Exposure to environmental toxins affects weight loss.  In modern life, our body is exposed to a barrage of substances that are foreign to us which I will label as toxins to keep it simple.  These toxins come from chemicals put into the environment by industry, heavy metals, chemicals from plastics, pesticides, herbicides and more.  Luckily our body has built in mechanisms to get rid of the “bad stuff”.  It takes time and nutrients to do so.  Unfortunately, our ability to get rid of toxins can be overwhelmed by the amount incoming which creates an imbalance.  When this imbalance happens our body stores them in fat.  Our fat communicates with our brain which then controls our metabolism.  Weight loss is hard when the metabolism communication is not working correctly.  When our fat is full of toxins, those communication signals go awry.  I believe that this can affect our body weight set point and impair our ability to lose weight.

Detoxification strategies can often jump start a weight loss plan.  There is even some evidence that toxins in our fat contribute to inflammation which can lead to insulin resistance (see Part 1 of this series).  Toxins can be tricky to test for, but I have realized that we all have a toxic burden and we can all use strategies to support detoxification.  Here are the hints that you have a high toxic burden contributing to a uphill weight loss battle.

How Toxins are Affecting Your Weight Loss Results

1. You can’t recall the last time you felt well.  Often vitality and that feeling of energy are the first things to go.  Mental and physical fatigue, frequent headaches, chronic congestion, chronic pain and sensitivities to the environment all can be indicative of toxic burden.
2. You struggle with edema or you don’t sweat.  Our lymph system is involved in the transport of fluids in our body.  Lymphatic flow and drainage is really important.  Stagnant lymphatics equal stagnant toxins.  Sweating is one of the ways our body eliminates toxins.  Sometimes our lymphatic system can become blocked due to structural issues and impair our ability to detoxify.  Correcting for this can facilitate the normal elimination of toxic chemicals.
3. You do not eliminate daily, meaning, you do not have a daily bowel movement.  The digestive tract is the main mechanism for elimination of waste.   If you are not having a daily bowel movement, you are not eliminating toxins efficiently.

Improving your detoxification systems will improve the ability of your body to let go of excess weight.