Chronic Stress and Sequestration (Poor Elimination) of Toxins

Lessons from Hair Mineral Analysis

Detoxification Pathways and Stress

In order for the body and brain to optimally detoxify, or to address inflammation, we need to be in the calm/relaxed state for as much time as possible. Some say at least 80% of the time in order to stay healthy. The detoxification and anti-inflammation pathways are not needed during experiences of acute stress, so are down-regulated and deprioritized in fight, flight or freeze.

Thus, when we are chronically stressed, and stuck in our survival instincts, we are largely exiled from these restorative, restful states, for long periods of time. So what happens to any toxins which we ingest, or come into contact with, when we are stuck in our stress responses? They get sequestered in the body, to await a time when the body can relax enough that they can be safely processed and dealt with. If we never spend enough time in calm rest, these sequestered toxins build up in body.

As Andrew Cook succinctly puts it:

“if the body is surviving an external threat, internal issues are encapsulated and put in hold… ‘poor eliminator’ just means that there is an external alarm state and so internal toxicity is encapsulated.”

I see this as directly analogous to how body memories of stressful episodes get stored in the body, awaiting for the time it is safe enough for them to be processed.

Body Memories and Trauma

Sequestration and Release

In my view, the fascia/connective tissue is prime real estate for where the toxins get stored and encapsulated.

What Fascia Decompression and "Block Therapy" Did For Me

I visualize this as the toxins getting surrounded/embedded in collagen cysts or adhesions, which block flow and energy as they build up.

This backlog of toxins needing to be processed then creates a problem when we finally start listening to our bodies, and begin trying to address our issues. The sequestered toxins can then start to be released into the body for elimination. Too much too fast, and this poisons the systems, making symptoms, brain fog, skin conditions, pain, etc., worse, a so-called “healing crisis”, analogous to a Jarisch–Herxheimer reaction when treating some bacteria with anti-biotics. Detoxification protocols therefore need careful titration after a period of chronic stress.

Hair Mineral Analysis

Heavy metals are a case in point which illustrate the concepts of toxin sequestration, which then come to the fore via hair mineral tests. I sent some of my hair to be tested a few years ago, and the results were very telling in this regards, and are illustrative.

The data are interpreted using MINERAL LEVELS IN HUMAN HAIR – IDEALS, RANGES, TOXICITY AND POOR ELIMINATORS.

“Poor eliminator pattern is often associated with adrenal burnout and a very slow oxidation rate. It makes sense that when the vitality is low, the body simply does not have enough energy to remove hidden toxic metals or biounavaiable forms of the physiological minerals.”

Of the elements shown in this first table above, Copper, Maganese, Chromium, Iron, Boron are all apparently within this “Poor Eliminator” profile for me.

The analysis of my metabolic type and implications which came with my hair mineral analysis report seemed to describe me remarkably well at the time.

On the high Molybdenum, I had been supplementing with low dose of it for some time prior to the hair test, to combat the aldehyde poisoning aspect of dopamine and l-dopa supplementation in Parkinson's Disease, so interesting this is actually seen in the profile, and this is a validation of the method.

On the quite high Sulphur, sulphur is one of my bugbears - I had very severe problems with sulphur foods and sulphur supplements: my sulphur detox pathways appear broken, along the lines of CBS Mutation and Low Sulfur Diet, but likely caused by chronic stress rather than genetics. Interesting that sulphur levels are at the high end then. I wonder if this is the problem, or whether the molybdenum supplementation, also vital for sulphur detox, was detoxing the stored sulphur out of my system, at that time?

Yikes on the Arsenic!

As for the rest of the toxic minerals shown in this second table, I have very low levels in my hair sample. Good right? Not according to the Poor Eliminator Patterns of hair mineral analysis:

“A poor eliminator pattern consists of an extremely low reading of either a toxic metal or one of the nutrient minerals. The criteria or cutoff point for a poor eliminator pattern is different for each mineral. The pattern indicates that the mineral is sequestered and cannot be easily eliminated. Because it cannot be eliminated well, in all cases, the mineral is present in toxic amounts. The very low level of the mineral does not indicate that a person does not have the mineral in the body. In fact, the opposite is true.”

According to the table, for me, Uranium, Mercury, Cadmium, Lead, Berylium were below the limits for a Very Poor Eliminator Pattern.

The third table shows some more elements from my hair test analysis. Again, they are quite low overall as compared to normal. As we have been discussing, this doesn't mean that these elements were low in my body, but that my system showed signs of being very poor at recycling and eliminating these elements.

This makes perfect sense to me, as being frozen with Parkinson's Disease (high Dorsal Vagus activation), and stuck in fight/flight for most of my life before that (high Sympathetic activation), and then burnt out, means I never spent much time in healthy Ventral Vagus (calm/relaxed/restful) states in which healthy detoxification occurs.

Summing up the "Poor Eliminator Analysis", for me:

Uranium, Mecury, Cadmium, Lead, Berylium are all ranked as VERY POOR ELIMINATION.

Copper, Maganese, Chromium, Iron, Boron, Nickel all rank as POOR ELIMINATION

This is a lot it seems of build up, and points to the severe chronic stress involvement of Parkinson's Disease.

Detoxification Protocols

One can find many protocols and diets for detoxification, such as “chelation” protocols for heavy metals. However, when we have been in chronic stress for a long time, and hence have a lot of sequestered toxins to deal with, these protocols can be problematic, and great care is required not to release too many toxins into the body too fast. Ultimately, the best protocol, in my view, is to deal with the causal chronic stressors, and to relearn how to inhabit the calm, relaxed restful states, i.e. restoring the natural detoxification pathways of the body, which will then also prevent toxins levels building up again. In particular, fixing broken sleep, and then prioritizing good sleep, are at the top of my list, as this is when the majority of natural detoxification occurs.

Our course “Emotional Trauma, Fascia and Breathing” has even more practical strategies for health: