In this article, I present the cases of two athletes, Trevor, a running enthusiast and Natasha, a professional triathlete. Trevor is now 59 and Natasha is 22 years of age. Both are health conscious people who appear to have been doing all the right things to remain in great condition. However, something has recently gone terribly wrong for both of them!
Natasha Bowyer
“I am a 22-year-old triathlete. I began my journey with the sport around 10 years ago. I slowly increased my commitment to the sport during this time, to where I am now able to train almost as a full time athlete, with some part time university study thrown in. During my time in the sport I had some good results, but over the years have struggled with various health issues, and have found it difficult to find proper answers to the issues causing them.
My problems started with iron deficiency and energy issues. I then began (and still am) getting multiple stress fractures. Some of which I can pin point some contributing factors for their occurrence, but no overriding explanation for them. I also had an unusual and serous blood infection following a cycling crash which required being on intravenous antibiotics for several months. It was after this crash I first made contact with Gary Moller to attempt to rebuild my immune systems more naturally.
I have had good results with the work I have done with Gary, but still have not been able to reach a healthy enough state to race as an elite triathlete (which is my goal). I do not have bone density issues, but I still continue to get stress fractures, suggesting that my bones are weak.
It wasn’t until recently that I feel I may have finally begun to find an answer to my bone issues and some of my other health issues. My HTMA test showed an excessive level of cadmium in my body, which can contribute to bone weakening, low iron and energy production issues.
This was an interesting finding, and when I began to consider how the cadmium may have got into my system at high levels I have been able to narrow it down to almost one thing; eating very large amounts of strawberries and grapes. In season, for a number of years I would have consumed up to four chips in one day. I have cut my strawberry intake to only home grown, spray free fruit. My large intake of strawberries was mostly due to the supposed ‘health’ benefits I thought they possessed, as well as the incentive that they were ‘low calorie’.
I am now working through the low process of cleaning the cadmium out of my system.”
Trevor
As you would gather, I have known Trevor for many years and we have had some good running battles over the years. I had lost contact with Trevor, so it was quite a shock when he turned up at my clinic late 2015. He was so stiff and sore he could barely get down to take his shoes and socks off. Riding a bicycle and a motorbike were his main past-times but these were placed on hold due to the hip pain.
A subsequent Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA), below, showed the pattern that is consistent with undesirable calcium shifting from bones to soft tissues, low manganese associated with cartilage disease, and elevated zinc relative to molybdenum which is associated with inflammation and immune dysfunction.
What piqued my interest was the hint of toxic elements, including cadmium (Cd), mercury and lead which are associated with some of the complaints that Trevor was presenting with. So, we treated what we saw and what we suspected, including attempting to mobilise toxic elements, should any be hiding deep in the body, such as in the bones, fat, liver, kidneys.
Unfortunately, for Trevor, his hip joints have suffered so much damage that they are beyond healing. The pain and dysfunction are such that surgical intervention is required. In the meantime, we must do what we can to get all the cadmium out of his body to ensure the rest of his joints do not go the way of his hips and also to get his general health and energy back to the previous high standards.
Information in this post is inherited from Garry Moller, Functional Nutrition Consultant. To read the full article and discover more on Cadmium toxicity follow this link to the full article: https://www.garymoller.com/post/2017/01/03/cadmium-toxicity-found-in-athletes-with-bone-and-joint-disease
