We live in an estrogen dominant, copper toxic society. No, we are not living in a copper deficient society. That would mean that testosterone and sperm count is at an all time high, girls are starting puberty later, and we rarely see fertility issues. Simply isn’t true. We are living in a copper toxic society.
“Copper seems to be synergic with estrogen, and could have a similar effect”
-Dr. Ray Peat
What makes ZERO sense about the pro-metabolic community is they will shout from the rooftops to get in your copper weekly if not daily. Copper supplements, beef liver (raw or capsules), but also in the same breath encourage you to consume the raw carrot salad created by Dr. Ray Peat for it’s estrogen detoxification purposes. How does this make sense?
In my time working with hundreds of women, children, and men I have found maybe only about 5 to be truly copper deficient and needing some copper supplementation based on their HTMA (Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis) results.
Now, some people will argue that copper toxicity is rare but this just isn’t true.
I’ve had many clients come to me seeking help after following pro-metabolic advice for new symptoms such as:
weight gain
blood sugar imbalances (pre-diabetes)
sleep issues
fertility issues
worsening hormonal issues (PMS/PMDD)
acne
bloating
constipation
hair loss
swelling/puffiness
lack of energy
chronic fatigue
anxiety
depression
This makes a lot of sense. When increasing your copper intake as much as recommended by most pro-metabolic influencers, you are increasing estrogen within the body. You are also lowering progesterone.
Dr. Ray Peat actually discuses this concept in relation to salt, estrogen, and swelling:
“Under the influence of excess estrogen, your body retains extra water, and it is your appetite center which should balance that water by making you crave extra salt. If you learn to avoid salty foods at those times (or if you take a diuretic), your blood cant carry as much water as when it has enough salt, and so the salt stays in the tissues, rather than being carried to the kidneys.”
Most of these women that come to me develop new fears, worries, health related anxiety and through the lens of Traditional Chinese Medicine, this makes sense because kidneys store fear. There is a blockage in the meridians.
It can be really exciting when you get lab results back to want to jump into a detox. Whether it be heavy metal, parasite, mold, candida, etc, I often see people want to force their body into a detox when it isn’t ready.
Most people that come to me are usually in a depleted state and we can see this on their HTMA results. The focus in a case like this would be to replenish, retest, reevaluate, and then decide next steps for a detoxification protocol. The body cannot detox without energy. Where do we get energy from? Minerals. This is why I warn about starting random detoxes/cleanses you see on the internet or Facebook groups as it could be doing more harm than good. I see this especially in pediatrics where parents think just one more heavy metal detox will do the trick for their hyperactivity when in reality, it just set the child back even more.
I preach order of operations in my practice. Starting with where we need to meet the body rather than force it.
What I don’t see discussed a lot are the body meridians and how this can be one of the first few steps before detoxing the body.
When you read meridian you might be thinking of Chinese Medicine or acupuncture and you’re absolutely correct.
You can see the meridians listed above and where they run throughout the body. It is common for a meridian(s) to be blocked and in cases like this, we can’t keep pushing the gas pedal (more herbs/supplements). We have to remove that block. I think of it like this:
Herbs/supplements = gas pedal
Acupuncture/homeopathy = removing the blockage in the road
This can be especially true in clients with complex cases like Epstein Barr Virus, Lyme Disease, menopause, unexplained fertility issues, IVF failure, and more.
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