Shedding Toxins Sheds the Fat

January 5, 2011
Ann Louise Gittleman, PhD, CNS

Ann Louise Gittleman, PhD, CNS

Award-winning nutritionist and New York Times bestselling author.

78164248Detox for a slim figure that lasts.

It’s a toxic world out there. Every day, our bodies are assaulted by pathogens and poisons—which are making us fat!

One theory about why chemicals induce weight gain has to do with the way many of them mimic the effects of estrogen in our bodies. That’s why this group of toxins has come to be known as “environmental estrogens” or xenoestrogens. Some of these environmental estrogens are known as “obesogens” or chemicals that disrupt endocrine function and are making us fat.

These poisonous infiltrators, whose use skyrocketed since World War II, find various ways of inducing, blocking, or otherwise scrambling our hormonal signals, either because they have deliberately been intended to do so (think weight-inducing animal feeds) or as an accidental effect of what happens as they break down. Either way, xenoestrogens are contributing to a relatively new condition known as estrogen dominance—one symptom of which is a tendency to gain weight.

Every time you’re exposed to plastics, industrial waste, meat, soap, pesticide-laden fruits and veggies, car exhaust, and much of the furniture, paneling and carpeting in your home and office, you’re setting yourself up for estrogen overload. And as if that weren’t enough, here are a few other sources:

• Stress increases the level of the stress hormone cortisol, which contributes to estrogen dominance. Cortisol also causes us to retain tummy fat, making it that much harder to lose both pounds and inches. Too much stress can interfere with our menstrual cycles as well, dumping excess estrogen into our bloodstream.
• Medications such a birth-control pills and hormone replacement therapy (HRT) deliberately add estrogen to our systems—for worthy medical ends, perhaps, but with troubling results for our weight and health.
• Household chemicals, including scouring powder, dishwashing detergent, laundry soap, fabric softeners, and window cleaners, contain numerous xenoestrogenic chemicals, as do the pesticides you may be using in your home or garden.
• Cosmetics and beauty products, including shampoo, makeup, hair dye, hair sprays, lipstick, and fingernail polish and polish remover, may also include additives and preservatives that behave in a xenoestrogenic fashion and work their way into your system through your skin.
• Environmental sources of estrogen include not only the pollutants described above, but also the estrogen-laden feeds given to cows and steers to help them—you guessed it—gain weight.
• Water in virtually every town and city in the United States is chlorinated, and chlorine is a major xenoestrogen. Whether you drink tap water or simply bathe, shower, or swim in it, you’re exposing yourself to a fattening (and possibly carcinogenic) chemical.
• Diet is a big part of the excess estrogen problem for most of us Americans. A shortage of the phytoestrogens naturally found in plants like fruits (oranges, strawberries), vegetables (asparagus, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, radishes), seeds (flaxseeds), and spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger) gets our systems out of whack. When our bodies are supplied with enough natural plant estrogens, they more easily slough off excess estrogen into the bloodstream, which carries it off to be excreted in the urine. Ironically, insufficient estrogen from natural sources can cause our systems to become over-loaded with estrogens from animals fats and artificial sources.

Simple Solutions
Opt for organic foods, whenever possible, to avoid pesticide residues. And when you choose packaged foods, look for BPA-free and natural packaging—less is truly more in this case! But that’s not enough.

If you value your health, many of you have probably decided to lose weight—especially after the holidays. Unfortunately, excess weight can actually weaken the body’s defenses against environmental poisons and pathogens. As your fat melts away, it releases these very toxins that contribute to overweight and obesity—while putting you at risk for new health problems, at least briefly, if you do shed some pounds. The good news is, there are solutions.

Detox for Weight Loss
There’s a detox plan for every individual to fit every need. Here are two that are particularly effective this time of year. They have helped millions of individuals—just like you—because they support and detoxify the liver, which is crucial to combating the fat-making xenoestrogens in the environment:

The Fat Flush Plan—the classic protocol that revolutionized weight loss, based on my New York Times blockbuster bestseller—involves three separate, unique steps in supporting safe, effective detox—ideal for anyone who needs to lose 20 or more pounds:

Phase 1 – Two-weeks of rapid detoxification and weight loss
Phase 2 – Ongoing Fat Flush for continued weight loss
Phase 3 – A lifelong eating plan for maintaining a healthy weight permanently

The Fast Track Detox Diet that boosts metabolism, while eliminating fattening toxins. After a 10-day prequel or preparation for detox, you can safely lose up to eight pounds overnight with a safe, effective “Miracle Juice” fast that you can make at home—terrific for quick detox, especially when followed by a diet of largely organic foods and grass-fed meats.

Take Charge of Your Success
All of my programs offer a wealth of wholesome foods and recipes, so that you can easily stick with whichever detox protocol best fits your needs. When you want to detox and lose weight, rather than feeling as though you should, you’re much more likely to achieve your goals.

Liver-Lovin Formula is a great product that gives a cleansing boost to help kick start metabolism. Its unique blend of ingredients include:

• Artichoke – a well-known liver healer, loaded with antioxidants to help move toxins through the liver’s detox pathways and boost bile production.
• Chlorophyll – rich in purifying magnesium to further enhance elimination.
• Taurine – boosts the liver’s production of bile to aid in fat digestion and absorption.

Adults should take two capsules two times daily or as directed by a health care professional—and it’s best taken with meals.

Because it’s sometimes hard to consume all the nutrients you need—even with healthy detox protocols—I also recommend taking Weight Loss Formula, the best daily multi for anyone who’s trying to slim down. With Oregon grape root, an antibacterial herb that helps strengthen liver function, chromium to boost metabolism and stabilize blood sugar, L-carnitine to regulate energy production, and methionine to detoxify the liver, this offers great detox support.

In addition, Weight Loss Formula contains choline, which is very helpful for fat metabolism in the liver. It’s very supportive to the bile salts by reducing the surface tension of fat particles, allowing them to be more easily broken down by the bile salts. Excellent for fatty liver syndrome because it virtually defats the liver, it’s also very helpful for those who have problems with fat digestion.

As a bonus, detoxing the liver even fights the latest environmental hazard, electropollution. Adults should take one capsule three times daily, preferably with meals.

Detoxifying the body and making healthy choices makes the difference between temporary weight loss—and success that lasts a lifetime.

Sources:
The Fast Track Detox Diet
The Fat Flush Plan
The Gut Flush Plan
http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/othernuts/carnitine/
www.foodsafety.gov/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21187786
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21185970
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21182865
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20868731
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21155623

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Ann Louise Gittleman, PhD, CNS, is an award-winning New York Times bestselling author of more than thirty books including The Fat Flush Plan series and her latest book, Radical Metabolism. She’s been rewriting the rules of nutrition for more than 40 years and is internationally recognized as a pioneer in the field of diet, detox and women’s health issues. 

For a FREE daily dose of tips and strategies for maintaining healthy weight, conquering insomnia, and much more…check out my Radical Health Tips.

I’d like to meet and greet you on my Facebook groups, so won’t you check us out at the Radical Metabolism RevolutionFat Flush Nation, or my Inner Circle!

8 Comments

  1. Betty Dodson

    I was on birth control for over 30 years. I went off and my whole body changed. My ob said I was just eating too much. My weight gain is even in my arms. I feel out of whack even though I am doing women to women supplements I still feel out of whack. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated as I am a 56 year old who really wants to get to the bottom of all my body changes. I really don’t eat that much and didn’t have a weight problem until I stopped birth control. Please help.

    Reply
  2. A Lewis

    i am 40 years old and have been on estrogen replacement for 12 years because my ovaries failed to produce it. i am 5’4 and am 113lbs. estrogen does not cause weight gain. toxins in the environment, possibly. once again- estrogen gets the blame for something else. you need to do more research before you poison these women’s minds with this garbage.

    Reply
  3. A Lewis

    oh- also, given our LIVER is a major fat burning organ- it would be more than wise to cleanse or detox which i do quite often.

    Reply
  4. Administrator

    Ladies: This blog focuses on environmental estrogens which are well known hormone disruptors, both in animals and in humans. The book ‘Our Stolen Future’ speaks of the environmental impact of estrogenic-chemicals while ‘Before the Change’ and ‘Hot Times,’ Dr. ALG’s books, deal with hormonal balance in general. She always suggests for those with hormonal concerns that a salivary hormone test be used as a baseline for evaluation.

    There is no issue taken with individuals who medically need estrogen replacement, so the comment from A. Lewis is totally out of line.

    Reply
  5. A. Lewis

    that is NOT what is insinuated here or actually in most of her articles. never have i heard a positive thing said about estrogen by Dr. Louise.

    Reply
  6. Susan

    Ummm…..sounds like someone has had too much estrogen!

    Reply
  7. Martha

    We get lots of estrogen and estrogen like components in the environment and that is causing tremendous amount of problems with women and men’s health…..too much estrogen is a bad thing…..do the research! If you need it – fine but make sure your DR. has done the tests to prove you need it. Lots of Dr.s give estrogen/hormone replacements to people who don’t even need it.

    Reply
  8. Amanda

    Xenoestrogen has been linked to all kinds of nasty side effects, far more serious than weight gain. Breast cancer, cancer in general, premature menarche, males developing breasts.It is silly to argue the point.

    Our hormones do more than just control our weight. Detoxing is a lovely idea. A lovelier idea would be if we would stop poisoning ourselves and stop financially supporting the greedy @$&? who make money off of poisoning us.

    Do some research, it is very scary.

    Reply

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