I do not definitively know whether zeolite works, but here is what I wrote in Judas Dentistry. Note that Boyd Haley's product OSR does work, as demonstrated by 50 million dollars worth of rat and human studies on severely toxic subjects. However, it does not usually immediately relieve symptoms. Mercury has a half-life of 30 years. and even OSR does not effectively stimulate excretion, although it does inactivate mercury. https://robertyoho.substack.com/p/319-key-post-osr-is-a-chelator-that?utm_source=publication-search. Haley is the foremost expert on mercury toxicity worldwide.
Mercury detoxification using zeolite
Zeolites are synthetic microporous structures that are available on Amazon. Terri Franklin, her co-author, some IAOMT dentists, and many other sources recommend these. Kerri Rivera, a world expert on the detoxification of autistic children, says that zeolite works if you use the right brand (Chapter 15).
However, Becky Dutton, who has observed hundreds of patients in mercury detox over many years, says that zeolite is not a good chelator and cites this REFERENCE. I could only find it on the Wayback Machine, so it was suppressed. It quotes recognized expert Boyd Haley, professor of chemistry at the University of Kentucky. He writes that zeolite redistributes rather than removes mercury:
[Zeolite] does not significantly remove mercury from an aqueous solution. … it seems very unlikely that [this] water insoluble material would have any direct effect on removing mercury from cells, mitochondria, or the brain… How exactly will a non-water soluble material like zeolite cause urinary mercury excretion as shown in previous studies? If the negative charges on the insoluble zeolite really did bind mercury, it should take it out via the fecal route. … this looks very much like many previous “miracle mercury cures” that just takes a lot of money from the unsuspecting parents looking for any help for their child… but this data was never published in a decent journal…
Zeolites contain high levels of aluminum, a heavy metal. Although the zeolite salespeople talk about how the aluminum in their product is “caged”, hair tests done by parents found that aluminum levels spiked.
Haley was involved with developing a related product, so he may have a conflict of interest.
Dutton also privately surveyed six experts in preparation for this book. All had doubts about zeolite. Chris Exley, the “Aluminum Man,” wrote to her: “I would never take [a zeolite]; they have neither been shown to be effective for aluminium in a clinical trial nor indeed to be safe for human consumption. My advice is to avoid.”
The sales pitch is that you can buy this product and do it yourself. Since there are pitfalls, an experienced expert should help with any detox process. Many of them recommend safer and more effective methods than zeolite.
Theodore Sturgeon famously said, “Ninety percent of everything is crap.” This was from the 1950s, and things are far worse today. Controversy is a sign that something stinks, so I am skeptical of commercial products like these.
Thanks for your comments Dr. Yoho! I agree with most of what you wrote. There is a huge difference in quality between zeolite products on the market and unfortunately all zeolite gets grouped together. The zeolite industry has been taken over by MLM companies and a lot of terrible products that are giving zeolite a bad name. Many people also get confused when doing research by using the search term "zeolite" instead of "clinoptilolite." There is a lot of research on synthetic zeolite which is not safe for human consumption. It acts differently than naturally occurring clinoptilolite zeolite. I agree with you that most supplements on the market are crap- mostly just marketing companies taking advantage of people. Zeolite Labs, the company that makes Zeocharge is a small company that has never spent a single dollar on marketing and uses almost no social media. We have gained popularity by providing education on how zeolite works and not making ridiculous claims like most companies. We absolutely do no recommend the use of nano, liquid or synthetic zeolite products. These are what have been causing issues in the industry.
Thanks for bringing up OSR. I love Boyd Haley and he has made an incredible contribution to the world through his research along with his great chelating compound. I have quite a bit of experience with OSR and was using it long before I had ever heard of zeolite. And once I started using zeolite I always combined OSR with zeolite because I figured zeolite may not have a strong enough bond to remove mercury, plus OSR is hydrophobic and designed to go to fatty tissue like the brain where mercury is stored. Long story short- I now believe that Zeocharge is more effective for removing mercury from tissue than OSR for those with complex health challenges. While it is absolutely true that OSR has a much stronger affinity for mercury than zeolite, ultimately the key to an effective tissue level detox is for the body to naturally release mercury and other metals on its own. If the brain cells do not want to let go of mercury, they will not. Even when taking OSR. There are thousands of people on OSR support groups that have had devastating reactions to OSR and many report a tug-o-war effect in their brain. Detox has to be approached differently when someone has a very complex health challenge and is classified as "too sick to detox." While OSR is by far the best option available for removing circulating mercury the body may be resistant to let go of intracellular mercury in tissue. So for acute mercury toxicity it is the best option, but for chronic mercury issues it usually is not. For many people OSR will remove tissue mercury, but for others it will not. The body simply will not let go if it doesn't want to. The challenge with OSR and other synthetic chelators is that they are designed for heavy metals but are not binding the many other toxins and toxicants we are exposed to that are making up the majority of our toxic load. I believe the key to a successful detox for individuals with serious health challenges is to effectively bind to the daily dose of toxins (metabolic waste products, microbial waste products, environmental toxictants, etc) which will raise the body's detox potential to the point where it has the energy to naturally start pushing out mercury from tissue. That is how I think zeolite works (proper dose zeolite). It is not going in and directly removing mercury from the brain or any tissue. It is simply cleaning up the toxic environment and raising the body's "detox energy" so it can start naturally detoxing at its own pace. I do think OSR is fantastic but is limited for some people due to only binding to metals.
Regarding the comment about aluminum spiking on hair tests. That is not a helpful indicator unless multiple tests were conducted to determine a trend. The goal with heavy metal testing is to see metals rise, indicating metals are leaving tissue and being excreted from the body. The body cycles back and forth between dumping metals and cleaning them up. So on a hair test or any other heavy metal tests levels will rise and fall. That is why I advocate for monthly testing if testing is going to be conducted. You can check out some of our case studies on our website showing that Zeocharge does not raise tissue levels of aluminum even at high doses, and usually has a strong aluminum detoxing affect. You will also see how incredible Zeocharge is at removing mercury from tissue. There is no research indicating that natural clinoptilolite zeolite will cause aluminum toxicity. it is simply speculation based on chemical makeup of zeolite- synthetic zeolite is what has been shown to result in aluminum accumulation in tissue.
In regards to your comment about recommending safer and more effective methods of detox...I believe high dose powdered zeolite is the safest and most effective detox method on the market. Or at least the best I have found yet. The only reason I do what I do is because high-dose zeolite powder works for so many people when OSR, IV chelation and all other methods of detox have failed. I have family members who were on OSR for over 2 years at 300-600g per day with zero improvement. One month after going off OSR and starting Zeocharge there were dramatic improvements in symptoms and also metals moving on lab testing when they were stuck while taking OSR. There are always many approaches and I'm not saying zeolite is the only way to get the job done, but it certainly shouldn't be thrown out as a possible solution.
Keep up the great work and thanks for all that you do!
I do not definitively know whether zeolite works, but here is what I wrote in Judas Dentistry. Note that Boyd Haley's product OSR does work, as demonstrated by 50 million dollars worth of rat and human studies on severely toxic subjects. However, it does not usually immediately relieve symptoms. Mercury has a half-life of 30 years. and even OSR does not effectively stimulate excretion, although it does inactivate mercury. https://robertyoho.substack.com/p/319-key-post-osr-is-a-chelator-that?utm_source=publication-search. Haley is the foremost expert on mercury toxicity worldwide.
Mercury detoxification using zeolite
Zeolites are synthetic microporous structures that are available on Amazon. Terri Franklin, her co-author, some IAOMT dentists, and many other sources recommend these. Kerri Rivera, a world expert on the detoxification of autistic children, says that zeolite works if you use the right brand (Chapter 15).
However, Becky Dutton, who has observed hundreds of patients in mercury detox over many years, says that zeolite is not a good chelator and cites this REFERENCE. I could only find it on the Wayback Machine, so it was suppressed. It quotes recognized expert Boyd Haley, professor of chemistry at the University of Kentucky. He writes that zeolite redistributes rather than removes mercury:
[Zeolite] does not significantly remove mercury from an aqueous solution. … it seems very unlikely that [this] water insoluble material would have any direct effect on removing mercury from cells, mitochondria, or the brain… How exactly will a non-water soluble material like zeolite cause urinary mercury excretion as shown in previous studies? If the negative charges on the insoluble zeolite really did bind mercury, it should take it out via the fecal route. … this looks very much like many previous “miracle mercury cures” that just takes a lot of money from the unsuspecting parents looking for any help for their child… but this data was never published in a decent journal…
Zeolites contain high levels of aluminum, a heavy metal. Although the zeolite salespeople talk about how the aluminum in their product is “caged”, hair tests done by parents found that aluminum levels spiked.
Haley was involved with developing a related product, so he may have a conflict of interest.
Dutton also privately surveyed six experts in preparation for this book. All had doubts about zeolite. Chris Exley, the “Aluminum Man,” wrote to her: “I would never take [a zeolite]; they have neither been shown to be effective for aluminium in a clinical trial nor indeed to be safe for human consumption. My advice is to avoid.”
The sales pitch is that you can buy this product and do it yourself. Since there are pitfalls, an experienced expert should help with any detox process. Many of them recommend safer and more effective methods than zeolite.
Theodore Sturgeon famously said, “Ninety percent of everything is crap.” This was from the 1950s, and things are far worse today. Controversy is a sign that something stinks, so I am skeptical of commercial products like these.
Thanks for your comments Dr. Yoho! I agree with most of what you wrote. There is a huge difference in quality between zeolite products on the market and unfortunately all zeolite gets grouped together. The zeolite industry has been taken over by MLM companies and a lot of terrible products that are giving zeolite a bad name. Many people also get confused when doing research by using the search term "zeolite" instead of "clinoptilolite." There is a lot of research on synthetic zeolite which is not safe for human consumption. It acts differently than naturally occurring clinoptilolite zeolite. I agree with you that most supplements on the market are crap- mostly just marketing companies taking advantage of people. Zeolite Labs, the company that makes Zeocharge is a small company that has never spent a single dollar on marketing and uses almost no social media. We have gained popularity by providing education on how zeolite works and not making ridiculous claims like most companies. We absolutely do no recommend the use of nano, liquid or synthetic zeolite products. These are what have been causing issues in the industry.
Thanks for bringing up OSR. I love Boyd Haley and he has made an incredible contribution to the world through his research along with his great chelating compound. I have quite a bit of experience with OSR and was using it long before I had ever heard of zeolite. And once I started using zeolite I always combined OSR with zeolite because I figured zeolite may not have a strong enough bond to remove mercury, plus OSR is hydrophobic and designed to go to fatty tissue like the brain where mercury is stored. Long story short- I now believe that Zeocharge is more effective for removing mercury from tissue than OSR for those with complex health challenges. While it is absolutely true that OSR has a much stronger affinity for mercury than zeolite, ultimately the key to an effective tissue level detox is for the body to naturally release mercury and other metals on its own. If the brain cells do not want to let go of mercury, they will not. Even when taking OSR. There are thousands of people on OSR support groups that have had devastating reactions to OSR and many report a tug-o-war effect in their brain. Detox has to be approached differently when someone has a very complex health challenge and is classified as "too sick to detox." While OSR is by far the best option available for removing circulating mercury the body may be resistant to let go of intracellular mercury in tissue. So for acute mercury toxicity it is the best option, but for chronic mercury issues it usually is not. For many people OSR will remove tissue mercury, but for others it will not. The body simply will not let go if it doesn't want to. The challenge with OSR and other synthetic chelators is that they are designed for heavy metals but are not binding the many other toxins and toxicants we are exposed to that are making up the majority of our toxic load. I believe the key to a successful detox for individuals with serious health challenges is to effectively bind to the daily dose of toxins (metabolic waste products, microbial waste products, environmental toxictants, etc) which will raise the body's detox potential to the point where it has the energy to naturally start pushing out mercury from tissue. That is how I think zeolite works (proper dose zeolite). It is not going in and directly removing mercury from the brain or any tissue. It is simply cleaning up the toxic environment and raising the body's "detox energy" so it can start naturally detoxing at its own pace. I do think OSR is fantastic but is limited for some people due to only binding to metals.
Regarding the comment about aluminum spiking on hair tests. That is not a helpful indicator unless multiple tests were conducted to determine a trend. The goal with heavy metal testing is to see metals rise, indicating metals are leaving tissue and being excreted from the body. The body cycles back and forth between dumping metals and cleaning them up. So on a hair test or any other heavy metal tests levels will rise and fall. That is why I advocate for monthly testing if testing is going to be conducted. You can check out some of our case studies on our website showing that Zeocharge does not raise tissue levels of aluminum even at high doses, and usually has a strong aluminum detoxing affect. You will also see how incredible Zeocharge is at removing mercury from tissue. There is no research indicating that natural clinoptilolite zeolite will cause aluminum toxicity. it is simply speculation based on chemical makeup of zeolite- synthetic zeolite is what has been shown to result in aluminum accumulation in tissue.
In regards to your comment about recommending safer and more effective methods of detox...I believe high dose powdered zeolite is the safest and most effective detox method on the market. Or at least the best I have found yet. The only reason I do what I do is because high-dose zeolite powder works for so many people when OSR, IV chelation and all other methods of detox have failed. I have family members who were on OSR for over 2 years at 300-600g per day with zero improvement. One month after going off OSR and starting Zeocharge there were dramatic improvements in symptoms and also metals moving on lab testing when they were stuck while taking OSR. There are always many approaches and I'm not saying zeolite is the only way to get the job done, but it certainly shouldn't be thrown out as a possible solution.
Keep up the great work and thanks for all that you do!