(First published 2017 - updated 17th December, 2024)
One of the things I love about my job is the challenge of unravelling unexplained health problems in people who, by any kind of measure, should be at the pinnacle of good health.
Summary for Busy People
Cadmium toxicity can harm even health-conscious athletes like Trevor (59) and Natasha (22). Both faced unexplained health issues—Trevor with severe hip pain and Natasha with recurring stress fractures and infections.
Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA) revealed high cadmium levels in both, likely from consuming large amounts of strawberries and grapes grown in contaminated soil.
Cadmium weakens bones, the immune system, and energy production. Detoxification has helped Natasha resume training, though Trevor's hip damage requires surgery.
The article urges better food testing, awareness of toxin sources, and proactive health measures to address unexplained illnesses linked to environmental contamination.
Natasha's Story
"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 serious 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."
Natasha Bowyer
Trevor
As you will 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 in 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 later Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA), below, showed the pattern that is consistent with unwanted calcium moving from bones to soft tissues. The low manganese was linked to cartilage disease, and the high zinc relative to molybdenum, was linked to inflammation and immune dysfunction.
I was interested in the hint of poisonous elements, including cadmium (Cd), mercury, and lead. These elements are linked to some of the complaints 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.
It is always the repeat test that gives the breakthroughs in solving these health mysteries!
Trevor's HTMA (09/2015)
Trevor's repeat HTMA (06/2016) - cadmium!
Bingo! Trevor's repeat HTMA has Cd off the chart — spectacular!
What these tests do not tell us is where the cadmium came from and when. More about this later.
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. Meanwhile, we must do everything we can to get all the cadmium out of his body. This will help the rest of his joints not get the same damage as his hips and will also help his general health and energy return to the high standards he used to have.
Natasha
Natasha was not a happy person when she contacted me. Natasha was a promising professional triathlete who's career had fallen completely off the rails. She was almost house-bound while on powerful intravenous antibiotics. Despite all her efforts, including very low training volumes and restricted running, she was crippled by repeated stress fractures.
Natasha's HTMA (08/2015)
Like Trevor, there is the familiar pattern of calcium loss from the bones and low manganese. Of considerable interest is the presence of significant levels of cadmium (Cd).
As with Trevor, we treated what we saw and what we suspected. As with Trevor, one challenge was to find out where the cadmium was coming from.
Natasha's repeat HTMA (10/2016) - cadmium!
Another Bingo result with elevated Cd! Like Trevor, Natasha has evidence of cadmium toxicity. There is a lot of action to be seen in her repeat HTMA, but these are side issues for this article about cadmium toxicity.
How did Trevor and Natasha come to have such high levels of cadmium?
The main source of cadmium accumulation in New Zealand soils is superphosphate. Cadmium is also found in some aviation fuels and diesel. It is used as an anti-corrosive and as an anti-fouling agent on boat hulls. I see a lot of cadmium in farmers, engineers, and mechanics. Many suffer toxic elements-related diseases as they get older.
Here is a typical HTMA for an older farmer:
"Two million tonnes of superphosphate fertiliser containing 30 to 40 tonnes of the heavy metal cadmium is put on New Zealand soils every year. Standard farming practice over the past 70 years has involved the use of superphosphate, especially in dairy farming, which has resulted in dangerously high levels of cadmium in our soils and consequently our food. In the Waikato for example, 160,000 hectares should now be officially labelled as contaminated were it not for the fact that changes to legislation in 2012 removed agricultural land from any contamination classification.
Cadmium accumulates in the kidneys and liver, and is linked with breast and testicular cancer. Kidneys from sheep older than two and a half years are not permitted for human consumption because of the cadmium levels, but may be used as offal in products such as blood and bone to be used in home or market gardens or in pet food."
Fish pellets, which are made from bone and offal from older animals and chickens, may be a source of cadmium, which is further concentrated in farmed fish such as salmon. As a precaution, I recommend that my patients avoid farmed fish, including shrimps.
Cadmium accumulates in cartilage and the active outer portions of bone, hence the association of cadmium with diseases of the bones and joints. Cadmium weakens the immune system and interferes with many nutrients, including iron, copper, zinc, manganese, selenium, sulphur, and vitamin C. Cadmium is associated with extreme fatigue, poor skin, inflammation, cancer, osteoporosis, and depression. It is nasty stuff!
Cadmium: It has to be in their food
Because neither Trevor nor Natasha had occupations or hobbies that might have them exposed to cadmium, our attention was focused on their food. Natasha gave the first clue: habitually eating lots of grapes, and strawberries by the punnet.
Detoxification
Some of the supplements I have given these athletes are known to mobilise cadmium. This will explain the spike in cadmium in the repeat tissue analyses for both athletes. When we begin mobilising deposits of cadmium deep in the body, such as the bones and cartilage, symptoms may temporarily worsen. With time, the symptoms do abate and the person will gradually feel better.
Please be aware that we are talking about "cadmium toxicity" rather than "poisoning". With "toxicity" the symptoms are much more subtle than those documented for cases of outright "poisoning".
Note:
Cadmium will only show up on the hair tissue mineral analysis if the body was excreting cadmium when the hair was growing. Hair, skin, and nails are one of the ways the body removes toxins from the body. A person with cadmium toxicity, as seen in the HTMA, may have had either a large single dose, or exposure to small amounts over a long period of time.
One of the challenges is determining the source of contamination, including ensuring there is no ongoing exposure to the toxin. In the case of these two athletes, Trevor and Natasha, there was no clear history of exposure to cadmium. This includes handling cadmium batteries, living, and exercising in heavily polluted areas, or spreading fertiliser. The only common factor has been the consumption of large quantities of grapes and strawberries over a long period of time.
Is it the grapes and strawberries?
Trevor confirmed that he has had an unusually large consumption of grapes over recent years. Natasha is the same, along with an excessive intake of strawberries. Both have HTMA that shows they have cadmium in their bodies. They also have symptoms that are similar to long-term, low-level exposure to cadmium.
While we cannot be sure the culprits are strawberries and grapes, they are the only possibilities so far identified. Cutting these down, or out of the diet, will do no harm.
We need more research otherwise there is too much guessing as to what is going on, including knowing exactly where these nasty toxins are coming from. In the meantime, cutting out suspected food is better safe than never, and of no great consequence.
Why cadmium may be higher in athletes as compared to sedentary people
Grapes and strawberries are usually grown in soils that are heavily fertilised with superphosphate and/or blood and bone. The soil may have been contaminated from past applications of superphosphate. What is grown may consequently be high in cadmium. Grapes and strawberries are very high in sugar. This explains why athletes doing exhausting exercise may inadvertently end up habitually scoffing large amounts (instinctively consumed to satiate sugar cravings).
Hard exercise can temporarily depress kidney function, which is one of the main excretory pathways for getting cadmium out of the body. If kidney function is depressed, cadmium may accumulate faster in the athlete as compared to more sedentary individuals.
Where to from here?
Trevor
Trevor's joints have been badly damaged, especially his hips. The only way to fix his pain and immobility is to have hip replacement surgery in the next few months. We did our best to save his hips, but the damage has been done and past the point of being reversible. The surgery will be a huge boost to his quality of life. My role with Trevor now is to prepare him for surgery and to ensure that his other joints, including knees, do not go the way of the hip joints.
Natasha
Natasha is back in training. She has lost weight and is regaining her zest for life! She is still having episodes of bone pain, but no more stress fractures have been had. It is her intention to return to racing later in the year.
Natasha is placing far more attention to performance nutrition without the help of strawberries! She recently produced a career PB on a cycling split, which is most encouraging.
For the health authorities
Come on! We need much more thorough testing and reporting of levels of toxins in our foods and soils.
It is ridiculous and harmful that agricultural soils of New Zealand are exempted from contamination classification!
In the case of foods such as strawberries and grapes, we have no idea, as consumers, where that latest batch has come from unless we are really attentive. Did they come from Chile, the USA, Australia, Pukekohe, or China? Where were they grown: on clean soil, or a former toxic waste dump? We just do not know. We must know. Our health depends on knowing what we are really putting into our bodies.
For you
Insist on knowing where your food comes from and do what you can (not much, unfortunately) to ensure it is free of toxins. Ask the supplier where that batch comes from and seek their assurance that it is free of toxins. Talk to your MP about your concerns.
If you have unexplained aches and pains, or suffer from an illness that has no convincing explanation, consider the possibility that there is a toxin in your body. Get hold of me — get tested. Don't just take drugs like Prednisone, or Methotrexate. These drugs treat nothing more than the symptoms and may do more harm than good, if used for more than a few weeks.
What is really in your food?
Are you consuming too much food, such as fish, strawberries, or grapes, that may be high in cadmium or other toxins like mercury?
Much of our food is imported and may have very different levels of contaminants as compared to the locally grown product, for better or worse. Just because the berries from one farm are "low" in a toxin, does not necessarily mean that the ones grown on the farm just across the road are similarly "low".
Instead of worrying about it, order an ARL Laboratories HTMA. This test is accurate and can find toxic elements in your body. Then, you can act based on what is found.