Heavy metals, like lead, mercury, cadmium and arsenic, are one of our biggest health problems. Used to manufacture many common products, they’re now found throughout our air, water and food. Virtually all of us harbor toxic heavy metals in our bodies.Heavy metals bioaccumulate, so even small exposures add up over time, triggering problems like heart disease, thyroid disease, dementia, neurological disease and birth defects. Tiny amounts of mercury have been shown to damage the brain of a developing fetus or child.Heavy metals cause problems by displacing other minerals needed for essential body functions. For example, cadmium can replace zinc in key enzymes, causing those enzymes to malfunction so critical biological functions can’t be performed.Many physicians use chelation to remove heavy metals—a “chelating agent” is ingested that binds with heavy metals and carries them out of the body through urine and/or feces. Chelation therapy is especially recommended, and has often been a “m…

The biggest misconception about osteoporosis is that it can be prevented simply by getting enough calcium in the diet or through supplements. At Beyond Health we often get questions about “what’s the best calcium for building good bones?” On the other hand, many people tell us they’ve heard that supplemental calcium can be dangerous (we’ll get to that later).But first, while we’re glad that more and more women (and men!) of all ages are taking proactive steps to build bones that will last a lifetime, building healthy bone is a little more complicated than just getting enough calcium. Calcium plays many vital roles in our bodies—in energy production, nerve transmission, muscle contraction, blood clotting and more—but it is certainly most well known as the major component of bone (it makes up about 65% of our bones). But like the star player on a football team, calcium can’t “win the game” by itself. It needs a complete team of vitamins and minerals backing it up.For examp…