I first found out about copper toxicity when I decided to get a hair analysis mineral test to see if it would help give me any clues as to why I was having chronic migraines, especially hormonal migraines. Hair analysis is one test that can help diagnose copper toxicity, since blood tests do not show what is happening in the body at the cellular level.
Estrogen and Copper.
A quote from Dr. Malter’s book: “The Strands of Health”.
“One of the most significant biochemical and metabolic developments since the end of World War II involves the widespread use of female contraceptives. This is because there is a very close relationship between estrogen and copper and biochemical systems. With use Widespread use of estrogen in the pill and estrogen replacement therapy accumulates excess copper in the cells and tissues of large numbers of women.This has become a major contributing factor to physical and psychological health problems they experience.”
How copper toxicity is related to hormonal migraines
About a week to ten days before a period, copper and estrogen levels are relatively high. When the hormones changed, so did the migraines. It was fully automatic, like clockwork. They happened around the exact day of my cycle. As the copper was reduced in my body, fortunately, the migraines were also reduced.
Symptoms of copper imbalance
• Racing thoughts, anxiety
• Attention deficit disorder, Candida overgrowth
• Migraine headaches, dysmenorrhea
• Autism, Anorexia
• Insomnia, PMS
• Liver dysfunction, and more
Copper can affect any organ in the body and typically affects four major body systems. Copper accumulates in the liver, brain (where it affects neurotransmitter levels), the nervous system, and the male and female reproductive systems.
Our bodies need copper; It is an essential trace mineral that is vitally important for physical and mental health. However, we need copper at the correct levels.
Copper Sources
Some of the sources of copper are: your home’s water pipes and hot water cylinder (if copper), copper cookware, copper from dental materials (exposure), vitamin pills, drinking water, fungicide and pesticide residues in food, sleeping pills, tranquilizers, copper intrauterine devices and birth control pills.
Copper can also accumulate in the body due to the bioavailability of copper. This is usually due to weak adrenal glands. The adrenal gland stimulates the liver to produce ceruloplasmin, the major copper-binding protein. If ceruloplasmin levels are inadequate, the body cannot use copper and copper accumulates in the tissues.
If the zinc becomes deficient, then the copper tends to accumulate. The earth’s soil is low in zinc.
Vegetarians tend to eat protein that is high in copper and generally do not eat enough foods that are high in zinc.
High copper diets are those that generally include sesame seeds or walnuts.
My hair tests
My first hair test SHOWED Copper level 186.44 ppm / Normal level is 25 ppm
This is an extremely high reading. In fact, this is more than 7 times the normal level and it was off the chart.
Second hair test one year later 164.28 ppm
At this stage it wasn’t detoxifying copper as it was detoxifying pharmaceutical drugs and therefore couldn’t do both.
Six months after taking a supplemental diet for detoxification of excess copper, I had another hair test.
Third hair test: copper level 19.32 ppm
There was a great improvement in my health. However, my hair test still showed that I had hidden copper toxicity. This is extremely important, your copper levels may not show up high on the test, but you still have copper overload. This is where you need a professional hair analysis person to interpret the test. It is quite complex to be able to read and understand the hair test.
For migraine sufferers, I cannot stress enough how important it is to find the underlying cause of your migraines. The hair analysis test shows a lot about what is going on in the body at the cellular level. It also shows other toxic heavy metals that may be causing dysfunction in the body. It also gives a clear indication of what is going on with the mineral balances in our body. The mineral balance in our body has a great impact on our overall health.
Detoxifying your body of copper is quite complex and I have information on this in “Learn How to Become Migraine Free.”
