Can Cilantro act as a Heavy Metal Chelator?

It is believed that cilantro has been found to remove heavy metals such as mercury, aluminum and lead from the body. It is also believed to cross the blood-brain barrier and remove heavy metals from the brain. These thoughts are based on the research of Dr. Yashiaki Omura, the President and Founder of the International College of Acupuncture and Electro-Therapeutics and Director of Medical Research o the Heart Disease Research Foundation.

While doing research on an unrelated eye disorder, Dr. Omura observed that subjects had higher than normal levels of mercury in their urine after consuming Vietnamese soup which had large amounts of cilantro. He followed up on these findings and discovered that by giving cilantro to patients with mercury poisoning for several weeks he successfully eliminated the mercury from the body.

It is suggested that if you would like to try cilantro chelation that you add 2 teaspoons of cilantro to your daily diet for two to three weeks.

Here is a Cilantro Pesto recipe you can try:

4 cloves garlic

1/3 cup Brazil nuts (selenium)

1/3 cup sunflower seeds (cysteine)

1/3 cup pumpkin seeds (zinc, magnesium)

2 cups packed fresh cilantro (coriander, Chinese parsley) (vitamin A)

2/3 cup flaxseed oil

4 tablespoons lemon juice (vitamin C)

2 tsp dulse powder

Sea salt to taste

Process the cilantro and flaxseed oil in a blender until the coriander is chopped. Add the garlic, nuts and seeds, dulse and lemon juice and mix until the mixture is finely blended into a paste. Add a pinch to sea salt to taste and blend again. Store in dark glass jars if possible.

I think we will be adding cilantro to our diet for a few weeks.