A recent study revealed that many popular chocolates made in the U.S. and Europe contain heavy metals exceeding the limits set by a California law. This finding was published on Wednesday in the peer-reviewed journal Frontiers in Nature.
Children are particularly at risk if they consume heavy metals, especially when it comes to their neurological development. Exposure to these metals can harm their brain and nervous system, stunt their growth and development, and lead to learning and behavior issues.
In a study published on Wednesday, researchers from George Washington University analyzed over 70 chocolate treats over an eight-year period, from 2014 to 2022. They discovered that 43% of the chocolate products contained lead levels above the maximum allowable dose, while 35% exceeded the limit for cadmium.
The report found that cacao trees naturally absorb cadmium from the soil, depositing it in the cacao beans.
“It’s a naturally occurring metal,” explained Ana M. Rule, an assistant professor and director of the Exposure Assessment Laboratories at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, who was not involved in the study. “But just because they’re naturally occurring doesn’t mean they’re safe.”
Lead contamination happens at various stages of chocolate production—during the harvesting, drying, and fermenting of the cacao beans. The beans can pick up lead from the environment as they dry on contaminated ground or by the roadside where car pollution introduces heavy metals. Additionally, lead can be introduced during the manufacturing process, noted Fugere.
“We’ve added heavy metals to products, and now they’re in the soil and pollution,” said Leigh Frame from George Washington University. “As they start to accumulate in the environment, they become a problem.”
What's the Deal with Dark and Organic Chocolate?
Heavy metals are more of a glaring problem in some chocolate products than others. For instance, the George Washington study found that samples of dark chocolate contained higher levels of lead and cadmium.
Experts explain that dark chocolate has more concentrated cacao than milk chocolate, which could account for the higher levels of heavy metals.
Interestingly, the study authors were surprised to find that organic products also contained higher levels of cadmium and lead compared to more processed chocolates. This might be due to less processing in the making of organic chocolate.
Another reason for the difference, according to Fugere, is that organic chocolate producers often operate in a single area. Single-origin chocolate is more likely to have higher levels of heavy metals than chocolate products made from cacao beans harvested from various places around the world.
The Food System Has Been Hijacked
This study highlights how our food system has been taken over. It’s not just the unhealthy processed foods loaded with sugar and seed oils that are the problem. Our soils, both organic and non-organic, are contaminated with toxins, GMOs, microplastics, and heavy metals. This makes daily detox practices and being vigilant about our diet essential. We need to know where our food is coming from.
To complicate matters, some seemingly healthy foods like broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, onions, and garlic contain sulfur, while others like chocolate, kale, almonds, spinach, berries, and most nuts contain oxalates. These can clog your detox pathways, inhibiting the removal of heavy metals. So, you might think you’re eating healthy organic vegetables, but they could be preventing your body from detoxifying effectively.
A side note—did you know that chocolate contains oxalates in addition to the risk of heavy metals? These oxalates can further impair your body’s ability to detox heavy metals, which then get reabsorbed and stored in your fat cells. This is where symptoms like unexplained weight gain, brain fog, mood issues, hormonal imbalances, and accelerated chronic diseases come out of nowhere.
It can be overwhelming because you feel like you’re doing everything right with your diet, but it’s still not enough. This is why it’s crucial to detox your body daily effectively and efficiently.
Most Detox Strategies Don’t Work
When I found out I had high levels of heavy metals like aluminum, mercury, and lead, I had to take a urine test to confirm it. During detox, these levels seemed even higher because the toxins stored in my fat cells were being released into my bloodstream. This makes it look like there’s more in the blood, even though the total body load is decreasing. Unfortunately, mainstream medicine doesn’t usually explain this well.
The truth is, heavy metals hide in fatty tissues and cells, including the brain, so standard blood tests don’t always detect them. A proper detox needs a multi-faceted approach to effectively target and remove these metals. Here’s why typical detox programs often fall short:
- Inadequate Testing: Standard blood tests often fail to accurately reflect the body’s toxic load since heavy metals are stored in tissues rather than circulating in the bloodstream. Most people have much higher levels of toxins than they realize, and these toxins could be causing their chronic ailments.
- Surface-Level Solutions: Many detox programs only focus on superficial “cleansing” rather than deep cellular detoxification, missing the metals stored in deeper tissues.
- Lack of Comprehensive Support: Effective detox requires support for the entire body, including liver function, kidney function, and gut health. Many programs lack this comprehensive approach.
- Insufficient Detox Agents: Chelating agents, which bind to heavy metals and help remove them from the body, must be used correctly. Many programs don’t use the right types or dosages to be effective.
- Failure to Address Reabsorption: During detox, metals can be reabsorbed into the body if not properly bound and eliminated, leading to continued toxicity and symptoms.
- Failure to Support Detox Flu Symptoms: It’s common to experience flu-like symptoms during detox; these symptoms lead many to quit without finishing the program.
- Lack of Community Support: Most detox programs don’t offer access to professionals for support, questions, or encouragement, causing many people to give up before finishing.
Accelerated Radiation and Heavy Metals Detox Cleanse
I’ve designed a comprehensive detox program that targets deep cellular cleansing tackles toxin reabsorption, and eases detox flu symptoms, all while offering daily coaching and support. This synergistic blend of supplements is aimed at detoxing heavy metals, radiation, and other harmful substances, while also boosting your immune system. Additionally, it helps replenish your body with radiation-free monatomic iodine to optimize thyroid function and metabolism and prevent future toxin absorption.
Supplements Included in the cleanse
Accelerated Colloidal Silver™
Radiation, toxins, and heavy metals can weaken your immune system and create an acidic, inflammation-prone environment that allows diseases to thrive. Silver is known to combat these issues by devitalizing pathogens and reducing inflammation while strengthening the immune system.
My Accelerated Colloidal Silver™ features the smallest possible silver particle size and is infused with scalar technology, which adds the frequency of silver to the solution along with restorative codes. This dual approach creates a “charged” silver with higher energy potential, providing the benefits of both physical silver particles and their informational attributes.
Acceleradine® Iodine
When your cells lack iodine, they become more susceptible to absorbing toxins like fluoride, bromide, chlorine, lead, mercury, and heavy metals, leading to chronic health problems. Iodine helps eliminate these toxins and replaces them with healthy iodine, supporting optimal thyroid function, liver cleansing, hormonal balance, mental health, and cellular health. It’s crucial for cell membrane integrity and boosts ATP and mitochondrial health. Additionally, iodine promotes healthy apoptosis for DNA repair and neutralizes the positive magnetic charge of toxins, including metals linked to chronic disease, hypothyroidism, graphene oxide, spike proteins, aluminum, and radiation.
AcceleradineⓇ Iodine is unique because it’s the only monatomic, unbound singlet atom of iodine, achieving the highest absorption due to this form. Most iodine forms are “bound” to another molecule, which the body has to break apart for usability, resulting in reduced iodine absorption. My iodine is also enhanced with scalar frequencies for detoxing heavy metals and radiation.
Accelerated NucNoMoreⓇ
With the increasing threat of radiation, NucNoMoreⓇ is the only remedy known to help eliminate all ionizing and non-ionizing radiation from the body. This is crucial for managing today’s heightened toxicity levels, which can also contribute to chronic disease.
Accelerated Ancient Salt®
Many people lack sufficient electrolytes and minerals, leading to intracellular dehydration. Salt is essential for expelling toxins like heavy metals from cells, bringing nutrients in, and supporting the sodium-potassium pump. Moreover, sodium and iodine (in the singlet atom form) are needed for the Sodium-Iodide Symporter used in thyroid hormone production. Without sufficient sodium and iodine, thyroid hormone production suffers.
Accelerated Ancient Salt® helps restore normal body fluids (rehydration) and alleviates detox symptoms from any detox protocol. It contains over 62 minerals and is free from microplastics, explosives, chemicals, and bird droppings. Enhanced with scalar frequencies, it aids in detoxing from radiation and heavy metals and helps increase blood volume to flush toxins out of the body.
Accelerated Cellular Detox® Powder
Detoxing can often lead to “detox flu” symptoms. My Accelerated Cellular Detox® Powder helps prevent these symptoms by absorbing the toxins released during detoxification. This powder combines six powerful organic ingredients to effectively soak up toxins, reducing the burden on the liver and kidneys. Enhanced with scalar frequencies, it further helps absorb heavy metals, insecticides, and radiation. It now includes Chitosan, which helps soak up cholesterol and fat from dietary intake to aid in weight management.
While detox culture often promotes reducing toxic load for better health through various cleanses, many trends fail to address the root cause and can sometimes do more harm than good. By integrating my detox products into your regimen and minimizing the foods high in heavy metals and toxins, you can effectively tackle the root causes of toxin buildup and support your body’s natural detoxification processes.
Sara Banta
Sara Banta is a Stanford University Graduate with a Degree in Economics and Psychology, and a certified Natural Supplement Expert & Graduate of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. Sara is the Founder of Accelerated Health Products and host of the health & wellness podcast, Accelerated Health Radio.
