For those wishing to reduce body fat on the cleanse, it is very important to address your toxin burden and reduce where possible. This is why.
When toxins enter our bodies, they are sent to the liver to be broken down. However, when the liver is overwhelmed or not getting enough nutritional support in order to prevent damage to other organs such as the heart and brain, our bodies revert to a backup plan and move the leftover toxins inside fat cells.
By locking up the toxins in fat cells, the vital organs and tissues are protected from damage. But there is a downside; not only does this cause unhealthy body fat, but these fat cells can cause inflammation and health issues in the body and brain.
As environmental and internal toxin levels climb, these overwhelm the liver more and more often. As a result, more toxins, along with more fat, must be stuffed into storage for later disposal. The number of fat cells increases to deal with the toxic load and may lead to being overweight.
Fat cells packed with toxic compounds don’t function very well. These malfunctioning cells continually release Leptin, which “burns out” cell receptors due to persistent levels, leading to Leptin resistance. Leptin is a hormone that regulates appetite and turns fat cells from fat storing to fat burning. Leptin resistance tells our bodies that we need more food and need to store more fat even when there is plenty of it stockpiled away. This drive to overeat and makes losing pounds problematic.
Even without Leptin resistance, if high toxin levels are still entering the body while we are trying to lose body fat through healthy diet changes and exercise, our body will still continue to combine these toxins with fat and store them away in cells where they do less damage. We may be burning through old stores, but the body keeps making new ones.
Reducing body fat means releasing and burning fat stores, which can flood the system with toxins that had been previously locked away. Constant toxic burden upon our system slows down the ability to reduce body fat, which is one of the causes of fat loss plateau, and can lead to a yo-yo effect as the body responds to the assault by filling fat cells over and over as we re-release stored toxins time and time again.
It´s therefore important to reduce all fat loving toxins as far as possible
Examples of fat-soluble toxins:
- Organochlorine pesticides (food) – possible to reduce
- Parabens (personal care products, cleaners) – possible to reduce/avoid
- Phthalates such as Bisphenol A (BPA)(plastics) – possible to reduce
- Perchloroethylene (dry cleaning) – possible to avoid
- Fluoride (toothpaste, water) – possible to avoid
- Flame Retardants (furniture) – possible to avoid
- Heavy metals: tin, lead (paint), mercury (dental amalgams, fish) – possible to reduce
- Exhaust, air pollution – difficult to have any control over
It´s really important that women consider their body fat mass and not body weight. We can be heavier and leaner compared to lighter and fatter.
Weight is for most, irrelevant and I believe it produces constant worry/anxiety to many who feel they ought to be a certain weight.
Here are some important determinants to consider before assessing yourself by your body weight.
- According to research, drinking alcohol decreases the body’s fat-burning ability by 73%. Another reason to consider how much you drink 😊
- Water makes up about 60% of your total body mass. Things such as dehydration and salt intake can drastically influence what the scale reads.
- If you’re even mildly dehydrated, your body will hold onto water and potentially cause the scale to read higher than before.
- Increased sodium intake can contribute to water retention as well – especially when paired with dehydration.
- Glycogen is another factor that can influence the scale. Glycogen is stored in your muscles as well as in your liver and can be thought of as your ‘gas tank’. These storages weigh up to 4lbs and can fluctuate daily and hourly depending on your carbohydrate consumption (more carbs equals heavier storages, less equals lighter storages).
- Hormonal fluctuations also cause changes to water storage and excretion within the body.
- Constipation: Of course poor bowel movement means the intestines are not regularly emptied and can affect weight readings.
It’s not uncommon for a person’s weight to shift up or down 2lbs during the day due to this phenomenon, yet it has nothing to do with fat loss or gain.
