We will discuss the controversial oral EDTA approach after first looking at the nutritional approach.

The current vogue for oat­based foods as a means of reducing cholesterol levels is but one form of chelation which we take for granted. In fact the different forms of fibre found in food, soluble pectin in apples and other fruits, guar in beans as well as the forms found in grains, all produce multiple chelating effects as they pass through the system. These act largely in the bowel where they speed up transit time and in this way prevent cholesterol reabsorption from bile as well as clearing putrefactive material from the system more rapidly. Fats in the bloodstream are reduced by soluble fibre in the diet, reducing the potential for free radical activity.

The advice given in Chapter 8 regarding the ideal pattern of eating can easily produce just these effects if followed reasonably closely. In addition many basic nutrients such as vitamins C and E are natural chelators and when in abundant supply act in the bloodstream to damp down free radical activity as well as chelating toxic substances.

Several formulae have been developed for oral chelation using variable combinations of substances. Some are extremely complex and others simple enough to put together, given a little patience and effort.

This is known as the Rinse Formula, after Dr Jacobus Rinse of Vermont, who has popularized this highly effective combination of substances, now advocated by the Dutch National Health Board for the prevention of heart disease

A daily intake of the following is suggested:

4 grams of lecithin (try to ensure a form which is high in phosphatidyl choline)

12 grams of coarsely chopped sunflower seeds (for their linoleic acid, potassium and fibre content)

5 grams debittered Brewer's yeast powder for its selenium, chromium and B vitamins (not suggested for anyone with active Candida albicans overgrowth)

2 grams of bone­meal as a source of calcium and magnesium, or a nutritional supplement form of calcium and magnesium (in a ratio of 2:1)

5 grams unpasteurized or untreated wheatgerm for its vitamin E and trace elements

500 milligrams of vitamin C (as sodium ascorbate, in powder form if possible)

1001U vitamin E (make sure this is D­Alpha tocopherol)

40 milligrams vitamin B6 (pyridoxine)

20­30 milligrams zinc (picolinate or orotate)

Blend these ingredients together in a food processor and keep refrigerated until use.

The amounts given are for daily consumption (around 30 grams in total) and it is probably wise to make up enough for a few weeks at a time and to keep this well covered and chilled until it is consumed, as breakfast or with any meal.

Research at the University of Alabama by Drs C Butterworth and C Krumdieck (published in 1974 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition) has shown that the combination of linoleic acid and lecithin, as well as the other nutrients such as vitamin C, act to form an enzyme Lecithin­Cholesterol­Acyl­Transferase (LCAT), which chelates cholesterol deposits from arterial walls at normal body temperatures. These foods are suggested by Dr Rinse as a means of ensuring that the raw materials for formation of LCAT are readily available.

Dr Kurt Donsbach, the dynamic and controversial author of dozens of health booklets and pamphlets, and director of an 'holistic' medical clinic in California, has provided a chelation formula for oral use (Chelation pamphlet 1985, published by the author). He states:

Oral chelation is probably a misnomer, since the formulation does not attach itself to, or eliminate via the urine, the calcium in the bloodstream as does the EDTA form of intravenous chelation. The term is used because the end result is the same, with considerably less discomfort and cost (approximately 1500 percent less).

The two chelation approaches, intravenous infusion of EDTA and the oral nutrient approach, both are lifesavers to countless individuals. Many physicians are now opting for a combination of the two methods since they work in different fashions and by doing so find that the intravenous infusions can be cut down from a series of 30 to only 10 treatments. Furthermore, by using a maintenance dose of the oral, the patient is protected for the future so that he does not need to be rechelated with EDTA.

John Stirling, an Australian research scientist working in the UK compares oral and intravenous chelation (although he is discussing oral use of EDTA, not oral nutritional chelation) with intravenous EDTA (Stirling, 1989):

I would opt for intravenous over oral EDTA in extreme life threatening situations. Intravenous is more direct obviously, and results can be noticed sooner, and the cost variance is considerable.

Vitamin A (fish liver oil and beta carotene) 25,000IU

Vitamin D (fish liver oil) 400IU

Vitamin E 600IU

Vitamin C 3000mg

Vitamin Bl 200mg

Vitamin B2 50mg

Vitamin B6 150mg

Niacin (B3) l00mg

Pantothenic acid (B5) 250mg

Vitamin B12 250mcg

Folic acid 400mcg

Biotin 100mcg

Choline 750mg

Inositol 100mg

PABA 150mg

Calcium carbonate 400mg

Magnesium oxide 500mg

Iodine (kelp) 225mcg

Copper gluconate 250mcg

Zinc gluconate 25mg

Potassium citrate and chloride 400mg

Manganese gluconate 10mg

Chromium 200mcg

Thymus extract 50mg

Spleen extract 50mg

Cod liver oil (EPA) 50mg

Hawthorn berry 25mg

Selenium 200mcg

Cysteine HCL 750mg

Methionine 200mg

Quite clearly, it is beyond the means of most people to compile a collection of nutrients which would meet these precise requirements. The particular formula given above is available in the USA from health stores. Anyone trying to put together an approximation of this suggested pattern could ask for assistance from a health store assistant who would doubtless with a little effort, be able to combine a number of standard formulations and individual items towards this end.

It must be said that the combination put together by Dr Donsbach seems heroic in its complexity and although he explains precisely why each item is included, there remains a faint suggestion of 'shot­gun' supplementation in which the more things thrown together the greater the chance that something might do some good. The author provides this formulation as a matter of accuracy rather than as a strongly recommended course. My preference would be for something along the lines of Dr Rinse's formulation or the using of individual nutrient supplementation as outlined in Chapter 8.

Before we examine the use of oral EDTA, a reminder is in order at this point of the value of exercise as a chelation generating method. It is clear from Nathan Pritikin's work (Pritikin, 1980) that a combination of diet and exercise can do as much as chelation therapy in normalizing circulatory dysfunction; and remember that without attention to these areas chelation therapy will produce results which will not be sustained.

Dr Johan Bjorksten (1981) states: 'Lactic acid is not as effective as EDTA in speed, but given enough time to act, it seems comparable in total removal of chelatable metal'.

To achieve this effect, lactic acid levels have to be raised regularly and for sustained periods via endurance exercise patterns such as walking, swimming, cycling, etc. This must not be confused with aerobic exercise in which specific cardiovascular training is taking place only if a specific degree of effort is sustained (see Chapter 8 on aerobic principles). In order to achieve the lactic acid chelating effect it is more important that duration (time spent exercising) is focused on rather than degree of effort.

A combination of Dr Rinse's formula and regular exercise offers a means of self­chelation of quite considerable sophistication.

However, when we speak of oral chelation it is to oral EDTA that we should really be looking.

A leading British firm supplies practitioners with their EDTA Complex supplement, which is based on a formula originally used in the clinic of Dr Josef Issels in West Germany and later used extensively in Australia by biologist and naturopath John Stirling.

Stirling says:

EDTA is usually degraded in the stomach and when given orally is of little value, with approximately only 5 per cent being absorbed. However, when granulated and enteric coated, then pressed into a tablet and coated again, the absorption factor is almost 100 per cent.

Stirling recommends it as a strong supportive agent along with diet and a correct organic mineral replacement therapy:

The major advantage of using low­dose EDTA orally is that it is non­invasive, does not require electrolyte monitoring as the IV form does, and can be used as a long­term method to slowly remove toxic metals and arterial plaque from the system.

Stirling is also in favour of the oral form because he prefers to avoid any possibility of toxic overload on the kidneys and liver, the main organs of elimination that are used in taking chelated material out of the body.

Kidney function is not upset by this approach any more than it is in intravenous applications, and if there are concerns regarding kidney function this should be monitored during any course of treatment. No electrolyte imbalances have been observed with oral use of EDTA and diarrhoea is rarely a side-effect.

EDTA was given orally to patients, by the late Dr Issels at his cancer clinic in Germany, where it proved 'very useful'

It is now being used in the UK by leading 'holistic' dentists such as Jack Levenson, who wish to chelate mercury out of the system after it has entered via the amalgam fillings of the patient. In such cases an antioxidant formulation (vitamins A, C, E, etc.) as well as enzymes such as Glutathione peroxidase are supplemented along with oral EDTA. This form of EDTA should be seen as a form of maintenance rather than having the potential for chelation held by intravenous infusion. EDTA supplements for maintenance use are given morning and evening with food ­ doses of 150 mg are usual.