"The Boiling Stones": Prospective and Reliable Biodetoxicators

Zeolite is a collective name for minerals and chemical compounds within the group of aluminium silicates. Clinoptilolite is one of the members of the zeolite family and is the most widely used natural zeolite in different studies. Nowadays nature is increasingly exposed to toxic elements, pesticides, and different kind of anthropogenic pollutants. This leads to health problems like decreased immunity, allergies, respiratory disorders, cancer, etc. Zeolites are beneficial in many fields because of their grid structure and chelation-like effect in removing heavy metals. Over the last decades numerous studies with clinoptilolite were performed in both humans and animals. The basis of interest is its biological effects concerns one or more of their physical and chemical properties. In medicine, especially micronized natural zeolite-clinoptilolite is a relatively novel subject of interest. Animal studies demonstrate that zeolites show great promise for environmental protection, capability to detoxication of animal and human organisms, improvement of the nutrition status and immunity of farm animals, separation of various biomolecules and cells, and strong antioxidant activity. There is a significant detoxifying effect after clinoptilolite supplementation in the animal diet because of its ion exchange capacity and effective enterosorption for heavy metals, radionuclides and other inorganic pollutants. Recent findings indicate that clinoptilolite applied orally in laboratory mice for 90 days provides direct detoxification and shows significant and effective reduction of lead accumulation. Further research is needed to explore the effects of a zeolite-clinoptilolite to clarify the role of its detoxification mechanisms and auto-bioregulation in human and animal organisms.