Chemicals (toxins) in the environment can make you fat! What?

Multiple scientific studies published in leading medical and scientific journals highlight the link between chemicals and weight gain, diabetes and heart disease.

Let’s look at the weight issue:  Mark Hyman, MD, a leading researcher and clinician, explains that “environmental toxins make you fat and cause diabetes. Inside the body, these chemicals monkey with our ability to balance blood sugar and metabolize cholesterol.

Over time, the changes (from these chemicals) can lead to insulin resistance (see article, July 30, at www.patientadvocates.com). This discovery should be headline news but no one is talking about it. Why? Because there are no drugs to treat it. In the quest to conquer the two biggest epidemics of our time—diabetes and obesity—we’ve got to turn our attention to the heavy burden environmental toxins put on our bodies.”

What are these toxins anyway?  Our environment is steeped in chemicals that our bodies were not designed to process.  Toxins such as Bisphenol A (BPA), flame retardants, household chemicals, air pollution, body products laced with chemicals, heavy metals such as lead and mercury, arsenic, PCBs…the list is 80,000+ long.  In March, 2013, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)  published the latest report – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals (scroll to page 350 for the list) – stating that nearly every person they tested was storing hundreds of harmful chemicals.  Research shows that even newborns have 287 chemicals in their blood when they are born, 217 of which are harmful to the nervous system.

What can we do to get these chemicals out of our bodies?

Our bodies are equiped to get rid of harmful materials in 4 main ways:  pee, poop, perspiration, and breath (yes, breath!).

Pee:  the kidneys are responsible for flushing waste from the blood.  Help this by drinking plenty of clean water (is your tap water safe?).

Poop: Dr. Hyman explains “One or two well formed bowel movements every day is one of the best ways to give toxins a one-way ticket out of your body.”  This may sound like a lot; you may need to increase your fiber intake to increase the effectiveness of this function.

Perspiration: Did you know that your skin is your largest organ of excretion?  Work up a sweat 3 times a week, drinking plenty of water.  Don’t cover up your skin with a lot of creams and lotions full of chemicals (for a list of clean lotions go to the Environmental Working Group list here).  If possible, sit in a sauna!

Breath: Dr. Hyman “The lungs are the unsung heroes of the body’s detox squad. With each breath, they bring in fresh oxygen and help transport it throughout the body. Unfortunately, the air we breathe is not always clean. Every day the lungs filter out carcinogens in gas fumes, allergens from pets and plants, and spores of mold. Restricted or shallow breathing can diminish the power of the lungs by preventing oxygen from reaching all of your tissues. Breathing deeply and fully will oxygenate your brain, body, and spirit, transforming your health in the process.  Deep breaths, Everyone!

The next article will present ideas on how to help your body more effectively flush out these harmful chemicals.

Want to learn more?