GAPS and Low Dose Chelation with Andy Cutler Chelation – Dr. Natasha’s Recommendations

“For a long time I thought there was no way of chelating. I looked into what many other doctors were doing and I didn’t feel comfortable about any of them because I saw so many different adults and children who regressed, who didn’t do well or there just was no result for the chelation protocol. The GAPS Protocol creates a good platform for the body to remove these things itself but we are coming into a situation every year where our patients are becoming more and more severe, more and more complicated,” Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride said in an interview at the Weston A. Price Conference in Baltimore, Maryland, November 15th 2018.

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“Even with a year or two years on the protocol, these people are still dealing with metals, they still have too much. I find particularly people with resistant gastritis, people with resistant reflux, resistent SIBO, belching, burping, they’ve got so much yeast overgrowth in the digestive system, you can’t get rid of it until the metals are gone. Yeasts and metals come together hand in hand, the yeast is holding the metals,” she said.

“I have come to the conclusion that we have to remove these metals safely. Andy Cutler Protocol is the only one that made sense to me. What I like about it is first of all this man understood the half life, that you can’t just take it twice a day or once a week the way other protocols prescribe it. It’s exhausting to wake up every three hours every night, it’s tiring. It’s a good idea to do it for a short spell for three, four days, then give it a break for three, four days – and then do it again, and do it again. The fact that it’s on a low dose I also like,” she added. 

There is a difference in those on the GAPS Protocol and those on the Standard American Diet jumping into low dose chelation.

“Andy Cutler was going it on a standard diet, that’s why he prescribed so many supplements. That’s why he thought to take all these supplements to support the whole thing. I feel that on the GAPS Diet, their detox system is so much stronger, the nutritional deficiencies are not there. So we don’t need to go into all those supplements, in fact I don’t feel we need to prepare for chelation by taking all the bunch of supplements for two, three months as Andy recommended. We can just start it,” Dr. McBride said. 

“My understanding is that DMPS and DMSA, they reduce the general load of metals in the body. DMSA is slow, DMPS is more a sharp or quick fix for acute toxicity, but they don’t go inside the cells. Alpha Lipoic Acid goes inside the cells. Maybe ALA is enough.”

Doing solely ALA is a good place to start for anyone as it’s so safe in low doses and captures a large number of metals. 

“I’m slowly coming to the conclusion that ALA alone might be enough for us. We start with such tiny, tiny amounts. It is so powerful. It is a powerful thing, ALA. There are so many scientific studies now on how powerful it is, on how wonderful it is. That is why they are allowing it into every supplement and people take it on their own, in their own way. Majority of Western population is contaminated. I don’t think anybody can boast of a clean body. It just depends how the body is coping with that load. In some people, the balance is so skewed, even the tiniest amount makes them very, very ill,” she said.

“People are getting more severe. You talk to old herbalists in their 70s and 80s and they say that these herbs used to work when I was young. It was enough to just give a mixture of herbs to a person and they would recover. Today they do nothing because the population is so much more contaminated, so much more ill. Things that used to work don’t work anymore,” McBride added. 

Some people fear low dose chelation with ALA, DMPS or DMSA  saying it is dangerous. This is absurd, negligent and is misinformation. The healthy microbiome makes ALA. When there is damage in the microbiome, ALA isn’t manufactured and metals accumulate in the tissues instead of being removed from the body. Supplementing ALA in low doses simulates what the healthy body should be doing. Taking ALA in high doses is a different story, is potentially dangerous and not recommended on the GAPS Protocol. The heavier the metal load, the lower the starting dose. Being bio individual, each case is evaluated differently for a starting dose. 

The National Institute of Health says, “The most commonly used dietary supplement ingredients for primary mitochondrial disorders include antioxidants, such as vitamin C, vitamin E, and alpha-lipoic acid.”

BBA, Biochimica et Biophysica Acta says ALA, “Is well-defined as a therapy for preventing diabetic polyneuropathies, and scavenges free radicals, chelates metals, and restores intracellular glutathione levels which otherwise decline with age.”

The Neuropathy Relief Guide recommends the use of ALA for neuropathic pain.

“A lot of chelators do more harm than good,” Dr. Natasha said during Q and A between sessions at the conference.

When asked what age would you start low dose chelation ALA, she answered, “With babies. I would start it with over 1 and I would encourage mothers to breastfeed for as long as she can.”

She went on to say, “SIBO is a big problem, I think we need to add the chelation. We have to address the toxic metals, ALA.”

When doing ALA, she says, “Start with a speck. It’s a pity it doesn’t dissolve in water very well but you can get it to go. Then build, build, build, build, build. Andy Cutler was giving 100 milligrams to people, every three hours. That sounds like a very large dose to me.” Higher doses like 100 milligrams is more of a finishing off dose, after years of lower dose chelation allowed a person to build to the higher dose. 

Dr. Natasha was asked, how do you decide which to use, HMD, homeopathic remedies for metals, ALA, how do you determine which one to use? She answered, “With HMD I have to rethink that. I used to recommend it. I still think it’s safe but we don’t see much happening. Theoretically it all makes sense but we don’t see much  happening. And then it’s got chlorella and cilantro, both of which Andy Cutler absolutely black listed. Not only do they not work but redistribution, they redistribute toxic metals. I think we have to listen to him. That man knew something. So I don’t think I would recommend HMD anymore, until we’re sure, until we know. Maybe later on as a support.”

When asked if she still prefers to wait a year on GAPS before chelation, Dr. Natasha said, “Not necessarily, if you have a child that bounces off the walls, I think it’s compatible. A lot of parents are worried, afraid, it’ll assist the antiparasitics, the antifungals. I wouldn’t do it from day one, I would get the child stronger first. Some children will take a year but some children two months is enough, particularly if they’re on intro, then we can start.”

Most GAPSters start with 1 to 5 mg ALA every three hours for each round. Some have to start lower, depending on their metal overload, reflected by yeasts. 

Click here to learn more about how to do low dose chelation while on GAPS, click here for more information on how to do low dose ALA while on GAPS, the safest and most economical place to start. This ALA is safe to use in low doses while on GAPS, as is this one. 

In some cases it is best to work with a knowledgeable Certified GAPS Practitioner when jumping into low dose chelation on GAPS. 

*Nourishing Plot is written by Becky Plotner, ND, traditional naturopath, CGP, D.PSc. who sees clients in Rossville, Georgia. She is a Board Certified Naturopathic Doctor, through The American Naturopathic Medical Association and works as a Certified GAPS Practitioner who sees clients in her office, Skype and phone. She has been published in Wise Traditions, spoken at two Weston A. Price Conferences, Certified GAPS Practitioner Trainings, has been on many radio shows, television shows and writes for Nourishing Plot. Since her son was delivered from the effects of autism (Asperger’s syndrome), ADHD, bipolar disorder/manic depression, hypoglycemia and dyslexia, through food, she continued her education specializing in Leaky Gut and parasitology through Duke University, finishing with distinction. She is a Chapter Leader for The Weston A. Price Foundation. becky.nourishingplot@hotmail.com

“GAPS™ and Gut and Psychology Syndrome™ are the trademark and copyright of Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride. The right of Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Patent and Designs Act 1988.