We have already talked about some ways stress makes you fat. We know that stress, toxins, and malnutrition are at the root causes of the majority of chronic healthy issues. Now, let’s talk about toxins and their affect on your weight.
When we talk about toxins we need to consider our external and internal environments. Through our external environment we are exposed to a number of toxins with our air, water, and food supply. The use of chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, plastics and other known toxins are commonplace in our present high-tech society. We are also exposed to toxins from our internal environment. These endotoxins are the metabolic by-products from our gut bacteria. If we have an imbalance in our good gut bacteria, have “leaky gut syndrome”, battle chronic yeast infections, or more, then our body is fighting an onslaught of endotoxins.
We are designed to eliminate and excrete toxins from our body. However, when the overall toxic load is greater than our body’s ability to safely eliminate we run into some big problems and serious health issues. Toxins have been linked to a number of different common complaints.
So let’s discuss just three simple ways that toxins can contribute to your weight gain.
(1) Toxins Are Fat Soluble
Toxins are stored in fat. The fat of your brain. The fat of your cell membranes. Your body fat. So the more toxins you are exposed to leads to a “natural” response of your body to put on more body fat. Almost as if your body is creating more storage units and adding more closets to pile more junk into. This important fact goes both ways. If you are exposed to toxins you will have most likely struggle with weight. However, it is very important that when you undergo a weight loss program you also support your detoxification pathways. When you lose body fat you are liberating the stores of toxins that were in that “holding place”. Without monitoring your detoxification capacity you run the risk of health harm with weight loss. You need to work with someone that knows how to safely and effectively monitor a number of parameters including liver enzymes, body composition and extracellular water while you are losing weight.
(2) Food Can Be Toxic
It has been said that “one man’s food is another man’s poison”. This is absolutely true. If you have a sensitivity to gluten, dairy, or whatever the case might be, you are polluting your body every time you consume that food. Each time you consume of food that your body is sensitive to it creates a cycle of inflammation and immune response which leads to a more toxic you over time. Also our exposure to food preservatives and food-like substances has lead to an increased toxic load on our body. Consider this study done where they actually visualized the difference between real food and fake food. The researchers show what happens in your body when you eat Gatorade and Ramen noodles.
(3) Toxic Guts
Your digestive tract is intended to have a healthy balance of good gut bacteria. These bacteria are healthy for you to have. They keep your inflammation down. They improve your immune function. They allow your digestion to work appropriately. If you take care of your good bacteria…they will take care of you. Our stressed, toxic and malnourished lifestyle, on the other hand, depletes the good and allows overgrowth of the bad. This imbalances creates a number of endotoxins that can cause us to feel sick and even affect our brain. They are using fecal transplants to help people with metabolic syndrome lose weight. That means they take someone else’s fecal matter and transplant it into another person’s body! I think it would be easier to just take care of your gut, follow a Magnificent Seven lifestyle, and take a probiotic.
So What Should You Do?
- Do a comprehensive detoxification support program annually. Also support detoxification each day with a Magnificent Seven lifestyle and Foundational Five nutrients.
- Eat a whole foods…real food…diet. Avoid fake foods and “Franken-foods” that have been genetically-modified and create disease.
- Improve your air quality with home filtration units.
- Drink clean water by using filtration systems.
- Eat clean food by buying organic whenever possible…especially your meats and dairy.
Until next time…choose health!
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