When your body is exposed to mercury, either through the air you breathe or through the food you eat, you body has to be able to eliminate it or it builds up and become toxic. The main target of this toxicity is the brain. Children especially are at high risk of developing learning disabilities, including autism, due to excessive mercury exposure and the body’s inability to rid itself of the toxin.
Exposure to mercury (HG) can come through the air, or through the food you eat (some fish for instance). In a healthy individual who maintains adequate nutrition a protein called metallothionein is able to break down the metal and expel it from the body. If an individual does not eat a healthy diet it leads to mineral imbalance and the metallothionein needed to rid the body of the mercury cannot be eliminated. This will lead to oxidative stress. The mercury will then target important organs, like the brain, causing mercury toxicity that can alter the neuronal plasticity (connections to the brain).
Neuronal plasticity is the ability of neurons in the brain to undergo changes when the brain is developing and learning. If plasticity is interrupted, or changed, it will affect the way the brain creates and stores long-term memory.
Both high fructose corn syrup and artificial food coloring should be looked at as problematic in those with nutritional or zinc deficiencies. These ingredients are common in many foods in our diet today. Mercury, either by itself or along with other factors, may be harmful if ingest in above normal amounts, or by people sensitive to it. Zinc in the diet is important to maintain the process required for mercury elimination. High fructose corn syrup has been processed in such a way to have trace amounts of mercury as a result. Artificial food coloring has also been shown to lead to zinc deficiency.
Behavioral disorders and learning disabilities have been shown from research to be directly related to nutritional deficiencies and mercury exposure by changing brain function and increasing stress in children. Essential nutrients, including trace minerals, amino and fatty acids, are necessary for the proper functioning of the central nervous system, and play a role in maintaining normal neuronal plasticity. Deficiencies can be associated with mild to significant changes in neuronal function leading to poor health and adverse effects on behavior and learning.
This is Ron White, two-time USA Memory Champion. It is interesting to find that mercury, common in fish that has been farm grown as well, can be harmful to brain and memory function.
Sources:
Behavioral and Brain Functions: Mercury exposure, nutritional deficiencies and metabolic disruptions may affect learning in children: http://www.behavioralandbrainfunctions.com/content/5/1/44