Buyer Beware:

We hear on the news that we should eat right and exercise, that fruits and vegetables help prevent cancer, and that the right foods and daily exercise help prevent heart disease. Furthermore, we are told to restrict fats and cholesterol and avoid deep-fried and fast foods. We are in the midst of an obesity epidemic and obesity brings about heart disease and cancer. But sometimes common preventive measures are not enough, either because we are burdened with genetic predispositions or, for example, because we have sustained a lifetime of pollution.

Given our present health concerns, many individuals and practitioners of alternative health strategies have expressed their faith in the benefits of chelation therapy, a process whereby alternative health practitioners (but NOT certified medical doctors) claim that EDTA (Ethylene Diamine Tetra-acetic Acid) binds molecules (metals or minerals) and removes them from the body. When so-called patients undergo oral chelation, using liquid EDTA, hardened mineral and metal deposits are apparently removed from the circulatory system, improving blood flow and increasing the supply of oxygen and nutrients to the tissues. I say APPARENTLY because the therapy is unproven and does not appear to be backed by hospitals and insurance plans.