By pH health care professionals

What is mercury? Other than being a silver liquid in dangerous old thermometers, mercury is a toxic metal occurring naturally in the earth. You may have heard phrases like “mercury toxicity,” making you wonder how mercury can hurt us.

So, let’s find out what mercury does in our bodies.

In the process by which food turns into energy, some elements actually block the process, such as arsenic, mercury and fluoride. They slow down our natural efficiency.

What effect does this have?

People with mercury levels above what the body can tolerate can experience fatigue, numbness, nerve damage, atherosclerosis, heart attacks and high blood pressure. The effects can build up slowly over time. The actor Jeremy Piven became so ill after eating sushi almost daily (tuna is high in mercury) that he had to withdraw from a prominent Broadway play.

What can you do to be proactive?

• Use your chopsticks wisely. Large fish like tuna and mackerel consume little fish — and get lots of little doses of mercury. Order salmon and scallops. When in the fish market, choose the smaller fish, if you are buying fish whole. That goes for shellfish too.
• Get your mercury levels tested. pH Labs testing has been a wake-up call to many that the mercury in their diet (likely from fish) could be harming them!
•  Spread the word. Encourage relatives with high blood pressure to get tested, too.
• Consume plants that help your body get rid of metals. Plants like cilantro and watercress encourage your liver to pump out metals more quickly, lessening the effects of any mercury that you do consume.

Enjoy Your Healthy Life!

The pH professional health care team includes recognized experts from a variety of health care and related disciplines, including physicians, attorneys, nutritionists, nurses and certified fitness instructors. This team also includes the members of the pH Medical Advisory Board, which constantly monitors all pH programs, products and services. To learn more about the pH Medical Advisory Board, click here.