Is Oral Chelation as Good as Intravenous Chelation?

I know you feel that intravenous EDTA chelation therapy is beneficial. What I want to know is how you feel about oral chelation. I have received several advertisements promoting oral chelating agents that are supposed to clean out all toxic metals in the body and unclog arteries. Do they work? Are there any natural oral chelating agents that are useful for removing toxic metals from the body?

I don't know of any product that does all the things you mention. No one I know of has come up with an oral agent that works as well as intravenous EDTA chelation. If they have, I'd love to see the research to back up the claims.

Although they aren't extremely powerful chelating agents, some substances that can be taken orally seem to have a specific affinity for certain toxic metals. Because they are natural and nonpatentable, however, no major studies have been undertaken to prove just how effective they might be. As such, the best dosages and ways to take them have yet to be revealed.

The following three herbs all have certain detoxifying and chelation abilities:

• Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale). The root of the dandelion plant can be used to both chelate and detoxify. It is effective on most man-made molecules. A tea can be made by adding 1 cup of boiling water to 1 teaspoon of the cut or powdered root. Up to 3 cups a day is recommended.
• Ground Ivy (Glecoma hederacea). Ground ivy seems to be specific for removing lead. To make tea, add 1 cup of boiling water to one teaspoon of the leaves. Three cups a day is recommended.
• Yellow Dock (Rumex cripus). This herb is specific for removing aluminum. A tea is made by adding 1 cup of boiling water to 1 teaspoon of the root material. The dosage is 3 or 4 cups a day.

In addition to those three herbs, other compounds have been shown to have chelating ability, including—

• Flax oil. Flax oil has been shown to chelate aluminum from the body.
• Selenium. Selenium has exhibited chelating abilities with arsenic, cadmium, silver, and sometimes lead.
• Sulfur. Sulfur has certain chelating abilities, as do many sulfur-containing amino acids.
• Alkylglycerol. Alkylglycerols are unusual compounds that have a specific ability to chelate mercury and carry it out of the body.

These herbs and compounds are available in most large health food stores or from online supplement retailers. Although none of them are what I'd call extremely powerful or quick-acting chelating agents, they can be quite effective over the long term.

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