Methylate Mercury

i.e. do probiotics convert the toxic inorganic form of mercury to the HIGHLY TOXIC organic form?

from the metals list...

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... on the metals list caught my attention when she posted the
following website which commented on the fact that mercury can be
methylated by even healthy bacteria in probiotics. There were no
references in the article below:
http://www.tuberose.com/Mercury.html

but I believe they probably came from Timothy Dooley's NDF site:

http://healthydetox.org/tips/ndf_detox_issues_considerations/probiotics_hmd.html

Probiotics and Heavy Metal Detox

Why do you recommend that a person not take therapeutic doses of
beneficial bacteria, or probiotics, at the beginning of heavy metal
detox or while they have amalgams still in the teeth?

Let's look at 3 of many scientific studies done with probiotics,
yeast and oral bacterial:

"Transformations of Inorganic Mercury by Candida Albicans and
Saccharomyces Cerevisiae," Applied and Environmental Microbiology,
Jan 1991; 57:1:245-247; S Yannai; I Berdicevsky, L Duek; Dept. of
Food Engineering and Biotechnology, and Unit of Microbiology, Faculty
of Medicine, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology.

"The Methylization of Mercuric Chloride by Human Intestinal
Bacteria," Experentia, 31:9; 1975; Sept 15, 1064-5; IR Rowland; P
Grasso; MJ Davies; British Industrial Biological Research
Association, Woodmansterne Road, Cashalton, Surrey, SM5 4DS, England.

"Methylation of Mercury from Dental Amalgam and Mercuric Chloride by
Oral Streptococci in-vitro". Heintze, U. Edwardsson, S., Derand, T.
and Birkhed, D. Scand. J. Dental Research 91(2) 150-152, 1983.

Oral bacteria, yeast and probiotics all methylate mercury. Therefore,
you want to minimize any contact between them. This could explain
some of the adverse reactions reported by parents and patients who
have begun detox with massive doses of probiotics in the interest of
correcting dysbiosis or fungal overgrowth. No doubt dysbiosis is a
pressing problem, but I think that the additional methyl mercury
produced is much worse. It adds to the damage to the nervous system
and further promotes the dysbiosis by further compromising the
intestinal immune system.

Would certainly be interesting to find these articles. Anyone find
this the case with probiotics? I'm going to bring these to the
attention of Donna Gates, who authored the diet high in restoring
healthy gut bacteria: Body Ecology Diet.

Joyce__________________________________________


I asked some people on a different forum (amalgam illness) what they thought of this and this (http://herballure.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB19&Number=4115&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1&vc=1) is what they ame up with.

For your information.


What? Does this mean I probably shouldn't be taking my acidophilus tablets now?

Jeeze...


Its a myth that inorganic is the nice friendly lovable cuddly kind of mercury and that methylmercury is the dangerous kind.

Actually its the inorganic mercury which is so nasty. The organic mercury is only nasty because it gets into the brain/body and gets de-methylated (into the inorganic form).

Those animals which can methylate mercury are able to largely protect themselves from the negative affects of Hg. Thats why fish can carry a large amount of mercury yet be healthy.

Its only once they are eaten by species that can't methylate (such as man) that the mercury becomes dangerous once more.


There are 3 major forms of Mercury: Organic Mercury, which is bonded to Carbon, Mercury salts, formed when the Hydrogen of an acid is replaced with inorganic mono- or di-valent Mercury metal and inorganic Mercury which may be in liquid or gaseous phase. In any form Mercury is dangerous, albeit each for different reasons.

Methyl Mercury is lipophylic and can pass inhindered through cell membranes. When present in food it is absorbed 100% through the GI tract and transported in blood attached to certain proteins. Methyl Mercury is able to pass through the blood/brain barrier and is transported deep inside the brain by hitching a ride on certain essential amino acids. Once in the brain, it finds its way into brain cells, where over time, it loses its methyl group and once more becomes the highly energetic divalent elemental Mercury. With 2 extra electrons, the mercury wreaks havoc by bonding with and blocking certain functions within the cell, resulting in eventual cell death (cytotoxicity). Due to the fact that elemental Mercury is not lipophylic, it is no longer able to pass through the lipoprotein cell walls and therefore remains locked in the brain.

Back outside the body, elemental or metallic Mercury comes in 2 forms; the metal and the gaseous vapor. The metal form of Mercury is not soluble and therefore cannot pass through the walls of the intestine, so is not absorbed. However, it is thought that a small proportion of the Mercury forms Mercury salts by substituting the Hydrogen in digestive acid to form Mercuric Chloride, which is water soluble and therefore easily absorbed. In addition it is also believed that micro organisms in the gut methylate a small portion of the metallic Mercury, which would then be immediately absorbed. Mercury salts cannot pass through the blood/brain barrier and therefore target other organs.
Metallic Mercury begins to vaporize at 38 degrees C and Mercury vapor is 95% absorbed through skin and mucous membrane. This is probably the major absorbtion route of Mercury in dental amalgams. Since elemental Mercury cannot enter the brain, it targets other organs, mainly nerves and kidneys.


I swear to God if I find out that is true I will hang it up once and for all and just go on the all sugar diet until I drop dead. I swear I could kill whatever idiot came up with the idea to put mercury etc..in fillings.