Weight
Loss May Release Stored Toxins
Environmental
pollutants trapped in fat cells could be released back into
circulation when people lose a lot of weight, researchers said.
9
September, 2009
Environmental
pollutants trapped in fat cells could be released back into
circulation when people shed a lot of weight, researchers said.
According
to data collected from among 1,099 adult participants age ≥40 in
the CDC's National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES),
serum concentrations of six persistent organic pollutants were
significantly correlated with weight change, according to Duk-Hee
Lee, MD, PhD, of Kyungpook National University in Daegu, Korea, and
colleagues.
Adjusted
correlation coefficients for 10-year weight changes ranged from -0.16
to -0.23 for the six pollutants, with slightly smaller coefficients
found for one-year weight changes, the researchers reported online in
the International
Journal of Obesity.
Correlations
between serum pollutant levels and five categories of weight-loss --
stable weight, moderate increase or decrease, and large increase or
decrease -- were significant (P<0.01)
for all but one of the six pollutants.
Compared
with participants who reported large weight gains over the previous
decade, those claiming large losses had serum levels of the six
pollutants that were about 50% higher, Lee and colleagues found.
Although
the cross-sectional study design could not establish that weight loss
itself led to the higher concentrations of circulating organic
pollutants, the findings were consistent with such a mechanism, the
researchers suggested.
"As
persistent organic pollutants mainly bioaccumulate in adipose tissue,
weight change can affect serum concentrations," they explained.
Lee and colleagues also noted that some small longitudinal studies
have already found evidence that these chemicals are released from
fat tissue after short-term weight loses.
The
researchers suggested that such releases may account for some adverse
outcomes seen in people undergoing large weight losses, including
increased rates of cardiovascular disease, dementia, and death.
"These
puzzling findings on weight change from observational studies have
been dismissed simply as bias due to no biological plausibility,"
Lee and colleagues wrote, suggesting that these effects are mixed
with the benefits of weight loss in previously obese individuals.
"Pathogenesis
of some health outcomes may be more affected by the change of adipose
tissue mass, while pathogenesis of other health outcomes may be more
affected by the change of serum concentrations of persistent organic
pollutants," they argued.
Their
study involved data from 1999 to 2002 NHANES series, in which serum
levels of 49 organic pollutants that are not metabolized in vivo were
measured in some participants.
Since
most of these pollutants turned out to be undetectable in many
samples, Lee and colleagues focused on the seven with the highest
detection rates in participants who were at least 40 years old. The
study group was comprised of 49% men and over half were white.
These
chemicals included trans-nonachlor, p,p'-DDE,
beta-hexachlorocyclohexane, PCB169, PCB180,
1,2,3,4,6,7,8-heptachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin, and
1,2,3,4,6,7,8-heptachlorodibenzofuran (HpCDF).
Participants
in NHANES also reported their weight at year one and 10 years
earlier, allowing for weight change to be estimated over time. Lee
and colleagues stratified these estimates into five categories for
each period: stable weight, moderate increase or decrease, and large
increase or decrease.
For
one-year change, stable weight was a gain or loss of less than 1 kg
(2.2 lb). Moderate change was 1 to 5 kg (11 lb) and large change was
more than 5 kg. The 10-year weight-change categories were double
these ranges (that is, large change was more than 10 kg or 22 lbs)
and moderate change was 2 to 10 kg (4.4 to 22 lbs).
The
correlations between the weight-loss categories and the serum
pollutant levels were significant (P<0.01)
for all but HpCDF -- for which the correlation coefficient was -0.05
(P=0.12).
Lee
and colleagues acknowledged that the study design allowed for
potential confounding and error, insofar as each participant had only
one serum measurement of pollutant levels and reported their own
previous weights.
Also,
it remained possible that factors other than weight loss, which were
not analyzed in the current study, were also associated with the
serum pollutant levels. Thus, they recommended more studies of the
potential relationship.
However,
pending the outcome of such future studies, "researchers and
clinicians need to consider lipophilic xenobiotics such as persistent
organic pollutants that bioaccumulate in adipose tissue as well as
obesity itself when they study or manage obesity issues because such
xenobiotics may work against what we generally expect from weight
loss or gain," Lee and colleagues concluded.
No
external funding for the study was reported.
The
authors declared they had no conflicts of interest.
WEIGHT
LOSS NEWS
Why
Toxins and Waste Products Impede Weight Loss - The Leptin Diet Weight
Loss Challenge #3
16
April, 2012
Your
body’s ability to process trash, including toxic trash, is a
pervasive factor in your ability to lose weight and reach a healthy
goal weight. Struggling with this issue activates backup strategies
for dealing with toxic overload, which include expanding the number
of fat cells and stuffing them with toxins as well as fat. This is
likely done to get the toxic trash out of your circulation and away
from key organs. It causes easy weight gain and complicates weight
loss because your body does not easily give up the toxic fat it has
stored.
In
many ways, our polluted world is a true test of genetic survival of
the fittest. The number of toxic chemicals now threatens
the reproductive
ability1 of
the human race and is also a large part of the cancer
issue.
These chemicals contribute to weight gain in various ways,
including disruption
of the hormone signaling2 system
that regulates your metabolism, damage to and accumulation in your
white adipose tissue, and increased risk for poisoning during weight
loss. It is absolutely vital that you understand this subject.
Our
Toxic World is a Major Metabolic Problem
In
my previous article in this series, How
Digestive Problems Prevent Weight Loss,
I explained how toxic LPS, the result of bacterial imbalance within
the digestive tract, stimulates the formation of new fat cells and
promotes weight gain. I explained how LPS causes leptin resistance
and thyroid malfunction. LPS is an example of an internally generated
toxin. There are other internally generated toxins along with plenty
of “normal” trash like inflammatory debris and lactic acid.
Additionally, pervasive environmental toxins affect everyone to some
degree and can cause all of the metabolic malfunctions of LPS, as
well as increase the risk for cancer. Many of these environmental
toxins are fat soluble, which means they readily accumulate in white
adipose tissue.
Some
of these toxic compounds have been banned, but the damage has already
been done as they continue to bioaccumulate in the food chain and
pose long-term challenges to the farming soils throughout America
(PCBs, dioxins, furans, DDT, DDE). Others are widely used by industry
such as the biocide tributyltin
(TBT)3,
an anti-fouling agent for paint, which gets into water and
accumulates in fish. Others are in daily
consumer contact4,
including contact with food, such as Bisphenol
A (BPA). There
are many
others.
This is a key metabolic problem for the two-thirds of Americans who
are overweight.
Once
upon a time, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) conducted a
program called the National
Human Adipose Tissue Survey (NHATS). In
1982 and again in 1987 it analyzed human
fat samples from
cadavers obtained throughout the country, looking for the types of
toxins that accumulate in human fat. Four industrial solvents and one
dioxin were found in 100
percent of the fat samples6.
Nine more chemicals, including three more dioxins and one furan were
found in more than 90 percent of the fat samples. In general, 83
percent of the fat samples contained PCBs. U.S. researchers have
confirmed the presence of multiple
toxins in human fat7 associated
with obesity risk. The EPA has confirmed the presence of these
chemicals as pollution in the farm
soil across America –
meaning this problem will be with us for some time to come.
Damage
occurs, and may be very difficult to resolve, if exposure to these
chemicals occurs while in
the womb21 and
during the early years of life. Breast milk may
contain numerous
fat-soluble toxins22 depending
upon the health of the mother. Such toxic exposure during formative
years may influence gene settings in a way that predisposes future
obesity (an
adverse epigenetic change23).
It has also been shown that when these chemicals disrupt thyroid
hormone function24 during
development they also adversely impact the development of the brain.
A human study has confirmed the future
risk of obesity25 in
women whose mothers had high levels of the chemical compound DDE.
Toxins
Pose a Major Challenge to Weight Loss
A
variety of reasons toxins pose a major challenge to weight loss. A
person who has too many toxins to process will make new fat cells and
store those toxins along with fat in them. This is first a form of
self-defense against being poisoned, and second, a strategy to get
toxins out of the circulation and away from major organs. This means
that some people will not be able to lose any weight at all,
regardless of how little they eat, until the acute nature of their
plumbing problems are addressed.
It
is very clear that these toxins are released back into the
circulation during weight loss. This is especially the case
during significant
weight loss26.
During a weight loss of 12 percent of body weight toxins in the blood
increased 23 percent - 51 percent, with the heaviest
individuals releasing
the most toxins27.
Over a one year period of weight loss toxic exposure ranged up to a
whopping 388 percent. Scientists have shown that such toxins can
interfere with thyroid
hormone28 function
during weight loss. Human data shows that as the toxins go up
in the blood during weight loss the levels of biologically
active thyroid
hormone (T3)29 go
down. This data means that your plumbing and detoxification systems
must be in good working condition for healthy weight loss – or
possibly even to engage weight loss.
Toxins
make you feel irritable. Many people report feeling “poisoned” at
a certain point in their weight loss process. Such people will always
feel better when they eat a lot of food, as the toxins are pulled out
of their blood and placed back in fat – along with plenty of fat.
With a little effort, most people can readily lose weight they have
most recently gained. After that, people reach what I like to call it
the “toxic plateau.” This means that detoxification strategies
may need to be adjusted if weight loss slows too much or stops. In my
clinical experience, the difficult-to-lose pounds are typically toxic
fat. Strategies to improve detoxification often enable weight loss to
proceed. While overweight people who struggle to lose weight with a
good diet and exercise have this problem to some degree, those who
are the most overweight experience this issue to a greater degree.
Individuals
with chemical sensitivity issues are extremely challenged. Virtually
all individuals with chemical sensitivity are hyper-inflamed, have
lost physical strength and fitness, and are either overweight or
underweight. Oddly enough, being overweight is generally better than
being underweight, because at least the backup system of stuffing
toxins into fat still works. Underweight people usually have
excessive damage to their white adipose tissue and can’t store
toxins in fat.
This usually equates to more damage in their bodies
from the toxins (including type 2 diabetes). However, as the
weight is lost and the toxins come back into the blood, it is like a
fresh new chemical exposure with a reaction. Such individuals must
optimize their vitamin D levels—keeping them in the upper 2/3 of
normal range—while using anti-inflammatory nutrients like quercetin
and grape seed extract to help lower the amount of chemical reactions
that will otherwise derail their progress.
Strategies
to Improve Detoxification During Weight Loss
The
nutritional support strategies I outlined in the first article in
this series, The
Leptin Diet Weight Loss Challenge – Overview and Basic Needs,
cover basic detoxification needs. Of special importance is increased
fiber intake. Fiber acts like a sponge for toxins. In that article I
suggest 35 – 60 grams of fiber per day, using supplemental fiber to
ensure needs are met. Individuals with this toxin issue should try to
get their fiber to the 50 – 60 grams range, which may be all it
takes to get this problem on track. After that the next most
important nutrients to boost are antioxidants in general and vitamin
D in particular.
The
next step is to boost antioxidant nutrients that are known to help
detoxification processes while protecting the liver, brain, white
adipose tissue, and/or circulation. Top choices
are silymarin, R-alpha
lipoic acid, chlorella, quercetin, grape
seed extract, vitamin
C30,
and tocotrienols.
It is now understood that “toxic” blood triggers the formation of
new fat cells. This is because the endothelial
cells of
your circulatory system directly communicate to your baby fat cells
and can tell them what to do. Keeping your blood as clean as possible
and supporting your liver are vital steps to ensure that this process
goes smoothly.
Other
aspects of detoxification may need to be addressed, however,
explaining them in detail goes beyond the scope of this article. For
more information and articles on this subject, simply type
“detoxification” into the search engine on my website at
www.wellnessresources.com. Part of getting a handle on weight loss is
becoming a master plumber. Your body’s success in processing trash,
including toxic trash, is a major key to eventually get to a healthy
goal weight.
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