You may not know that toxic heavy metals accumulate in your body over time. But it’s true.

These poisons include mercury, lead, arsenic, cadmium, and aluminum. On Wednesday, we told you how your dentist could be filling your mouth with mercury-laden fillings.

But amalgam fillings aren’t the only source of these toxic elements. Heavy metals are often used in conventional agriculture and storage. Many fish at the top of the food chain are contaminated with mercury. Some vaccinations contain thimerosal, a mercury preservative. Even second-hand smoke inhalation causes metal buildup in the body. And if your home was built prior to 1978, it could have lead-based paint.

Avoiding heavy metals is nearly impossible.

The Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) says these metals can “build up in biological systems and become a significant health hazard.”

So how do you get rid of them? One option is chelation. This therapy introduces chelating agents into the body. The chelating agents bind with the heavy metals, making them water soluble… which allows the body to harmlessly excrete the toxins.

But chelation can be expensive. Fortunately, you don’t have to shell out huge sums of money to get the benefits. The “poor man’s” version of this therapy is an all-natural alternative for anyone on any budget.

Dr. Yoshiaki Omura discovered how to use the leaves of a plant to remove heavy metals from the body.

Dr. Omura has a background in both clinical medicine and experimental physics. He’s Director of Medical Research at the Heart Disease Foundation in New York. And he’s an adjunct professor at the Department of Community and Preventative Medicine at New York Medical College.

Almost by Accident

Dr. Omura was treating several patients with a type of eye infection. He was using a standard antibiotic. Their symptoms would clear up… but they would return within a few months.

Dr. Omura discovered that the organisms causing the infection seemed to be hiding in parts of the body that had high concentrations of heavy metals like mercury, lead, and aluminum. It appeared that the organisms were using the metals to protect themselves from the antibiotics.

Heavy metals are excreted in the urine. So he began testing his patients’ urine. And he noticed that the mercury level in one patient’s urine increased after he ate a Vietnamese soup.

Upon further testing, he identified an ingredient in the soup – a leaf – that was responsible for this effect. And he noted that it also increased the amount of lead and aluminum excreted through the urine.

Without the heavy metals for protection, the organisms causing the eye infections were no longer able to flourish. When he gave his patients the leaves, along with antibiotics, it eliminated their infections for good. (The results were published in Acupuncture and Electrotherapy Research.)

Dr. Omura had discovered a way to increase the body’s ability to fight infection. At the same time, he had accidentally discovered an inexpensive way to rid the body of toxic heavy metals.

A follow-up study involved a patient who’d had three mercury-based amalgam fillings removed. Significant amounts of mercury were found in the patient’s lungs, kidneys, liver, and heart. Dr. Omura used the special leaves to remove the mercury. Within a few weeks, the metal was gone.

These Special Leaves Are an Easy Find

The chelator is the leaves of the coriander plant. It’s known as Chinese parsley. Or, more commonly, cilantro.

And Dr. Omura isn’t the only one who’s had good results with it.

Japanese researchers studied its effects on lead. They gave mice lead in their drinking water for 32 days. Then they administered Chinese parsley for 25 days (from day seven on).

The conclusion: “Chinese parsley has suppressive activity on lead deposition, probably resulting from the chelation of lead by some substances contained in Chinese parsley.”

Dr. Dietrich Klinghardt is the founder of the American Academy of Neural Therapy. He’s Medical Director of the Institute of Neurobiology. He’s known around the globe for his work in treating chronic pain and illness. He was named Physician of the Year by the Global Foundation of Integrative Medicine in 2007.

He recommends cilantro to remove mercury from the brain. He found that five grams per day was the minimum dose for chelation. That’s about one teaspoon. The treatment should be continued for at least two to three months.

You can buy fresh cilantro at the grocery store. It’s a common ingredient in Mexican, Caribbean, and Asian cooking.

The leaves can also be made into a tea. Chop eight or more teaspoons. Steep, covered, in a quart of boiling water for 20 minutes. But don’t do this in a metal container. Remember, cilantro is a powerful chelator. It will leach the metal into the tea.

If you don’t like the taste (lots of people don’t), cilantro is available in capsules. You can order those online.