There are two forms of EDTA currently available for chelation, those with calcium already attached to the EDTA molecule, and those without. Calcium free chelation has been the standard for the past 50 years. It is the preferred method of chelation for several reasons. Our magnesium Di-potassium EDTA is one such calcium free EDTA.
As we age, calcium accumulates in the arteries and soft tissues of the body. When it deposits in dead tissue, it is called dystrophic calcium (like atherosclerotic plaques). When it deposits in living tissue, it is called metastatic calcium (like arteriosclerosis). Only calcium free EDTA can remove this calcium from the tissue and arteries.
When calcium gets into a cell, the cell turns on, whatever “on” is for that cell. If it is a muscle cell that the calcium enters, then the muscle contracts. If the calcium stays there, the muscle stays contracted. The familiar knots in client's upper backs and necks are just such calcified muscles that are forever in the “on” or contracted position. The pathological version of this is fibromyalgia where there are many such knotted muscles in the client's body. The extreme example of this is, rigor mortis, in which all the muscles of the body flood with calcium and contract. As we age, we accumulate more and more dystrophic and metastatic calcium, and become stiffer and stiffer. Again, only a calcium free EDTA can be of benefit here.
Calcium free chelation improves blood viscosity by removing ionized calcium and normalizing the blood clotting processes.
The autonomic nervous system (ANS) is divided into two parts, the sympathetic (SNS) and the parasympathetic systems (PNS). The SNS creates what is commonly known as the “fight or flight response”. In the event of a perceived emergency, the body will suppress all non-critical physiological systems and push the blood into the muscles for quick action. Non-critical systems include digestion, reproduction, gestation, milk production, immune function, higher brain functions, growth and repair processes, and sleep. That's not to say that any SNS response is bad. For instance, it's the SNS that keeps a person from passing out due to the effects of gravity upon their blood when they stand up quickly. The point is that continual activation of the SNS is very detrimental to our health.
The PNS is the counterpoint to the SNS. It generates what might be termed the “relaxation response”, and when activated, helps suppress the SNS. When the PNS is activated, the body digests well, reproduction, gestation, and milk production are supported, the immune system is active, our brains are happy and functional, injured tissue is repaired, new tissue is formed, and we get a good night's sleep.
Thus it makes sense to keep the body in a slightly PNS dominant state whenever possible. This can be accomplished very easily with Magnesium Di-Potassium EDTA.
To understand the effect that Magnesium Di-Potassium EDTA can have on the nervous system, we need to review the effect of minerals on the autonomic nervous system (ANS). There are four minerals that play key roles in the balance of the autonomic nervous system namely, magnesium, potassium, sodium and calcium. They work as follows:
| SYMPATHETIC SYSTEM | PARASYMPATHETIC SYSTEM | |
| Magnesium | Blocking action | |
| Potassium | Stimulating action | |
| Sodium | Stimulating action | |
| Calcium | Blocking action |
Thus, Magnesium Di-Potassium EDTA can have a very powerful calming effect on the nervous system by both blocking the stress response as well as stimulating the relaxation response. On the other hand Di-Sodium EDTA and Calcium Di Sodium EDTA do the exact opposite. They turn off the relaxation response and stimulate the fight or flight response.
Magnesium Di-Potassium EDTA will, after releasing its valuable magnesium and potassium into the bloodstream, attach to calcium in the tissue and arteries thus temporarily becoming calcium EDTA. At this point, it will release the calcium in exchange for toxic metals such as lead and mercury.
Several infections known to contribute to arterial plaquing and other diseases hide from the immune system and antibiotics by surrounding themselves with a calcium shell. Only a calcium free EDTA such as magnesium EDTA can dissolve this calcium shell thus allowing the immune system and antibiotics to attack the root of the infection.
Calcium free EDTA has shown ~50% increases in lifespan due to it's calcium removing ability. You can read about this in the article “Life extension in the Rotifer Mytilina brevispina Var Redunca by the Application of Chelating Agents” Journal of Gerentology May 1975 Volume 30 #3 pages 289 – 293, also available on the Medicardium.com website on the research page under the listing Can Chelation Increase Lifespan . To conclude, calcium free EDTA such as Magnesium Di-Potassium EDTA offers all the toxic metal detoxifying abilities of a calcium based EDTA as well as the benefits to the circulation, the removal of toxic calcium, the unmasking of calcium based infections, the supplementation of magnesium and potassium, the calming of the nervous system and the increase in potential lifespan not shared by the calcium based version.