Losing weight is always difficult, but what if extra fat may be the body’s only defense from dangerous fat-soluble toxins? Remember the adage: “The solution to pollution is dilution”- we attempt to dilute poisons to reduce their concentration and therefore, their toxic effects. In the case of fat-soluble toxins, many compounds actually trigger the body to produce fat as a protective storage for these additional toxins. This keeps the toxins away from sensitive tissues and cells, but increases body fat and weight which can lead to other serious concerns.
Two things you should think about if you are a clinician or a patient. If you are attempting to lose a lot of weight quickly and you have never considered a detoxification program you should be aware that massive fat reduction will put additional strain on the liver and gall bladder as additional toxins will be released from fat stores and moved into the liver and other tissue. The toxins will also be working to tell your body to produce more fat to re-dilute the toxins. Losing weight slowly while changing the diet to include helpful liver cleansing foods is much healthier. Consider doing a medically appropriate detoxification program after you have lost 10-15 lbs to blunt this affect. Or, consider doing a detoxification program as the start to your weight-loss program.
Below are some links to recent papers which shows the links of certain toxins to obesity and weight-loss- and several showing how pollutants increase risk for diabetes. Some food for thought for the New Year.
- Public health concern behind the exposure to persistent organic pollutants and the risk of metabolic diseases. [Free Download]
- Persistent Organic Pollutants and Type 2 Diabetes: A Prospective Analysis in the Nurses’ Health Study and Meta-analysis.
- Natural mixtures of POPs affected body weight gain and induced transcription of genes involved in weight regulation and insulin signaling.
- Increased plasma levels of toxic pollutants accompanying weight loss induced by hypocaloric diet or by bariatric surgery.
- Obesity and persistent organic pollutants: possible obesogenic effect of organochlorine pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls.
- Persistent organic pollutants and obesity-related metabolic dysfunction: focusing on type 2 diabetes.
- Circulating Levels of Persistent Organic Pollutants in Relation to Visceral and Subcutaneous Adipose Tissue by Abdominal MRI.
- Obesity and air pollution: global risk factors for pediatric non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
- Poor asthma control and exposure to traffic pollutants and obesity in older adults.