Ionic Metals, The Metal Mediated Fenton Reaction and Free Radicals

Whenever I give my little seminars and/or workshops on the ionic heavy metal test (IHMT) and Ch77 I realize that most people in the audience have very little idea of what ionic metals really are or how they over produce free radicals.

Here now I will explain all that in a way which hopefully will make sense to everyone.

Let us begin with ionic metals. What really are ionic metals?

Ionic Metals

Ionic metals (and here we are talking mainly about ionic ‘transition metals' such as mercury, lead, cadmium, copper, zinc, iron and so on which all belong to this group of elements) are electrically charged metals.

These metals behave a bit like the hair that sticks to the balloon which we rubbed against a woollen jumper. They ‘stick' to the body and the body cannot get rid of them and cannot use them purposefully either.

When they stick to the body they can build up to ‘toxic' levels (mercury, lead etc.) and can produce avalanches of free radicals (especially iron).

In an atom we will find normally the same amount of electrons as there are protons. Protons are positively charged and electrons are negatively charged.

The size of these first particles making up the material Universe is vastly different (a proton is about 1800 times heavier than an electron) but their electric charge is the same.

When the there is the same amount of protons and electrons in an atom the overall charge of the atom is neutral.

When an atom looses or gains an electron it becomes electrically charged. If there are more protons than electrons the atom is positively charged. If the atom has more electrons than protons it is negatively charged.

The atom is out of balance. That is bad news since everything in ‘nature' wants to be in balance and harmony.

Let us have a look at iron when it is ‘imbalanced'. The chemical formula of iron is Fe. When the iron looses two electrons, for example, it becomes ‘ionic iron' and that can be written Fe ++ . The two little ‘plusses' mean that this iron has two protons (positive charge) which are not balanced by two electrons (negative charge).

The resulting overall positive charge makes the iron 'stick' to the body and produce avalanches of free radicals. The resulting problem is given a name: hemochromatosis or ‘iron overload disease'. Hemochromatosis is classed as the ‘most deadly and wide spread genetic disorder known to man'.

The accumulating ionic iron may kill you faster than any of the other metals!

Wow….who would have thought that? Iron….a metal we absolutely could not live without! The problem is that it is in it's ‘wrong' form! In an ionic form. An electrically charged form.

But what other form can it be in?

  Chelated Metals

Let us stay with the transition metal iron. When we eat parsley which is very rich in iron, we can eat pounds and pounds of that iron source and never get an iron poisoning. Why? Because the metal is ‘chelated' by the plant. Chelation comes from the Greek word ‘chele' which means ‘crabs claw'. The ‘chelation molecule' can be an amino acid which ‘locks' on to the ionic iron, for example, 'bind' the 'free iron' and hence makes that iron electrically neutral. Now the body can use what it needs and throw out  what it does not!

All transition metals must be chelated or made electrically neutral in this way for the body to be able to either use the metal if needed or eliminate the metal if not nedded.

The body has it's own mechanism to chelate ionic metals. We call that ‘chelation ability'. If the chelation ability is low ionic metals will accumulate. Chelation ability often depends on the bodies ability to digest proteins. Proteins contain amino acids….and these amino acids chelate ionic metals.

There are other aspects of chelation ability: a faulty protein metabolism causes over acidity. Acidity means more protons (+) which we do not really need. What we need (in order to regain balance, i.e. create more alkalinity) is more electrons (-). Hence acidity promotes free radical over production.

At a later stage we will look a bit deeper into all that but let it suffice to say that ionic transition metals over produce free radicals if the body cannot chelate these metals.

Please be aware and keep in mind that the ionic heavy metals test (IHMT) detects the ‘bad guys' (ionic transition metals) only. Hence the test will show us how a body copes with ‘environmental' ionic metals. How well it chelates these metals.

  The Fenton Reaction

Fenton was a chemist who discovered the catalytic reaction between ionic metals and hydrogen peroxide towards the end of the nineteenth century.

Let us have a quick look at the way these reactions are producing avalanches of free radicals in biological systems.

Fe 2+ + H 2 O 2 ---> Fe 3+ + OH - + OH*

The formula indicates that ionic iron is present (Fe with two protons ++ and hence a loss of 2 electrons). H 2 O 2 means hydrogen peroxide which is produced by specialised cells in the body.

The OH* denotes a hydroxyl radical.

Hydroxyl radicals are believed to be the most reactive species of free radicals.

Ionic iron functions as a catalyst which means that it does not get used up in the reaction. Unless we can chelate the ionic iron and help the body to either use it or eliminate it, we cannot reduce the amount of free radicals either.

Anti oxidants do little to remove the source of free radical over production.

Professor Robert Batey (he supervised of our clinical test for CH77 at the University of Newcastle ) shared with me his belief that iron overload disease is much more wide spread then generally assumed. His estimation is that one in twenty people may suffer from an undetected, a ‘sub clinical' type of ionic iron overload problem.

The huge amounts of free radicals produced may be the real cause of many ‘mis-diagnosed' symptoms.

  Free Radicals

Finally, what are free radicals? Scientifically free radicals are classed as atoms having unpaired electrons.

Electrons want to be in pairs….a bit like people. When they loose their ‘partner' they frantically and ‘radically' look for another. When they ‘grab' hold of another ‘families' (in our case molecules) partner, the ‘family' (molecule) falls apart and new free radicals are produced. A chain reaction will occur.

In small amounts free radicals are a part of the immune system and help to control disease causing organisms. Cells have an enzyme coating which switches off free radical activity. Bacteria, for example, lack that enzyme coating and are killed by small amounts of free radicals. When there is a huge increase in free radical production (e.g. due to ionic metals) the enzyme coating of the cell cannot cope any more with the ‘onslaught' and healthy cells will be damaged. Not only cells, but the DNA as well. Mutation occurs and with these mutations chronic diseases such as cancer. The DNA carries the ‘blue print' for cell replication. When that blue print is changed pre-mature aging will occur.

The reason for all that damage and mayhem often are ionic metals….and that is why it is so important to check our patients, to check everyone for their ability to chelate these metals.

This is the reason why we developed the ionic heavy metal test.

Hans, 10.9.2005