I recently read the book “Clean, green, and lean” by Dr. Walter Crinnion. The caption on the cover that really caught my attention was “Get rid of the toxins that you make you fat.” Have you ever questioned what is
I recently read the book “Clean, green, and lean” by Dr. Walter Crinnion. The caption on the cover that really caught my attention was “Get rid of the toxins that you make you fat.”
Have you ever questioned what is really happening after we lose weight? Are we cleansing our body at the same time? Apparently, the answer is no.
Losing weight does not mean that the body automatically gets rid of its toxins. They are reabsorbed by the body, and new fat starts to collect around them. The more toxins the body is storing, the more likely it is to accumulate and retain fat.
The breakdown of fat is known as lipolysis. Losing weight increases the rate of lipolysis, which leads to a higher than normal amount of toxins, or persistent poison, swimming in the bloodstream, along with the fat. The toxic presence can cause symptoms such as fatigue, mood swings, headaches, or flu-like feelings.
Our bodies are able to burn fat for fuel, but we are not able to burn the fat-soluble toxins. And they are not automatically eliminated, because our bodies are designed to recycle fats and oils that could contain valuable nutrients, needed for survival, rather than eliminate them.
Dr. Crinnion described a study that showed that the more weight people lost, the higher the pesticide levels in their bodies became. People on a three-month calorie restriction program lost an average of 12 percent of their total body weight, and the level of pesticides in their blood increased by 24 percent. Pesticide levels also rose in the people who had a stapling procedure. Three months after surgery, they had on average lost 21 percent of their weight, accompanied by a 52 percent increase in circulating pesticides. At the 12-month follow-up test, they had lost 46 of the pre-surgery weight, but their pesticide level had increased by a massive 388 percent.
These studies show clearly that releasing toxins from the fat, into the bloodstream, is not enough to get them out of your body. Instead, the toxins can actually flood the veins in higher levels, then just wait for your body to reduce its lipolysis rate. At that point, they can then go back into storage.
I was especially surprised to learn that the body cannot tell the difference between fat and fat-soluble toxins.
So what can we do?
First, we can stop putting more toxins in the body. We can start choosing organically grown produce, drinking lots of clean water, adding fiber into our diets — especially rice bran fiber — and of course, we can stay as active as possible.
Remember, when it comes to our bodies, we are the decision makers!
•••
Ayda Ersoy is a nutrition and fitness director at The Diet Doc Hawaii. She can be reached at DietDocHawaii.com, Ayda@DietDocHawaii.com or (808) 276-6892
