Want a shock? Go get tested for heavy metals. Your jaw will drop when you see the results.

I know, because I see the reactions in my own clinic every single day.

The reality is, nearly everyone has way too much lead, mercury, arsenic, and other toxic heavy metals inside them — and these metals are a major cause of supposedly incurable conditions.

I say “supposedly” because I often can cure or improve them, and I’ll tell you everything you need to know to get started on your own cure in a moment.

First, a new study confirms the role of toxic heavy metals in autoimmune disease — especially among women battling disorders such as thyroid disease, MS, rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, and lupus.

Researchers examined data on 2,047 women who took part in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and compared blood levels of mercury to the presence of the autoantibodies made by the thyroid in response to autoimmune diseases.

Sure enough, women with the highest blood levels of mercury were more than twice as likely to have high levels of the thyroglobulin antibody linked to those diseases.

Now, you’ve probably heard that we all get exposed to metals, and that’s true. It’s almost impossible to avoid them completely.

But you’ve probably also heard that the tiny levels we’re routinely exposed to — like the mercury in flu shots and amalgam dental fillings — are harmless, and that’s an out-and-out falsehood.

Want proof? Look no further than the same new study, because the “high” levels of mercury linked to those high levels of the thyroglobulin autoantibody weren’t high by current standards at all.

In fact, they were under 5 micrograms of mercury per liter — or well in line with what the mainstream considers “safe.”

You see, no amount of mercury, lead or other heavy metals is really safe. How do I know that? Simple: There’s no known healthy function in the human body for these metals!

If you suspect exposure to mercury or any other heavy metal, it’s not enough to find the source and eliminate it. Heavy metals don’t leave the body like other toxins. They accumulate — and the more they accumulate, the sicker you get.

The best way to rid your body of mercury and other toxic heavy metals is through chelation, but don’t try any of the do-it-yourself treatments that reach the market from time to time.

An experienced holistic doctor can test you for metals and provide you with the chelation therapy needed to remove anything that’s accumulated — and if you have thyroid disease, that’s another reason to get tested for these metals.

If you would like testing and treatment for these disease-causing metals, you can contact my Stengler Center for Integrative Medicine. You can find more information by visiting markstengler.com.

When I was a kid, I was incredibly jealous of my friends who had their tonsils removed. They got to miss some school and eat ice cream for several days straight — which, let’s face it, is pretty much every child’s dream diet.

And if that’s not enough, most of them also got get-well gifts in the form of awesome toys.

Me? I got to hear all about it.

Well, today I’m glad I still have my tonsils because the latest research shows those infection-prone bumps in the back of your throat may actually have an important role to play after all: They can make T-cells.

Those are the immune system cells your body needs to fight off cancers and autoimmune diseases. They’re called T-cells because until now, researchers believed they all developed in the thymus — an organ in the chest.

Now, I guess, that “T” could stand for “tonsils” as well, since scientists at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center have discovered the cells in five different stages of development there.

That alone is big news, since this is the first time T-cells were spotted in the tonsils. But the bigger news here is that four of the five groups of T-cells they found had the capacity to turn into the so-called “natural killer” cells the body needs to fight cancer.

So maybe the tonsils aren’t so useless after all — and this isn’t the first study to make the case against pulling them out.

One small study found that kids who were candidates for tonsil removal but didn’t actually get them removed had fewer doctor visits than those who did have them plucked — a strong hint that there is indeed an immune system benefit to keeping them in place.

Another study found that people without tonsils fidget less — which might sound like a benefit at first. But a little fidgeting is good for us. The small and barely noticed movements we make throughout the day actually burn calories.

In other words, losing your tonsils could cause you to gain weight.

The team behind the latest study says the next step is to see how many T-cells are made in the tonsils vs. the thymus.

The study I’d like to see next, however, is whether or not people without tonsils are more prone to cancer and autoimmune diseases, or if they have a harder time fighting those conditions when they do strike.

Stay tuned.

April 2008 PDF The hidden cause of sexual dysfunction (and it’s not a Viagra deficiency) If your sex life is suffering, chances are the root cause is organic in nature, rather than simply psychological. In fact, over 90 percent of ED cases can be traced back to organic origins. And more often than not, nutrient [...]