Whenever I hear or read about mercury I am troubled. In the sidebar are two videos about a young man’s experience with silver (read mercury) amalgams. He had an adverse reaction to the dental work he received and now has been diagnosed with lupus, nephritis and a host of other ailments. His mother (and others) have determined his illness is a direct result of the dental work.

His is not the only horror story I’ve heard about silver/mercury amalgams, there are others. Add to this the amount of mercury in fish today. Wherever you look, both in our food and environment, you will find mercury.

One astonishing story I read recently was in the Washington Post and it is why I now avoid anything containing high fructose corn syrup. According to the article “Study Finds High-Fructose Corn Syrup Contains Mercury” this sweetener, that has now replaced sugar in foods and beverages, also contains a good amount of mercury.

Almost half of tested samples of commercial high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) contained mercury, which was also found in nearly a third of 55 popular brand-name food and beverage products where HFCS is the first- or second-highest labeled ingredient, according to two new U.S. studies.

When you consider the amount of HCFS consumed a day, the possibility exists we all may be susceptible to autoimmune diseases as a result which leads me to a recent study on mercury and autoimmunity.

According to the Environmental Health News, researchers report that mercury increased levels of key signaling and antibody markers measured in the blood of Brazilian gold miners who use the metal to extract the gold from river sediments. This study shows, for the first time, that mercury affects the immune signaling proteins that are responsible for inducing inflammation.

In the United States, most people are exposed to mercury – by eating certain species of fish – most notably large predators such as tuna, swordfish and tilefish. Federal fish advisories warn against eating too much of certain species or too much fish caught from contaminated waterways so as to limit exposure to the metal.

Equally so — and going back to the high fructose corn syrup (HCFS) article in the Washington Post — Americans consume a high amount of HCFS as well. Adults, on average, consume about 12 teaspoons per day of HFCS. Teens, on the other hand, are high consumers and can take in 80 percent more HFCS than average. This bothers me because so many young people are being diagnosed with lupus and other autoimmune disease and others are being diagnosed after 50 — could it be from mercury build up?

The Washington Post’s article comes from a study conducted and published in Environmental Health where researchers found detectable levels of mercury in nine of 20 samples of commercial HFCS. Another study conducted by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), a non-profit watchdog group, found that nearly one in three of 55 brand-name foods contained mercury. The chemical was found most commonly in HFCS-containing dairy products, dressings and condiments.

Apparently, mercury contamination involves the use of mercury-contaminated caustic soda in the production of HFCS. The contamination occurs when mercury cells are used to produce caustic soda. Knowing which products are and are not made this way is anyone’s guess.

Personally, I’ll take clean sugar to syrupy sweet any day particularly now having discovered that foods containing HCFS cause problems for me, so much so I now take reading glasses with me to the grocery store to ensure I buy nothing containing HCFS.

For me, it all comes back to eat whole foods and reduce the amount of mercury you eat, particularly with fish and foods containing high fructose corn syrup.