Does Fulvic Acid contain heavy metals?
Heavy Metals and Fulvic Acid:
Heavy metals are ubiquitous in our modern world. But just what are they, and should we be concerned about their effects on our health? Heavy metals are generally described as metals with relatively high atomic weights. They can be divided into two main categories: essential and toxic.
The essential heavy metals include copper, cobalt, iron, nickel, magnesium, molybdenum, chromium, selenium, manganese, and zinc. They function in critical biochemical and physiological processes within our bodies and are protective and essential for life.
It is worthwhile to note that even these can become toxic if we are exposed to abnormally high levels of them. For this reason, the concentrations of essential metals found in supplements are regulated by the FDA to ensure that formulations do not exceed the amounts that can be toxic to the body.
The toxic heavy metals include cadmium, mercury, lead, chromium, silver, and arsenic. They disrupt and poison critical biochemical and physiological processes. Even in minute quantities, they can have deleterious effects on the body, causing acute and chronic toxicities in humans.
Heavy Metals are Everywhere:
Both essential and toxic heavy metals are naturally present in our environment. Each of us has a range of heavy metals present in our bodies, including small quantities of toxic heavy metals. This “background level” of heavy metals in our bodies is normal and the resultant oxidative stress generated by these heavy metals is normally mitigated by the naturally produced antioxidants within our cells.
Exposure to toxic heavy metals from industrial air pollution, cigarette smoke, exhaust fumes, and other sources can overwhelm our body’s production of antioxidants.
Enzyme Disrupting Toxic Heavy Metals:
Toxic heavy metals exert toxicity through multiple mechanisms. They generate free radicals which are unstable and highly reactive atoms that disrupt enzyme activity and damage cellular macromolecules and cell membranes. Oxidative stress is essentially an imbalance between the production of free radicals and the ability of the body to counteract or detoxify their harmful effects through neutralization by antioxidants. Oxidative stress is a major component in our aging process and recovery rate from injury or exercise.
Antioxidants to the Rescue:
The body may not be capable of sufficiently mitigating all the resultant stress from toxic metal exposure. This is where externally supplied antioxidants, such as those contained in fruits and vegetables, or from fulvic acid supplements such as Fulvic Mineral Complex, can scavenge harmful free radicals also known as reactive oxygen species (ROS).
Free radicals are molecules that lack an electron. Free radicals are not only produced by ingesting or inhaling heavy metals or using household and environmental chemicals, but also our metabolism produces free radicals. The antioxidants in the Fulvic Mineral Complex are also highly reactive and easily break apart to donate an electron to neutralize the oxidative process.
High Test Results Prove Antioxidant Activity:
Antioxidants, such as those naturally generated by our bodies, are protective agents against oxidative damage by neutralizing free radicals.
A specialized test was conducted on the Fulvic Mineral Complex. The Trolox Equivalence Antioxidant Capacity (TEAC) test revealed the Fulvic Mineral Complex to have 173 times greater antioxidants than pomegranate and 188 times more antioxidant power than blueberries!
So, while fulvic acid has naturally occurring heavy metals in minuscule amounts, it has an incredible amount of antioxidants to offset not only the heavy metals present in FA but also heavy metals already in the body.