Parsley is one of the most important herbs in anyone’s culinary cabinet and is also one of the most essential herbs for kidney cleansing and regeneration. But did you also know that it is one of the most effective herbs to use for high blood pressure and heart health?
But can it detoxify tissues, and does parsley remove heavy metals from the body? Yes, in actuality, parsley is one of the most effective herbs for heavy metal detox. It is full of antioxidants, chlorophyll, and nutrients that help it bind and purge free radicals that cause damage to the cells. It is anti-inflammatory, boosts immunity, and assists the lymphatic system to eliminate toxins through the elimination pathways.
Since parsley is very rich in chlorophyll, or the compound that makes plants green, it is the ideal herb to use for absorbing toxins. Chlorophyll acts as a vacuum in the body – it looks for the negatively charged toxins and binds to them to make them less harmful. It helps the liver with the detoxification process to denature and purge toxins like alcohol, pesticides, and environmental pollutants from the blood, tissues, and lymphatic system. Overall, chlorophyll is known to pull mucus and heavy metals out of the body.
Parsley is likewise loaded with Vitamin C, which helps aid in anti-aging and inflammation, and is also known to prevent breast cancer, strengthen bones, and aid in digestion!
Signs of Heavy Metal Toxicity
Heavy metals are all around us in the environment – from our drinking water, teeth fillings, car exhaust, medication, household products, and even our food! Although low exposure can be handled by a healthy body, if you work with and around chemicals, it is essential to keep your diet alkaline and that you undertake frequent detoxification protocols.
The most common heavy metals that impact health negatively are aluminum, mercury, copper, lead, arsenic, cadmium, and chromium, and tend to aggregate in the fatty tissues of the body, most notably the brain.
Heavy metals can enter the body either through the skin, inhalation, or ingestion. Once in the body, heavy metals are known to degenerate vital organs and glands, cause hormonal imbalances, weaken the nervous system and the brain and harm the nerves and cognitive function over time.
Neurodegenerative diseases take years to develop in the body and are the result of accumulated toxicity in the nervous system. This is exactly why it is of essential importance to detoxify from heavy metals often, and the consumption of herbs like parsley is one way to do so deliciously!
As mentioned, heavy metal toxicity takes time to evolve into symptoms as the body – especially the liver – fights to ward off its effects through adaptation and compensation. But once the liver becomes overburdened and sluggish with toxin overload, many of the metal toxins will float in the bloodstream looking to attach to chemistry that is most “storative”.
The following list includes the most common symptoms of heavy metal toxicity which are warning signs that the body requires cleansing and detoxification to regenerate. If left untreated, these milder symptoms could turn into long-standing symptoms akin to neurodegenerative disorders like Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and multiple sclerosis.
Do bear in mind that the following symptoms are warning signs of body toxicity that could be related to other toxins and not heavy metals. If you want to ensure that heavy metals are causing your issues, the best thing to do is to do a clinical test that can evaluate the levels of heavy metals in your body.
However, whatever the root cause, the treatment should always be the same – full-body detoxification that cleans out toxic waste, strengthens the elimination organs and pathways, and hydrates the body to heal degenerated tissue.
The most common signs of heavy metal toxicity include:
- Lack of energy
- Poor circulation
- Weight-gain
- High blood pressure
- Unexplained aches and pains
- Allergies
- Cold hands and feet
- Mood swings
- Night sweats
- Parasites
- Skin problems
- Sore or receding gums
- Autoimmune diseases, including Lyme disease
- Limited recovery from exercise and weakness
- Neurological disorders
- Digestive problems
- Frequent colds and flu
- Loss of memory
- Metallic taste in the mouth
- Brain fog and poor memory
- Depression, manic depression, and/or anxiety
- Dementia
- Digestive issues, such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
- Chronic aches and pains (symptoms of fibromyalgia)
- Tremors
- Impaired motor function, hearing, speech, vision, and gait
- Anemia
- Higher risk for heart attacks
Common Sources of Heavy Metal Exposure
Now that you are aware of some of the most common symptoms of heavy metal poisoning, it is important to trace back where exposure might have occurred. Some of the most common culprits of heavy metal exposure that are not very well known come from personal products – make-up, cleaning products, hair sprays, deodorants, and cleaning products.
The production of many conventional products is not very well regulated and many products that we place on our bodies contain trace elements of heavy metals, most notably ammonia, aluminum, copper, lead, and mercury.
By switching to all-natural and organic products, you will ensure that you are not placing a toxic overload on the body that can accumulate and cause illness over time!
Some of the other common and little-known sources of heavy metal exposure include:
- Aluminum foil and aluminum pots/pans
- Carpet and area rugs
- Conventional red lipstick, cosmetics, powders, eyeliner, and nail polish
- The shiny glaze on ceramic plates, mugs, and dishes (may contain lead and cadmium)
- Lead paint residue (especially in homes built in the US before 1978)
- Lead pipes and tap water
- Furniture and Mattresses (protective finishes, dyes, and fire retardants)
- Whitening toothpaste
- Conventional deodorants
- Conventional (non-organic) herbs and spices
- Conventional shampoos, body washes, shaving creams, and body lotion
- Washing detergent
The best advice I could give is to always read product labels, and if you don’t know what an ingredient means, do not buy it. If you wouldn’t eat it, don’t put it on your skin, as the skin is a permeable organ that absorbs fumes and elements from the environment, everything you put on it will be directly absorbed into the bloodstream and carried to the liver. Instead, invest in all-natural products; your body and quality of life will thank you!
Likewise, even though you may have done your research that the tap water in your region is quality enough for consumption, I still truly recommend investing in a filter that can filter out the most common heavy metals. Perhaps the water is considered safe but your pipes may be old and can be leaching lead. It is better to be safe than sorry, especially when it comes to water!
Another tip is to switch to organic foods and non-packaged foods (usually full of preservatives and served in aluminum trays and foil), since pesticides are full of heavy metals, and since food is medicine, it is optimal to consume an alkaline diet that is raw, organic and local. If you ensure that at least 50% of your diet comes from fruits, veggies, herbs, and seeds, you can help your body in its detoxification processes and regeneration greatly.
The Benefits of Parsley for Heavy Metal Detox
Not only does parsley remove heavy metals, but did you know that dried parsley has even more antioxidants than fresh parsley? This means that you can buy parsley in bulk and make tea, salads, curries, and dishes throughout the year.
However, fresh parsley does have its place! Juicing parsley and ginger with your other greens will also provide powerful cleansing to the vital organs, especially the bowels. Juicing also helps to assimilate all the nutrients in veggies, fruits, and greens into cells quickly, meaning the body doesn’t need to spend too much energy to digest them and can utilize their nutrition for repair and hydration right away.
Parsley is a natural diuretic and stimulates all the elimination pathways, making it one of the best green detoxifiers! It is likewise high in glutathione, which is a compound that helps the liver function optimally. In addition to its detoxifying benefits, parsley is a natural antibiotic that helps the body fight infections and eliminates parasites.
One potential concern that has been gaining traction about using parsley for heavy metal detox is that since parsley attracts heavy metals and much of our soil contains heavy metals, parsley itself would introduce heavy metals into the body.
My opinion about this is that since conventional soil does contain plenty of pesticides (and subsequently heavy metals), only buy your parsley certified organic. How sad would it be to not consume incredible greens and produce that have plenty of medicinal qualities only due to the poor condition of our soil? If possible, always buy locally and organic; and even better, establish a relationship with local organic farmers in your area, which will also improve your connection to your food!
What Other Foods Can Help With Metal Detoxification?
There are likewise other similarly beneficial herbs that you can add to your diet in addition to parsley to help detoxify the body more efficiently from heavy metals! By combining them together – especially superfoods with major binding agents like chlorella, activated charcoal, and seaweed – and consuming them interchangeably, you can ensure that their synergistic effects will not only help bind heavy metals in the body, but also help purge them out of the body.
For example, both parsley and cilantro are best used with chlorella, since according to Dr. George Georgiou, only consuming the herbs and greens by themselves may pull toxins out of tissues, but this toxic overwhelm may be too much for the body to eliminate. Therefore, the heavy metals may get stored in the connective tissues (where the nerves reside) instead of being stored in fats and other safer hiding places the body had used to store them in the first place.
Inevitably, proper detoxification can occur if an adequate binding agent is consumed alongside detoxifying herbs, greens, and foods.
Here is a comprehensive list of heavy metal chelation foods and the best binding agents that help with elimination:
Bitter greens (especially dandelion greens)
Nettle
Cilantro
Spirulina
Lemon juice
Blueberries
Beets
Turmeric
Ginger
Chlorella (binder)
Seaweed (binder)
Activated charcoal (binder)
If you are interested in introducing more heavy detox herbs and binders into your diet, I recommend to always purchase herbs organic and those that come from a wildcrafted source! One of my favorite all-organic herbal online shops is Starwest Botanicals. They have not only been around for decades and offer the highest quality products, they also have some of the largest selection of organic herbs in the US!
*Starwest Botanicals is my affiliate partner and any purchase through the link above would not be at any additional cost to you but would help support the growth of my small business. Thank you!
Final Thoughts
So, does parsley remove heavy metals? Yes, but consuming parsley with a binder like a chlorella works wonders in eliminating heavy metal chelation from the body effectively.
In fact, you don’t have to invest in fancy heavy-detox cleanses. Simply consuming a variety of herbs and bitter greens on a daily basis will help cleanse the liver and detoxify heavy metals that accumulate over time. Regular consumption of these foods and herbs will help keep the body’s detoxification pathways strong, which will facilitate the body’s natural self-healing capacity.
And if you’d like to learn more about your health issues and how to detox your body naturally, you can work directly with me!