, social withdrawal, lack of eye contact, lack of facial expression, hypersensitivity to noise and touch, and repetitive behaviors. Of course, that's acute toxicity we're talking about, but the effects of chronic low -level toxicity are much more insidious
Speaker: Mercury can deplete glutathione. It can trigger excitotoxicity. It can interfere with glutamate metabolism. It can inhibit important enzymes. It can contribute to oxidative stress. As I already mentioned, it can damage the blood -brain barrier.
Speaker: It can damage other structures and tissues like cell membranes. It can disrupt methylation. It can also contribute to autoimmunity. So it is a real threat to our health. So we really need to ensure that we support our body's detoxification systems in order to manage and deal with it as well as we can. This is something I'll cover in later modules.
