A powerful natural treatment that may help keep your cardiovascular
system clean has just been improved. This is not because garlic has
been dropped, but because malic acid, an organic fruit acid found in
apples and other fruits, has been added.
So now, in addition to garlic and EDTA, it contains
research-supported amounts of malic acid. This molecule is a vital
component in the energy-producing Krebs cycle and plays many other
roles in the body, including the maintenance of proper acid balance
and the removal of toxic or undesirable metals by chelation. This
process can be understood as the removal of excess calcium and other
minerals that promote plaque formation, blood clotting, and
atherosclerosis.
Malic acid also has an oxygen-sparing effect (the ability to lower
cellular oxygen consumption without affecting availability), and
there are a number of indications that it is critical in controlling
mitochondrial function in our cells.
What You May And May Not Know
You may already be aware of the power of oral EDTA chelation; it is
a safe, convenient, and inexpensive dietary method that can help
reduce problems from chest pain and high blood pressure to heart
attack and stroke.
You may not know, however, that research indicates that your body
requires a minimum level of supplemental malic acid to get certain
benefits that can significantly improve your health and well-being,
and that the majority of oral EDTA chelation supplements available
today fail to supply it. Examine the data their manufacturers offer
in explanation of their conclusions. As we will see, 600 mg/day is
not enough.
Oral Edta Chelation May Be Good For Your Arteries And Your Brain
Oral EDTA chelation is good news for your arteries, the conduits
that deliver nutrients and other life-promoting substances
throughout your body - from your heart to your brain to all your
vital organs and tissues. It is essential to keep your arteries in
good repair. That means maintaining optimal blood flow by preventing
impedances such as plaque buildup and minimizing the levels of
metals that can promote free radical damage. This is just what the
ingredients cited above can help accomplish, and more.
Chelation Therapy Detox
Although the product is focused primarily on preventive maintenance
for your cardiovascular system, your brain possesses fine arteries
that supply it with oxygen and nutrients, so it too can realize
improved functioning, leading to better memory. Minimizing metal
toxicity can help you bootstrap yourself to better health.
The Balance Of Minerals
Although various minerals are needed in limited amounts for proper
cardiovascular function, excessive amounts can actually cause free
radical damage. So the problem is one of maintaining proper balance,
of steering between two potential problems: mineral levels that are
too high or too low. Unfortunately, most people suffer from both of
these, so oral EDTA chelation can be beneficial at the same time
(but in the opposite way) that mineral supplementation is
beneficial.
Bearing the idea of balance in mind can be valuable. Proper mineral
balance can help prevent the dysfunctionality that can cause
cardiovascular or cerebral disease. Nevertheless, there has been
some concern that you can't have it both ways and that EDTA
chelation, both oral and IV, can upset serum calcium levels.
Scientific reports have indicated otherwise, however.
In one report, observations of 80 private-practice patients treated
with slowly administered EDTA and supportive
multivitamin/trace-mineral supplementation showed that this form of
EDTA chelation therapy does not alter serum calcium concentration.2
Perhaps more importantly, the evidence also suggests that the
so-called high normals (referring to metal concentrations) declined
slightly, the low normals rose slightly, and those in the
intermediate range remained unchanged.
Another study raised a cautionary flag. Sixty patients with
intermittent claudication (leg pain when walking) participated in a
double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of 20 courses of IV EDTA
chelation therapy for from five to nine weeks.3 By the end of the
study, there was some loss of essential minerals, but this problem
has been shown to be addressable by supplementation. A shortage of
one or more minerals is characteristic of most "normal" patients
(i.e., without claudication). For more information on this subject
and on oral EDTA in general, read Oral EDTA Helps Restore
Cardiovascular Function – Aug. 1999).
EDTA And Chromium
At the Nutrient Requirements and Functions Laboratory of the U.S.
Department of Agriculture in Maryland, researchers recently examined
the hypothesis that EDTA chelation therapy may lead to a depletion
of the essential mineral chromium, supplemental amounts of which
have been shown to lead to improved blood glucose, lipids, and
insulin activity.4 (Interestingly, EDTA has similar capabilities.)
To determine if EDTA chelation therapy leads to increased urinary
losses of chromium and an altered distribution of chromium, two
groups of subjects (one of which had recently undergone the therapy;
the other had not) were examined. No significant differences in
urinary chromium losses were found between the two groups, i.e.,
EDTA chelation therapy did not cause any significant loss of
chromium. Whereas chromium levels can be strongly affected by
mineral supplementation, EDTA chelation therapy has no apparent
effect on those levels.
Malic Acid As Chelating Agent
Malic acid has been found to help remove the toxic metals lead,
strontium, and especially aluminum, among others. Your body
manufactures malic acid along with citric acid, fumaric acid, and
many others, some of which are important parts of the
energy-producing Krebs cycle. Normally, when acting in this role,
they get used and reformed in an endless cycle. If you're doing
sustained aerobic activity, however, you need to be able to make
more. Yet you may not be able to crank out as much of these organic
acids as quickly as you need to for the higher metabolic demand.
This justifies taking malic acid and the other organic acids as
dietary supplements.
Malic Acid? How Much?
With regard to the chelation abilities of malic acid, the questions
of how much to take and under what circumstances are more complex.
In a preliminary clinical test with 15 fibromyalgia patients, a
total daily dosage of 1200-2400 mg of malic acid was given, along
with 300-600 mg of elemental magnesium (which is necessary for ATP
production and has oxygen-sparing efects) for eight weeks.5 All
patients reported significant reduction of muscular pain within 48
hours of starting the supplement.
However, a double-blind study by the same research group, using 1200
mg of malic acid and 300 mg of magnesium, failed to show a reduction
in symptoms.5 So there is some evidence, although the study was
unblinded, that malic acid at 2400 mg/day and magnesium at 600
mg/day are needed.
The chelation amounts for aluminum detoxification are consistent
with the 2000+ mg/day found to be beneficial for fibromyalgia, both
in the study references and in countless reports from the
Fibromyalgia Foundation. In a study at the University of Barcelona,
toxicologists administered malic acid to mice exposed to aluminum at
about one-fourth the LD50 level.6 (LD50 is the level of a compound
that will kill 50% of the experimental animals to which it is
given.) Compared to other chelators, malic acid was the most
effective, on a par with the synthetic chelator deferoxamine
mesylate.
Source
When the amount of malic acid is calculated based on the ratio of
food consumption to body mass, the figures are similar to those used
for fibromyalgia: approximately 80 mg/kg·day x 1/3 x 75 kg = 2000
mg/day (where 80 mg is the amount used in the animal chelation
studies; the factor 1/3 reflects that rodents consume about three
times more food per unit body mass than humans; and 75 kg is an
average human body mass). Given that an apple contains several
hundred milligrams of malic acid, it is possible, although
difficult, to consume 2000 mg/day entirely from apples, by far the
greatest source of malic acid in the diet. It is far easier,
however, to take malic acid in supplement form.
