The Role of Toxins in Weight Gain: Part 1
Without anyone really noticing, the weight loss game has undergone a significant shift in recent years. But ignorance is not really the fault of the public. We can only make decisions based on the information available. And we have seen very little about the fact that the accepted wisdom about calories and exercise are just part of the larger picture of weight control. People are usually aware of the latest trends, whether it’s simply eating organically or one of the wide varieties of diets and protocols being touted in magazines and blogs. Whether it’s a paleo diet or a vegan diet or just eating “healthy”, there still seems to be a missing element because so many are still struggling with their weight. Across the western world, health clubs are still thriving, with new classes and keep-fit modalities being introduced regularly.
The diet industry is thriving. Popular programs have a brisk rate of sign-ups and an eager clientele. Dieters in these programs weigh in regularly and share their victories as they’re counted in increments of weight loss, even though they might be dealing with a sense of deprivation every day for their efforts. Regular exercise is great; the gym can be important part of living a long and healthy life. Trends in eating well mostly have positive aspects too. However, most of us still rely on counting calories when we are looking to lose weight, although the theory that calories are the only consideration is totally out of date now. For no good reason, the calorie has been demonized as something to monitor, avoid and count.
It’s unrealistic. There was certainly a time when this was all we had to go on, and simply counting calories seemed sufficient to lose weight. But calories can no longer be the bad guys. If anything, it’s important that we embrace the right kind of nutrient-dense calories, but we have fresh information about the real culprit for those hard-to-shift pounds. Eating processed foods with synthetic ingredients is one of our biggest problems. Global pollution and household products containing synthetic chemicals also challenge our health. This modern-day issue wreaks havoc, while interfering with the way the body works. Toxins are a monumental threat to our health and we are still in the early stages of discovering what the long-term effects will be.
A recently coined term, “obesogens” was established by researchers to describe the implications that these toxins have for our health. According to medical-dictionary.com, the definition for obesogens is: “An exogenous substance that alters lipid homeostasis and fat storage, changes metabolic set-points, disrupts energy balance or modifies the regulation of appetite and satiety, promoting fat accumulation and obesity.” Horrifying! This completely changes everything we thought we knew, and the rules we have been ardently following. As long as these toxins kill our energy and assist the body in holding onto fat, why would we rely on just counting calories to gauge our health? We are constantly challenged by some of the ingredients in our food and in our environments and we need to start paying more attention to the consequences.