Everyone is aware that obesity is related to diet and exercise. It’s as simple as calories in = calories out, right? It’s amazing how many weight gurus have promoted this over the years. Too bad it’s not that simple.
The 1st Law of Thermodynamics as it applies to weight management assumes that calories in equals calories out. Basically, to lose weight, you need to take in less calories than you burn through daily living and exercise. Pretty simple. Get a chart and a calculator and weight loss is guaranteed. Yeah right. How many of you have been there and done that?
The are many reasons why this just doesn’t work with body weight. First is the role of hormones. Hormones, such as insulin, leptin, resisten, thyroid and adiponectin play a massive role in weight regulation. These hormones are under complex regulation from signals in our environment.
Taking in too little low quality calories? The thyroid goes into hibernation mode. Think Slimfast or just cutting calories from a processed diet.
Is your gut stressed out from poor quality diet, drugs that block acid or emotional stress? This sends signals to the bone which in turn regulates body fat.
Sound complicated? It is. And yet another reason why a weight loss program needs to identify all facets of lifestyle and not merely calories in vs calories out. It is also why merely joining a gym (and actually going..) does not always lead to weight loss.
We have known for some time that chemicals in our environment contribute to altered body composition. Just some examples:
- Bisphenol A (BPA) is well documented to contribute to diabetes and weight gain
- Flame retardants play a role in obesity
- Flame retardants negatively affect thyroid function
This particular article through yet another wrench in the works of ideal weight. It is a wonderful review of what we are terming “obesogens” — chemical messengers in our environment that disturb our maintenance of a healthy weight and adds to the list of chemicals given above. Given what we now know of these chemicals’ influence, identification, avoidance and detoxification are requirement for a program designed to achieve an ideal body composition. Anything less is not enough.
And given that the New Year with the New Year’s resolutions are upon us (of course–that’s only if you have given up on them yet), the beginning of the year is a great time to do a detox program. Regardless of how healthy we live, we are still exposed to a very large number of toxins that can contribute to ill health and weight gain. A simple, annual detox program seems to me to be a smart approach to combating this problem. Call the office for details if you’re interested.