The Psychological Impact of Copper - It's time for the frog to jump out of the pot

The last 67 years, since the end of WW2, have involved significant changes in the environment that have adversely been affecting the psychological wellbeing of large amounts of people. Some of these changes include the increase of toxic metals and pesticides into the environment, a massive increase in petroleum products and plastics, the introduction of the birth control pill and IUD, widespread use of copper water pipes, and an explosion of psychotropic and other medications. The psychological conditions that can be associated with these changes include depression anxiety and panic attacks, phobias, aggressive and violent behaviour, ADD and ADHD, pseudo-bipolar, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

The common connection between all of the above adverse environmental changes and the psychological conditions is copper and estrogen balance in both men and women. These historical and environmental factors have so radically altered the underlying biochemistry of so many people that, biochemically, our population is essentially no longer the same as it was a few generations ago.

Mental function is one of the first things to be affected by nutritional imbalances, excess, deficiency or toxins. These four factors are what drives a normal biochemistry to become abnormal. In other words where imbalances, excesses, deficiencies or toxins are present in the brain there will be altered mental and psychological function. The brain just like all cells functions best when it is getting the nutrients it needs and is not being interfered with by toxins like heavy metals.

Let's use depression to illustrate this. Serotonin is the chemical that makes you feel happy and optimistic. To make it you need to eat protein that contains the amino acid tryptophan. The tryptophan then gets converted into 5-hydroxytryptophan and this is then converted to serotonin and you will then feel happy! To make the conversions though requires nutrients such as zinc, magnesium, iron and calcium. The problem is that metals such as copper and mercury often interfere with the function of zinc and the other needed nutrients.

The field of toxicology is clear in stating that these metals stop or limit the good nutrients from working. It is worth repeating this, they stop normal minerals and vitamins from working! In our depression example copper excess in the brain will limit or stop the function of magnesium, iron, zinc, Vitamins C, B1, B12 and folic acid, all of which are needed to convert the protein to your feel good chemical serotonin. Clearly this is a problem if copper is in excess in the brain and it often is.

Where would this copper come from? Some comes from food, some from copper water pipes or copper pots, and others from pesticides, but the majority comes from estrogen. There is a delicate balance in the body between estrogen and progesterone. When estrogen becomes dominant (imbalance) over progesterone the effect is that the body RETAINS more copper. Normally copper rises and falls back to its starting point over a 28 day menstrual cycle but when excessive estrogen is present the copper can't drop back down to its starting point and is then retained in the body. This copper then needs to be stored away somewhere and the brain is a common storage point. Month after month, year after year copper will rise and rise when estrogen is dominant over progesterone.

So do we have a problem with estrogen. You bet we do. There are a group of compounds called the Xenoestrogens that affect ALL of us. A xenoestrogen is something that looks or acts like estrogen but is not actually estrogen, it just mimics it. The effect on our body though is to think that we have too much estrogen, and we know that when our estrogen goes up our copper goes up! The Xenoestrogens affect all of us because they include the following; pesticides of all sorts, metals such as arsenic, petroleum products, plastics and hormones from doctors and in our food. The sad truth is that we have created an environment in which it is virtually impossible to escape the effects of these compounds.

If you are male, you have not escaped this estrogen issue. Over the course of the last few generations there has been a significant transfer of excess copper to male children as well as to female children in utero. The copper is passed across the placenta in higher than normal amounts creating havoc. To make the problem even worse the excess copper then gets passed down and amplified from one generation to the next. We are now seeing third and even fourth generation "copper heads". The net effect of all this copper is often psychological problems. Schizophrenia is well known to often be related to copper excess for example.

We also know that estrogen raises calcium levels. Therefore from a psychological perspective some caution needs to be taken with calcium supplementation for osteoporosis. Slow metabolisers and those with high tissue calcium (not blood) are at risk of adverse emotional effects if they supplement with extra calcium they do not need, such as increased fatigue and exhaustion, depression , anxiety and panic attacks, paranoid feeling, memory and concentration problems, headaches, and insomnia.

During the past 40 years, data from hair tissue mineral analysis of children, adolescents, and adults point to copper excess as a major factor associated with many of these psychological problems. This is a cellular problem and it needs to be assessed and monitored with cellular tools such as the hair tissue mineral analysis. In order to address this problem we need to look at it with a new perspective and paradigm. We need to address it from a holistic point of view and we need to address it from a nutritional and biochemical perspective.

Dr. Todd Lizon, Holistic Chiropractor, Hair Tissue Analysis, and Nutritional Balancing.

Available for consultation, Todd can be contacted by phone at 0447 126 800, email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or visit his website at www.lifestyleintegration.com.au