We Talk Detox

If you are paying any kind of attention to what's going on in the health and fitness world at all, you notice that everyone is talking about detox. Product after product are unleashed from the lab and out in the neon lights. You can't help but be curious. And you SHOULD be! Especially if you have been struggling with low energy, sickness, weight cycling, or sweating your life away on a treadmill and to your great disappointment, those hours seem to do nothing for your weight loss goals. First, let me make one thing very clear. Detoxing is NOT an excuse to call it quit on your workouts. Cardiovascular training is still very important for managing healthy blood sugar levels, blood chemistry and open pathways in your arteries. Strength training is still very important for bone density, growth hormone (or what I like to call the youth hormone) and the ongoing battle of holding onto as much muscle mass as possible. Core, Flexibility and Yoga are all still very important for managing stress, achieving limber and lean muscle tissue and functionality. The conversation around detox is not about proving that exercise is not worth your time. Obviously that wouldn't be true and you know it! Instead, Detoxing is proving to be a relevant, critical and necessary practice for your overall health, including weight loss. Research has shown a strong link between groups that are not able to lose weight who have high levels of toxins in their blood samples compared with groups who have detoxed and successfully shed the pounds. There are two phases to detoxification which basically turns fat soluble toxins into water soluble toxins so that they may be eliminated from the body. The relationship with fat soluble toxins and body fat percentage is still being studied but it is believed that when our fat cells are stored up with toxins, fat cells then multiply to store more fat in an attempt to protect themselves, as well as become resilient to letting any of the fat go. Discussed by Dr. Mike Roussell, who has put thousands of dollars into researching this subject, is the fact that the more fat cells you have, the more lepton you will have running through your blood. Lepton is the hormone that tells your body to use up stored fat. But just as Type II Diabetics who become insulin-resistant, your body can become lepton-resistant, making burning fat nearly impossible. Not to mention that every time you make new fat cells, you have those fat cells for life. You can only shrink them down, making you more prevalent to weight cycling. Clearly we need to try and manage these fat cells as best we can, so that we can be fat burning machines rather than fat storing (non-functional) machines. And after watching too many of my clients disappointed with the lack of results followed by extreme effort, I will attest to the fact that there is so much more going on in our bodies aside from 'calories-in, calories-out'. I will NEVER preach this naive, uneducated theory again. You cannot access your fat burning system without addressing the mechanics of the system first. And detoxing the system may just be your answer.

Regardless of whether or not you want to drop some lbs., no matter how healthy you are in your attempt to eat well and drink purified water, there is no avoiding the dangerous chemicals that are floating in the very air that is surrounding you in this moment. "We are also exposed to toxins from outside our body, which is a relatively new phenomenon. At least to the degree we experience that today. These external toxins include synthetic chemicals, pesticides, xenobiotics and even in otherwise healthy food such as oxalic acid found in spinach." -Prograde.  An estimated 90,000 chemicals have been introduced to our environment in the past 60 years. Pesticides have even been found in babies blood samples! These kinds of toxins not only disrupt weight loss, but everything else that your liver is responsible for. Including blood sugar management and your immune system. 

So, are you itching to try this practice? Be sure to educate yourself before spending a bunch of money on the next convincing article. Trust me they are everywhere, and they are indeed very convincing. You may choose to try an all natural detox using organic fruits and veggies. This doesn't mean just go eat a bowl of spinach on the first day. (Side note: Did you know spinach has a toxic effect on the body in LARGE amounts due to a compound called an oxalate which may lead to kidney stones? I'm talking LARGE amounts, so don't worry. Your spinach salad is safe.) Just remember that vegetables are not just raw foods, they are powerful foods and detoxing is a serious chemical process that requires the right selection of nutrients. Aside from natural detoxing, you may be attracted to some of the products out there like Isagenix products or the thousands of other supplements that are designed to cleanse your system. Just be sure to do your research first. Something we can all do, which has little to no risk is drink plenty of water in exchange for sodas and juices! There's a start! 

Summary-

With the increasing exposure to dangerous chemical properties, there is no denying the many potential negative health effects they can take on our bodies. Stay tuned for more evidence linking fat storage and toxicity. Lastly, don't swap detoxing for exercise!