Bonnie Camo MD,
Natural Medicine & Homeopathy, Trebisacce, Italy
Toxic
Fat
Is there a
link between the American epidemic of obesity and chemical pollution of our
air, water and earth? There are several
known mechanisms by which toxic pollutants cause obesity.
Environmental
toxins include chemicals and heavy metals.
The heavy metals that cause the most health problems are lead, mercury,
cadmium, arsenic, nickel, and aluminum.
Chemical toxins include solvents and cleaning agents, prescription
drugs, pesticides and food additives.
Organochlorine
pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB’s) stored in body fat are
released when body fat is used as fuel during a weight loss diet. These chemicals cause a decrease in thyroid
hormone levels, lowering the metabolic rate and preventing further weight
loss. Toxins also damage the
mitochondria, the tiny powerhouses in cells, interfering with their ability to
burn fat and create energy.
A
recent study conducted by the Mercer University School of Medicine examined whether
pesticide exposure played a role in worldwide childhood obesity. The
researchers observed nearly 6,800 subjects aged 6 to 19. Individual exposure
was determined through the use of urine tests for pesticide residues. The results showed that obese subjects had
high urinary concentrations of 2,5-dichlorophenol (2,5-DCP), one of the most
widely-used pesticides in the world. Children who were exposed to high
levels of PCBs and DDE (a product of DDT) in breast milk, averaged twelve
pounds heavier at puberty.
Genetically
modified foods, hyped by MonSatan as requiring less pesticides, actually
require more pesticides than normal crops.
Weeds have become resistant to
Monsanto’s Roundup ready GM crops, so farmers are having to apply more
herbicides, and even more dangerous ones, like 2,4D, an ingredient in Agent
Orange. So the GMOs in almost all
processed foods, damaging enough in themselves, are also loaded with
obesity-causing pesticides.
Toxins also
interfere with appetite-controlling substances in the brain, like leptin and
alpha-MSH, causing hunger to increase. Fatty
liver is the most common liver disease in America, affecting one in five. It is not caused by alcohol, drugs or viral
hepatitis, but by excess sugar. Sugar,
white flour and high fructose corn syrup are converted to triglycerides (fat)
in liver cells. A fatty liver is unable
to perform its job of detoxifying the body.
Antibiotics have also been identified as being a promoter for obesity as well as diabetes and
metabolic syndrome. Antibiotics may succeed in destroying harmful bacteria, as
intended, but they also destroy good and necessary gut bacteria. These friendly
flora are responsible for regulating overall health, including weight
management.
We can avoid
toxins that cause obesity by eating organic foods, thus avoiding pesticides,
hormones, antibiotics, and GMOs. Drink
filtered water rather than water in plastic bottles (that will end up in a landfill
or floating in the sea forever) and avoid the harmful effects of plastic ingredients
like phthalates. Use HEPA filters to
remove dust, molds and volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) from the air, and
shower filters to remove chlorine. Fill
your house with houseplants that help clean the air. Reduce heavy metal exposure by avoiding
aluminum pans and deodorants, mercury-laden large fish like tuna and swordfish,
lead paint, and tobacco, a major source of cadmium.
Encourage
elimination of toxins by drinking plenty of water, and working up a sweat by
exercise, steam baths or saunas. Stretching
exercise like yoga improves the flow of lymph and helps flush out toxins. Eat detoxifying foods like cruciferous
vegetables, dandelion greens, garlic, and berries. Drink green tea and herbal teas containing
dandelion, ginger, licorice or cinnamon.
High sulfur foods like organic eggs, whey protein, onions and broccoli
provide sulfur amino acids needed for detoxification. Season your food with herbs like cilantro,
which helps remove heavy metals, and rosemary, containing carnosol which raises
detoxification enzymes. Most fruits and
vegetables tend to alkalinize the urine, which makes it easier to remove
toxins.
Supplements
that aid detoxification include a daily high potency multivitamin/mineral,
vitamin C with bioflavonoids, milk thistle – an herb which benefits the liver,
probiotics, omega-3 fatty acids, N-acetyl cysteine, alpha-lipoic acid, and
L-carnitine. Zinc may be low in a
vegetarian diet and may be supplemented to help displace heavy metals. Methylsulfonylmethane (MSM), also called
organic sulfur, is another aid in removing harmful heavy metals.
