The issue of mercury toxicity is receiving a lot of attention lately. There are lawsuits being brought against Dentists and government entities for using mercury in amalgam fillings and vaccinations. There are even a growing number of dentists who are refusing to use mercury in their practice because of the mounting evidence of its harmful and potentially lethal effects.
Mercury is the most toxic, non-radioactive substance known to man — yes, even more so than lead or arsenic. Yet it is so ingrained in our society and has been for so many years. It is in our mouths in the form of amalgam fillings. It is in our seafood because of the toxic wastes we dump in our waters. It is in many vaccines and contact lense solutions as a preservative. And it has even shown up in many nutritional supplements being touted as “health foods”. If you have any doubt that mercury is a significant threat to public health, see the following article: http://www.mercola.com/domains/nomercury.htm
Among these so-called “health foods” are the numerous green food supplements that have become so popular in recent years. Prompted by the dramatic decline in nutrients in our produce over the past 40 years, several well-meaning food manufacturers have developed a relatively new category of health food supplements called “green foods”. These products generally consist of powdered juice forms of nutrient-dense foods such as wheat grass, barley leaves, and a type of farm-raised algae called spirulina. Green food supplements are generally rich in vitamins, minerals and a nutrient called chlorella, which among other healthful benefits, promotes the oxygenation of tissues on a cellular level. These green foods products are intended to be used as dietary supplements to address the nutritional deficiencies in our diets, especially in our fruits and vegetables. There are over one hundred such products on the market and that number is growing rapidly. They are consumed by mixing a teaspoon or so of the powder in a glass of water or juice.
We have used and promoted green food products for years in our practice. However, we recently learned from a biological dentist that most of these products contain toxic mercury. The irony here is that chlorella has long been touted by holistic health professionals as an excellent chelater of mercury (meaning it removes mercury from the body). So why would these green foods contain such a toxic substance? Well, Dr, Eugene Sambataro, DDS explains that the grasses and algae used in these products are typically grown in small ponds and lakes, which tend to contain higher concentrations of mercury than larger bodies of water. Because chlorella has such affinity for mercury, it “chelates” the mercury right out of the water and traps it in the final product. Even the green foods that are promoted as “organic” contain high levels of mercury.
How does Dr. Sambataro know these foods contain high levels of mercury? Because he has tested them. In his dental practice, Dr. Sambataro uses a mercury vapor meter to measure the amount of mercury vapor present in a patient’s mouth before suggesting the removal of amalgam fillings. This is the same type of device used in industrial settings to measure compliance with OSHA standards in the workplace. In fact, when Dr. Sambataro gave a talk here at our Lifestyle Center recently on Biological Dentistry, we had him perform this mercury vapor test on our green food products. He found that one of them contained very high levels of mercury while the other contained no measurable amount of mercury. The surprising thing about the product containing high mercury (which will go unnamed at this time) is that the manufacturer assured us it was mercury-free before we began using it in our practice.
As for the product that contained no measurable amount of mercury, Dr. Sambataro was impressed because it was the first green food product he has tested that did not contain significant amounts of the toxic substance. In light of this fact, ProGreens by Nutricology is now the only green food product we use and can recommend. (ProGreens can be purchased online at www.ingoodhealthinc.com )
If you are currently using a green food product, we recommend that you discontinue its use unless it has passed the mercury vapor test. And remember, don’t trust the claims of the manufacturer or sales rep that the product is mercury free. Chances are they never performed a vapor the product after packaging and they probably assume that “organic” is the same as mercury-free.
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