title: Dietary strategies for the treatment of cadmium and lead toxicity.
abstract: Cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) are toxic heavy metals that cause adverse health effects in humans and animals. Chelation therapy, the conventional treatment for heavy metal toxicity, is reported to have a number of safety and efficacy issues. Recent studies have shown that dietary supplements play important roles in protecting against Cd and Pb toxicity. This paper reviews the evidence for protective effects of essential metals, vitamins, edible plants, phytochemicals, probiotics and other dietary supplements against Cd and Pb toxicity and describes the proposed possible mechanisms. Based on these findings, dietary strategies are recommended for people at risk of Cd and Pb exposure. The application of these strategies is advantageous for both the prevention and alleviation of Cd and Pb toxicity, as such supplements can be added easily and affordably to the daily diet and are expected to have very few side effects compared to the chelation therapy.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, School of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, 1800 LiHu Road, Wuxi 214122, China. zhaiqixiao@sina.com.
authors.forename: Qixiao
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhai
authors.affiliation: Gut Health and Food Safety Programme, Institute of Food Research, Norwich NR4 7UA, UK. arjan.narbad@ifr.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Arjan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Narbad
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, School of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, 1800 LiHu Road, Wuxi 214122, China. chenwei66@jiangnan.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002104:Cadmium / Q000633:toxicity*; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D055951:Functional Food / Q000032:analysis; D000075322:Heavy Metal Poisoning; D006801:Humans; D007854:Lead / Q000633:toxicity*; D064209:Phytochemicals / Q000008:administration & dosage; D010945:Plants, Edible / Q000737:chemistry; D011041:Poisoning / Q000178:diet therapy*; D019936:Probiotics / Q000008:administration & dosage; D014131:Trace Elements / Q000008:administration & dosage; D014815:Vitamins / Q000008:administration & dosage
chemical_list: D064209:Phytochemicals; D014131:Trace Elements; D014815:Vitamins; D002104:Cadmium; D007854:Lead