Dr. Mark Hyman explains how environmental toxins damage your brain and outlines detoxification strategies from his Ultramind Solution program. He shares scientific data and patient stories showing the connection between toxin exposure and cognitive problems.
Hello, this is Dr. Mark Hyman. Welcome back to my series of blogs on my new book, the Ultramind Solution. Now, I have some bad news and some good news for you about your brain. The bad news is that we live in a poison world that damages our our brains. The good news is we know how to avoid and get rid of the toxins in your body, which give your brain a chance to heal and repair. You see, we're exposed to toxins we were never designed to deal with, and nearly all of them cause brain injury. A recent study of umbilical cord blood found 287 toxic chemicals, 217 of which are toxic to the brain and nervous system. And that is what the infants are exposed to even before they take their first breath. These include things like PCBs and mercury and lead and phthalates and bisphenol A and plasticizers and flame retardants and much, much more. You see, there are six million pounds of mercury emissions from coal-burning power plants every year and two and a half billion pounds of toxic chemicals released into the environment every single year. Where does it go? Well, at least some of it gets into our bodies and our brains. In fact, a recent government survey found an average of 148 chemicals in our bodies, and those are only the ones they tested. Did you know that 25% of New Yorkers have toxic blood levels of mercury from eating too much sushi? Or 15% of childbearing women in this country in America have toxic levels of mercury in their blood. Think about it, that means that 15% of the 4 million children born in the United States each year, or about 600,000 children, are exposed to toxic levels of mercury in the womb. Now you can learn more about how toxins damage your brain in chapter 4 of the Ultramind Solution. but there are 3,500 different chemicals that are added to our food supply and 3,000 chemicals that are in our homes. The average American literally consumes pounds of hormones, antibiotics, food additives, chemicals, artificial sweeteners and MSG each year. And each one of these toxic chemicals has been shown to harm the brain. The average person consumes a gallon of neurotoxic pesticides and herbicides every year by eating conventionally grown fruits and vegetables. And that's with people eating much less than the 8 to 10 servings of fruits and vegetables they should be eating. Remember, pesticides work because they are neurotoxic to pests. They attack their nervous system. A recent study in the Lancet medical journal clearly showed that food additives make children hyperactive. They took 300 kids, normal kids, and split them into two groups. Each group was given an identical looking colored drink. One was naturally colored and the other contained sodium benzoate and many other colors and additives. The children that drank the tainted drink were all much more hyperactive. These compounds and the total load of all the other toxins we are exposed to create changes in mood, aggressive behavior, depression, problems with attention and focus, sleep problems, reduced intellectual performance and memory loss. It isn't just consuming one red candy or one blue cupcake or the few drops of pesticide sprayed on our pint of strawberries that we eat once in a while. It's the consistent, repetitive, cumulative presence of these chemicals in our lives. So let me tell you a story of a patient of mine who had a miraculous recovery from what most medical experts say is an irreversible condition, dementia. The truth is that the brain is very resilient and can heal from toxins and wake up if you get rid of all the insults to the brain. and provide all the necessary ingredients for optimal functioning. So let me tell you about George. He had a diagnosis of dementia and came to see me with his wife. He couldn't manage his business affairs anymore. He couldn't read and remember what he read. He had become increasingly unable to function at home and had to withdraw from his family and social relationships. Now, as I said, there's no known effective treatment for dementia, but we do know a lot about what affects brain function and aging. Our nutrition, vitamin deficiencies, omega-3 fat deficiencies, inflammation from food, infections, problems in the gut, environmental toxins, stress, lack of exercise, hormonal imbalances, and trouble producing energy in our cells. All these are part of the Ultramind Solution and are found in the seven keys to an Ultramind. So I addressed all these things with George, but the biggest problem he had was a big load of mercury from living near a cement plant his whole life and having a mouthful of silver or mercury fillings. He also had a few genes that prevented him from effectively getting rid of or detoxifying the mercury from his body. And he had one of the highest mercury levels I had ever seen. The effects of this poisoning actually can be very severe. In one study of 465 patients with chronic mercury toxicity, 32% had severe fatigue, 88% had memory loss and almost 30% had depression. The good news that came out of this study is that removal of dental amalgams combined with a mercury detoxification program actually resulted in significant symptom reduction. But just doing one thing wouldn't help. So we worked hard to restore all the basic seven biological systems, the seven keys to an ultramind. The most important thing we did though was to have his dental fillings removed safely. I don't recommend this for anybody, only people with issues or problems. And we slowly helped him get rid of the mercury from his body. We gave him special foods like watercress and kale and cilantro and herbs like milk thistle and nutrients like selenium and zinc and special medications that help the body remove metals. We treated him as vitamin deficiency with high dose of B12 and folate and B6, which helps you detoxify. And after a year of aggressive therapy that was matched to his genes and his own quirky biochemical processes, not his diagnosis. We didn't treat his dementia, we treat the imbalances. He had a remarkable and dramatic recovery. Before I saw him, he couldn't manage his business and his grandchildren didn't even want to be around him. But after matching his treatment to his genes, he was able to function again, his grandchildren loved being with him again, his memory improved and he could read and remember what he read, and he could run his business affairs and he no longer isolated himself at home. but he became an engaged member of his family and community. And he can even remember and sing all the songs he used to sing in the shower. Now if you'd like to learn more about how to address detoxification, look at chapter 10 of my book, the Ultramind Solution. I want to remind you that you can actually get a free sneak preview of my book at www.ultramind.com. In my next blog, I'm going to teach you about how to boost your energy. We're going to learn about why conserving and making energy is so important to your brain and what can go wrong. And you will learn how all these toxins, bugs, and poor nutrition and hormonal imbalances and inflammation ultimately lead to cell destruction and death by a common mechanism, literally depleting us of our life energy.
