Cadmium - The Pseudo-Strength Element

CADMIUM, THE PSEUDO-MASCULINE MINERAL AND

THE EARLY DEATH MINERAL

By Lawrence Wilson, MD

Cadmium is among the most toxic of the heavy metals. It is a common metal found in cigarette smoke, in tap water, coffee, refined foods, in meats, often, and in foods from the sea, especially shellfish of all kinds.

Toxicity. Cadmium is extremely toxic, with acceptable levels one tenth that of most of the other toxic metals. Its effects are many, but it mainly affects the kidneys, the cardiovascular system, and is related to cancer.

Cadmium also contributes to many mental illnesses, particularly violence and other related disorders of behavior and mental attitude. Cadmium is so toxic to the brain that it causes what might be called ‘a small rebellion’ in the tissues of the brain, which results in violent thoughts. One notices this as one removes cadmium, that violent thoughts and even impulses diminish. Dr. Paul Eck was the first person to teach me this, as he noticed it in himself while taking certain nutritional supplements.

CADMIUM SYMPTOMS

Degenerative Diseases. Cadmium is involved in all of the major diseases of our time, including cancer, diabetes, arthritic syndromes, heart disease, kidney disease and others. One reason may be that cadmium replaces zinc in the body. Zinc is required for over 100 or more critical enzymes. These include enzymes needed for proper immune system activity, digestion, cardiovascular health, and much more.

Mental illnesses. Cadmium is also closely associated with many developmental, behavioral and mental disorders. These include but are not limited to violence, anti-social behavior and ADHD in children and in adults.

Birth defects and developmental disorders. Birth defects often are related to cadmium, when it replaces zinc and other metals in vital genetic functions and in the DNA and RNA of the body. This causes defective genetic expression, which is not the same as defective genes.

Aging. Cadmium hardens, toughens the tissues, and ages the body. It is associated with hardening of the arteries, hardening and destruction of the kidneys, and of all the organs, in fact. Cadmium is a “feel good” mineral, but it weakens the entire body.

The cadmium diathesis. This term can be used to describe many older people, specifically in America and Europe. They are often obese, diabetic or pre-diabetic, (higher blood sugar levels thought not always extremely high), cancerous inside, with some heart disease and hardening of the arteries and often high blood pressure tendency due to hardening and toxicity of the kidneys.

They are prone to aneurisms. This is important. Aneurisms are like ticking time bombs inside the body. They shorten the lifespan and cause sudden death.

“Old codgers”. This is not meant in any derogatory way, but is a term I have heard applied to some of these people. It means they are somewhat crusty, tough, basically good, common sense, more politically conservative and down to earth, reliable, survivors, often know about the military and served as soldiers and even generals if they are men, or helped out if they are women, in World War II.

Food and diet. They are also more tough-minded people who are resistant to change and resistant to eating a lot of cooked vegetables, which they regard as rabbit food. They prefer a steak, a baked potato with butter or sour cream, and they like a little sugar, too, though they are not sugar-eaters all day long. They also like their bread, which gives them their iron and a deficient carbohydrate that makes them fatter and somewhat mentally dull, but keeps them balanced in some way.

They are often handy, faster oxidizers, in general, not “burnout cases” like the present generation, lower in copper and magnesium which affects their heart, a little hard-hearted, a little higher in cadmium, often used to smoke cigarettes and some still do until their blood pressure goes up and the doctor stops it, more yang types of people (see the articles on yin and yang on this website), and most have a low Na/K ratio as they begin to age more and become more ill with heart disease and cancer.

They are not “yeasty” types like many younger people, they are not spacy, and perhaps are too grounded and somewhat rigid. In their aura, they are plugged, which is a term referring to a quality of their first chakra. The men, in particular, are often a little macho – a man’s man, one might say. They still have some ego left, but it is tempered by some zinc quality. They are immature in some ways, but much more mature than the more coppery types in some ways, in that they are more grounded and centered. See the article Copper Toxicity Syndrome for more on copper.

They cost the medical system trillions of dollars around the world, and can often be helped with nutritional balancing science if they will listen and change their diet to one of mainly cooked vegetables, no bread or potatoes, and less meat.

Vampirism. Cadmium is associated with vampirism. Read more about this in the article entitled Vampirism.

CADMIUM SOURCES

Hydrogenated or hardened vegetable oils. Cadmium is used as a catalyst to harden or hydrogenate vegetable oils to make products such as margarine, commercial peanut butter, vegetable shortening and related items. Every time you eat these products, you will get a little more cadmium that is a residue from this type of food processing.

An industrial contaminant. Cadmium is widely used in industry as a plating material, in galvanizing, the semiconductor industry, inks, dyes and many other applications. It is a very hard, tough metal and it actually hardens and toughens the body and even the personality to some degree. This is why Dr. Eck sometimes called it the pseudo-masculine element.

However, it finds its ways into water supplies and especially into irrigation water and sewage sludge. From there it gets into the food and into drinking water supplies all over the world today.

Cigarette Papers. Cadmium may be added to cigarette papers and those used to roll joints for smoking marijuana because, as I understand it, cadmium may keep the paper from going out once it is lit. A small amount of cadmium may also be added to some papers to make them stiffer or for other reasons.

Congenital cadmium. Cadmium passes easily through the placenta in utero and enters developing fetuses. This is why many children are born with behavioral or developmental disorders today. Cadmium is thus transmitted from generation to generation

Shellfish and most fish. Cadmium is found in most foods today, especially shellfish from coastal waters. These foods should be avoided by everyone on planet earth. It is unfortunate that many people are virtually forced to live on these foods if they are in poor nations and live by the sea. They are highly contaminated with industrial pollutants, one of which is cadmium. Others include mercury, of course, arsenic, and lead.

Junk or refined foods. Cadmium is also found in many other foods. These include, but are not limited to junk or refined foods of all kinds. The causes of the cadmium problems are:

1. Modern hybrid and genetically modified foods such as wheat and soy products, in particular, are already low in zinc, chromium and selenium today. This allows the absorption and uptake of more cadmium by thousands of enzymes.

2. Refining of flour and sugar then removes much more of the zinc, selenium, magnesium and chromium. This is done for many reasons, including commercial exploitation of these valuable trace minerals, now in high demand in China and elsewhere. These minerals, however, especially zinc, reduce the absorption of cadmium in our bodies. They also compete with cadmium for enzyme binding sites in the body, thereby protecting a person from cadmium toxicity to some extent.

When zinc, chromium and other minerals are removed from food, much more cadmium is absorbed. Eating foods that are low in zinc and chromium, such as vegetarian diets, and fruit, in particular, may worsen cadmium toxicity. Eating meat, for this reason, is protective against cadmium because of its higher content of zinc and other trace minerals such as selenium.

3. Hydrogenation of vegetable oils adds a little cadmium, as explained above.

4. Wrapping papers and plastics used in packaging refined foods may add a little cadmium.

5. Other. Cadmium may be used in other aspects of food processing, such as plating on equipment or inks, dyes and lubricants used on and around food processing equipment.

Coffee and tea, especially strong coffees. These beverages are the major sources of cadmium for many people around the world who do not live by the sea or eat a lot of fish and seafood. The coffee and other beans, or leaves of tea contain some, and the water they are made with contains more. This is why these are not as healthful products as they once were, before the planet became polluted with cadmium.

For this reason, cultures that use strong beverages such as these are not doing well in many cases. This includes parts of Europe where cappuccinos and lattes are popular, and the Middle East, where strong coffee and even strong tea is the norm. These foster violence among the people, as we see today.

Other Foods. Cadmium has contaminated most water supplies in the United States and other industrialized nations. Its presence is very subtle and may not even be detected unless the instruments are quite sensitive.

Combined with low zinc in the soil and extensive refining of flour, in particular, excessive cadmium has contributed to the epidemic of heart disease, cancer and diabetes that now dominate the spectrum of illnesses in the Western world.

Zinc Deficiency. This is a common cause for cadmium problems. Zinc is extremely protective against cadmium absorption in the intestines and protective against the incorporation of cadmium into many enzymes in the body.

This is an important reason why zinc is recommended for everyone on their nutritional balancing programs. Many doctors fail to realize the great need for zinc today - for many, many reasons. All nutrition programs and regimens of diet should contain extra zinc for this reason alone, not to mention a half dozen others.

Zinc deficiency may be due to over a hundred factors. Among the most important ones are diets of refined foods, congenital low zinc (born low in zinc), vegetarian diets, and most of all stress from any source. Others are eating zinc-deficient food, which includes most of it. Organic food is best but is no guarantee. Vegetarian and fruitarian types of diets are particularly low in zinc.

Other reasons for zinc deficiency are foods that deplete zinc. This includes all sugars, including fruits and juices. This is a reason we do not recommend much juice.

Zinc-depleting habits such as drinking alcohol, drug use, especially marijuana, the use of any stimulant such as caffeine, and anything that sets off a fight-or-flight response in the body such as anger, rage or fear will deplete zinc.

Since meat is one of the best sources of bioavailable zinc, vegetarians have a real problem with zinc unless they supplement their diets with pumpkin seeds or zinc tablets each and every day. Even then, the amount of seeds needed is greater than most people could possibly eat, and the zinc they contain may not be as biologically available as eating a little meat. Today’s pumpkins are deficient due to soils depleted of zinc, so they are not as good a source in many cases as they were 100 years ago, for example. This is why vegetarian diets often seem to lead to a shorter lifespan and are always dangerous, even if they have many other possible benefits. For more on this topic, read Vegetarian Diets and The China Study – A Book Review.

RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHER MINERALS AND VITAMINS

Zinc. Cadmium sits just beneath zinc in the periodic table of the elements. This means their structures are similar. Cadmium can replace zinc in the tissues and in enzyme binding sites. An important cause of cadmium toxicity other than exposure, is a zinc deficiency. If zinc is deficient due to the diet, stress, or for some other reason, the body will absorb cadmium from food, water or the air and use it in place of zinc.

Interestingly, a gentleman who manufactures surgical gloves told me if they want the gloves to be more flexible, they add zinc to the rubber mixture. If they want stiffer, more rigid gloves, they add more cadmium. Cadmium has a hardening and stiffening effect on many industrial products as well.

Copper. Dr. Paul C. Eck read that cadmium drives copper into the tissues. This can reduce the symptoms of copper toxicity in high-copper individuals. It may be one reason people enjoy and can become addicted to smoking cigarettes or marijuana, and coffees.

They have a high level of usually unavailable copper in the body, which is unpleasant. The cadmium in the cigarettes or cigarette papers helps reduce the effects of copper toxicity. This is a very important physiological connection between cadmium and copper that Dr. Eck figured out in himself, among his many other patients.

Other Toxic Metals. Cadmium is found with many other toxic metals in the body. This includes mercury, aluminum, arsenic and others. This is an important fact about cadmium. That is, when one detects cadmium, one can take an educated guess that the others are present to some degree.

Sodium. Dr. Eck also wrote that cadmium raises the tissue sodium level intensely. In the medical literature this is called an aldosterone-like effect. (Aldosterone is the adrenal hormone that normally raises sodium levels in the body).

The sodium level in a person’s tissues is a very critical indicator of health. When it is excessive or diminished, it impairs healing a way that is hard to overcome without balancing the level.

Anything that raises sodium will provide an energy boost, and often a temporary feeling of well-being. This is another reason why smoking, which provides a lot of cadmium, as well as coffee and perhaps even drinking a lot of tea and the use of marijuana can have an addictive tendency.

Dr. Eck once told me that if he had less integrity, he would manufacture and sell a cadmium tablet to make people feel better, since a low tissue sodium level always makes a person feel tired and often depressed.

Cadmium in health food store products. Sadly, many health products naturally contain some cadmium, and it might even be one of the active ingredients. Examples are fulvic and humic acid products, trace mineral products from the sea, and even some herbs, particularly Chinese and Ayurvedic herbs.

Taking these for a period of time often fools people into thinking they are really getting better when they are becoming toxic with cadmium. By the time they realize there is a problem, it is often too late to remove the cadmium, because removing cadmium is a slow and sometimes difficult process.

Calcium. Cadmium and calcium are antagonists. This is one important reason why everyone is given calcium and magnesium supplements on a nutritional balancing program.

Calcium helps remove cadmium by strengthening the immune response, by raising sodium a little, and by other unusual mechanisms that are not well understood. However, calcium does not automatically do this. Cadmium must be bioavailable in a way for calcium to bind it. This does occur with nutritional balancing program that balances the oxidation rate utilizing hair mineral analysis. It does not occur just be taking extra calcium in all cases, although taking extra calcium with magnesium is protective against some cadmium in all cases.

On a psychological and metaphorical level, calcium represents life and positive structure in the body, such as the bones. Cadmium represents shortening of the lifespan and death, and destruction of the bones and other positive structure in the body. This may seem vague, but it is absolutely true.

Calcium supplements and cadmium. People with cadmium toxicity may have difficulty taking calcium and perhaps magnesium. They may do better with pure calcium in the form of MCHC (microcrystalline hydroxyapatite crystals). I am not sure why this is so, but it might be worth trying if one cannot take Paramin or a cal/mag.

Iron, manganese and chromium. Cadmium is somewhat antagonistic to iron, manganese and chromium. This is one reason for the accumulation of these minerals in a biounavailable state, as they counter cadmium toxicity in a powerful way. In other words, the body may seek to protect itself from cadmium by accumulating even biounavailable iron, manganese and chromium. This process is common in the population, and is called the accumulation of the amigos. To read more about it, read The Amigos – Manganese, Iron, Aluminum, Chromium and Others.

RELATIONSHIP TO VITAMINS

Vitamin C. Vitamin C in high doses will remove cadmium from the body through a chelation process. This is used in nutritional balancing science. However, we do not use very high doses because vitamin C is extremely yin and will remove some vital trace elements along with the cadmium. This is a serious problem with all chelation therapy. It is not necessary to use large doses of vitamin C, especially for prolonged periods of time, to remove cadmium and other toxic metals for this reason, although it works.

Dr. Eck believed that vitamin C is so effective because vitamin C raises sodium, which cadmium does as well. The vitamin C substitutes for the cadmium in some way, keeping the sodium level higher and enabling the body to more easily remove some cadmium. This is a very important aspect of nutritional balancing science that I call removing the need for adaptation.

In other words, vitamin C helps remove the need for the use of cadmium as an adaptation to raise a low sodium level, which is usually due to weak adrenal and kidney activity.

The idea that a lethal substance like cadmium can be used by our bodies as an adaptation to stress is a fascinating one that Dr. Eck loved to talk about. It sheds a much deeper light on the subject of toxic metals, what they do, why they are present in the body, and how to remove them safely, gently, and more rapidly without needing chelating drugs that have serious side effects in some cases.

Chelation for cadmium. Dr. Eck found that EDTA used to remove cadmium always lowered the sodium/potassium ratio. This disturbed him greatly and he recommended against EDTA therapy for this reason. It cost him a lot of business, but he held to the idea that any therapy that caused this effect – weakening the kidneys and adrenals, perhaps – was suspect. I have since confirmed by speaking with many people who have used EDTA and other chelators such as DMPS, DMSA, chlorella, cilantro extracts, bugleweed, yellow dock and others that they all tend to remove some vital minerals along with the cadmium and other toxic metals. Many other problems with chelation are detailed in a separate article entitled Chelation Therapy on this website.

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CADMIUM

Cadmium is associated with toughness, hardness, and a need for control. This is actually how the metal feels and acts in nature. However, is a brittle hardness, and a very toxic hardness. It is a somewhat false strength at one level, and in fact, people with higher cadmium are terribly afraid of zinc strength, which is not as forthcoming, obvious or macho.

Hardness and toughness are considered masculine qualities, and Dr. Eck classified cadmium as a “male mineral”. This is a very important quality of minerals that has to do with their effects upon hormones, psychology and physiology. However, since cadmium is brittle and replaces zinc, a gentle male mineral, cadmium often is associated with violence and is considered in nutritional balancing an older ‘male’ mineral, meaning not a very spiritual male mineral. Dr. Eck called it the pseudo-masculine mineral because it is not really a strong, secure male mineral, as are zinc and selenium. Dr. Eck also called it the macho mineral, meaning it confers or offers one the appearance of a strong male presence but really it is weak and vulnerable underneath. It is associated with cancer, a stealth disease that can be ravaging the body, but the person can walk around as if all is well, even up until near the end of life.

I sometimes think of cadmium toxicity as living on stilts - an artificial lift for your sodium and adrenal glands, but one that is very shaky, weak and not very safe.

Because cadmium drives copper back into the tissues, many sensitive, emotional people smoke to calm their emotions. The emotional quality of high copper is replaced by an apparent toughness and strength.

However, it is a second-rate compensation that does not build real strength. In fact, it weakens the body significantly and leads to far worse problems later. However, this is an important consideration, because it can help one to understand the attraction of cigarettes, coffee, alcohol and many other common addictions.

Those who have smoked for a while may be so used to the feeling cadmium provides that they feel weak, vulnerable, and emotional without it. The same is true to a degree in coffee drinkers who also need their cadmium fix, in addition to the caffeine, another adrenal stimulant.

Cadmium removal symptoms for this reason. When one reverses the decline in health with a nutritional balancing program, one may experience temporary feelings of great weakness and fatigue temporarily. Fortunately, if one stays on a corrective program, the feelings will pass. I liken it to having lived on stilts. When the stilts are removed one can feel ‘low’ but also more grounded and more steady.

If the feelings are intense, eating more meat, taking more B-complex vitamins, taking a little more vitamin C, and perhaps taking more adrenal glandular substance or thyroid glandular substance can often support a person through this particular healing reaction very easily and simply. Rubbing the feet to balance the meridian energies in the body may also help greatly to relieve the symptoms of cadmium removal.

CADMIUM AND WOMEN

Cadmium actually plays an important role for women, who in today’s modern working world want to participate and hold high-stress jobs, and compete with men for these positions. Cadmium can offer women a certain toughness and hardness that opposes their coppery nature and allows them to function in so-called “male-dominated” power structures, corporations, government positions, and others. This is an interesting use of cadmium. Some of these women smoke cigarettes to toughen themselves, or they smoke pot, or they drink coffee, or they do other things to accumulate cadmium, which is not hard to do.

Even having a “tough ass” attitude about life seems to be associated with accumulating some cadmium. It is not a very spiritual attitude, but it keeps them going and gives them a kind of strength in the workplace and everywhere else.

Modern women’s problems. The downside is that cadmium is associated with cancer, diabetes, heart disease, depression, adrenal burnout and other serious ailments. These used to be less prevalent in women, but not any more. Even worse, cadmium is associated with birth defects, ADD, and other serious problems of childhood. This, too, is the lot of so many mothers today and truly sad to observe.

Also, cadmium is ungrounded, weak underneath, and really quite ill, no matter how ‘macho’ and strong it makes on feel. Many women feel this and, of course, have little idea what is going on inside their bodies ravaged by copper and cadmium.

CADMIUM AND HAIR ANALYSIS

Cadmium does not accumulate greatly in the hair, but rather in tissues such as the bones, kidneys and the brain. Thus, an acceptable amount of cadmium on a hair tissue mineral analysis that is not washed at the laboratory is about 0.01 mg% or 0.1 parts per million or ug/gm. A lower reading is even better, down to about 0.005 mg%. This is very low, but anything higher than this usually indicates excessive cadmium in the body.

The most common double 0 pattern. When one is a poor eliminator of toxic metals, a common condition today associated with adrenal exhaustion, sympathetic dominance, a low sodium/potassium ratio, or impaired eliminative organs, one’s vital energy level is low and the body cannot eliminate cadmium very well. The result is often an extremely low hair cadmium level such as 0.001 to about 0.004 mg% or about 0.01-0.04 parts per million. This we call a double O pattern.

It turns out that such extremely low readings on a hair analysis is a reliable indicator that a person has more of the metal inside the body. What is occurring is the body cannot eliminate cadmium well, so it is building up inside the body. I sometimes call this a tell-tale indicator, because it is a bit subtle to think that a very low hair toxic metal reading indicates the presence of more of that toxic metal inside the body. For more on this topic, read Double O Pattern.

Most people have some cadmium in excess in the body, so I would never use a hair analysis or any test such as a urine challenge test or blood test to dismiss or confirm cadmium toxicity. Cadmium can be locked away in the brain or the kidneys or elsewhere, and even giving a powerful chelating drug for a challenge test may not cause the dislodging or removal of very much of it. But it is often still there, and will come out during a nutritional balancing program. Then the hair cadmium rises, and the person may feel tired, moody, coppery and emotional, and sometimes very uneasy and vulnerable for a few days, usually. It usually passes quickly, however, as the body rebalances itself.

I think of the feeling of cadmium removal as having someone “pull out your electrical plug” on your television or other vital electronic device. It feels awful. Fortunately, it usually does not last too long – just a day or perhaps even less, while the body rebalances itself.

I am told there is a reality to this “pulling the plug” feeling that occurs in the subtle human body or aura. That is all I know about it at this time. It has to do with the first chakra of the body, which is associated with the adrenal glands and survival in the world. This is much more common and important with women, it seems, who, as explained above, use cadmium to “live in a man’s world” today more than ever before.

CADMIUM AND SEXUALITY

Cadmium has a lot to do with male reproduction. Toxicity is associated with impotence, in particular, rather than just a low sperm count. As cadmium accumulates, it is harder to have an erection, something that really bothers the ‘macho’ men.

Cadmium, women and sexuality. Cadmium makes women more sexual. This is important to know. It makes them more like the macho men. When the cadmium is removed, they may lose this quality.

Cadmium relationships. Women with a lot of cadmium toxicity are less in touch with their true, deep feminine nature, which has more to do with copper, manganese, selenium and other trace minerals that are either replaced by or blocked in some way by cadmium. This causes them problems in marriages, often, though not in casual sexual relationships in which their macho quality can make them more “fun”. In a marriage setting, however, or a deeper committed relationship, they are expected to bring out their true feminine side, and this is hard for them with the cadmium inside of their tissues, so the marriages have more difficulty.

Other macho qualities caused by their cadmium also can cause relationship problems for both men and women. They can be short-tempered or even a bit violent, a little angry all of the time, and superficial, perhaps, since cadmium does not have the spiritual depth and perspective of zinc which it replaces. This also affects relationships a lot for young women, who often have a lot of it, and for their male partners if they have a lot of cadmium. This is a large and fascinating subject that is discussed in much more depth in a chapter on the Sexual Aspects Of Minerals in Nutritional Balancing And Hair Mineral Analysis, 2010 edition.

CADMIUM REMOVAL

When a person pursues a nutritional balancing program, the low double 0 cadmium reading will inevitably eventually begin to rise on later hair tests as it begins to be mobilized and removed from the body. It can take years, however, and is one of the most difficult of the metals to remove because it has such powerful adaptive qualities, as discussed above. That is, it is such as powerful “crutch” or support for the body, even if it is toxic, that it takes a while to remove most of it.

To remove cadmium, it is essential to support the adrenals and the sodium level. We do this by giving nutrients that, in the mineral system, raise the sodium level. The mineral system is explained in other articles on this website. Among these critical nutrients to help remove cadmium are zinc, calcium, selenium, manganese, and vitamins C and E. We also often use a kidney formula such as Renamide by Endomet Laboratories in Phoenix, Arizona, to enhance cadmium removal.

Balancing the oxidation rate is also very important. Another very excellent therapy is the use of a near infrared sauna. Click here to read about this superb, inexpensive, safe and quite comfortable therapy. Sweating and the use of the sauna may also be very helpful, as cadmium can be removed through the skin.

Usually, it takes months or up to ten or more years on a corrective nutrition program before the body is able to eliminate most of its cadmium. In part, this is because cadmium is extremely toxic. If it were eliminated very quickly, a person would be in danger of dying due to the toxicity from the elimination process. Indeed, when a large cadmium elimination occurs, one may notice odd smells or tastes, a lot of fatigue and perhaps pain in the kidneys, bones or elsewhere. This usually passes in a short time, however.

One way to tell this is a healing crisis and not a problem is to test the hair at this time. An increased level of cadmium may be revealed at this time as the cadmium is often, though not always, eliminated through the hair and skin as well as through the other eliminative organs of the body.

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