Molecular Mimicry: How Metals Hijack Your Nutrient Pathways

When you don’t get enough nutrients, your body soaks up toxins instead.
Molecular Mimicry: How Metals Hijack Your Nutrient Pathways
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Micronutrient deficiencies and heavy metal exposure affect billions of people across the globe.

Like a nutritional seesaw, when our bodies run low on key minerals such as iron, calcium, and zinc, the very systems designed to absorb essential nutrients can instead increase the uptake of toxic heavy metals. Nutrients and toxins battle for the same limited absorption pathways in the gut, and when nutrients are scarce in the context of deficiency, the gut grows less discerning, allowing more toxins to slip through.

Jennifer Sweenie
Jennifer Sweenie
Author
Jennifer Sweenie is a New York-based health reporter. She is a nutritional therapy practitioner and trained health-supportive chef focused on functional nutrition and the power of natural, whole foods. Jennifer serves on the board of directors for Slow Food NYC and is a former board member of the Farm-to-Consumer Foundation.