Although the nutrient-dense, acid reflux diet is a major step to healing and building optimal health, removing amalgam fillings (silver fillings) is extremely important as they are a major source of heavy metal toxicity.
What most people do not realize is that the largest portion of metal used for fillings is mercury–at least 54% mercury! The mercury is mixed with other metals (copper, silver, tin and zinc) that actually increase its toxicity through galvanization–an electrical current produced from two or more dissimilar metals, thereby increasing the rate of mercury corrosion from 10-20 times! So while the teeth are protected from further decay, the resulting heavy metal toxicity may be devastating to health and be a serious block to overcoming acid reflux.
Mercury is extremely toxic in very minute amounts, and has been linked to many neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Multiple Sclerosis. Heavy metals migrate to fatty tissues like the tissues of the brain and the myelin sheath that protects nerve cells. Mercury in small amounts can cause brain lesions as it can alter the cell membrane structure of developing brain neurons resulting in their rapid degeneration.
It is interesting to note that while dental office staff is carefully instructed about the vigilant handling of amalgam material as it is classified by OSHA as “hazardous,” that once it is put in your mouth–it becomes safe? In 1992, the World Health Organization declared that mercury is so poisonous that no amount of mercury absorption is safe! In fact, there is a constant mercury vapor that is released from amalgam fillings even after 50 years!
Mercury is a “cytotoxin.” It is poisonous to all living cells and can bind with any molecule called a “sulfhydrl”–which is found in most proteins–the building blocks for all tissues. As a result–mercury can interfere with virtually any process or organ in the body.
Hal Huggins, DDS, MS, a leading biological dentist who has been a pioneer in informing the public about mercury toxicity, writes in his book called, It’s All in Your Head, The Link Between Mercury Amalgams and Illness that “Mercury kills cells by interfering with their ability to exchange oxygen, nutrients and waste products through the cell membrane. Inside the cell, mercury destroys our genetic code, DNA, leaving us without the ability to reproduce that cell ever again. Immunologically, mercury embeds itself in a cell membrane, giving the cell the appearance of being “non-self,” which is the trigger for the immune system to destroy that specific cell. With mercury in your cell membranes, the immune system will start destroying your own tissues, thus the term autoimmune disease. Examples of these are diabetes, multiple sclerosis, scleroderma and lupus.”
Dr. Michael Ziff, DDS, who with his father, Sam Ziff, took a series of critical studies and reports examining the adverse effects of mercury and combined them in a single symptom list that analyzed 1569 patients who had eliminated their mercury-containing dental amalgams (see the book, The Mercury in Your Mouth–The Truth about “Silver” Dental Fillings, Quicksilver Press, p. 8-9), stated that, “You wouldn’t take a leaky thermometer, put it in your mouth, and leave it there 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Yet that’s exactly what happens when an amalgam filling is installed in your mouth.”
A summary of how mercury interferes with basic metabolic processes is eloquently described by Alfred Zamm, MD, FACP in this statement from his research: Mercury poisoning is impaired oxidation. It’s like having an invisible cord around your neck that’s strangling you, but you can’t feel the cord is there. [The strangulation] is biochemical, but the principal is the same: mercury reduced the amount of oxygen you get. The body keeps adjusting, but with every adjustment it gets sicker and sicker. And ultimately you will die from this.
Most people are unaware that as mercury toxicity deprives the body of oxygen, the body in turn initiates a support of Candida overgrowth as a protective mechanism. Therefore, even with a superb nutrient-dense, anti-Candida dietary protocol, if a person has a mouth full of silver fillings or mercury amalgams they may not recover from acid reflux!
Dr. Louisa Williams’ important book called Radical Medicine points to research done by Dr. Dietrich Klinghardt in the 1990’s that shows how mercury amalgams initiate Candida overgrowth.
He states that: “Mercury suffocates the intracellular respiratory mechanism and can cause cell death. So, the immune system makes a deal: it cultivates fungi and bacteria that can bind large amounts of toxic metals. The gain: the cells can breathe. The cost: the system has to provide nutrition for the microorganisms and has to deal with their metabolic products.”
In the book, The Mercury in Your Mouth–The Truth about “Silver” Dental Fillings, it discusses the fact that indigestion and weak stomach acid are associated with mercury toxicity. The gastrointestinal tract will absorb the highest levels of mercury because the fillings are constantly in contact with saliva. When the immune system is compromised by mercury, fungus multiplies rapidly.
Although the safe removal of dental amalgams is a very complicated process requiring an extremely specific protocol and a biological dentist must thoroughly assess the health of the patient before removal can be recommended, this is a prudent step in long-term health.
Removing mercury amalgams along with a nutrient-dense, acid reflux diet may help to alleviate the pervasive health problems associated with Candida overgrowth and dysbiosis significantly.
