Cleansing and Weight Loss

You've likely heard of many types of cleansing programs and wonder are they good for me and will it help me lose weight? Cleansing and detoxification is a confusing subject for many and with good reason. You can look online and in stores and find many different ways to cleanse. Are they all good, can they be harmful, what will I eat, will I be in the bathroom all day? These are the typical questions that come to mind for many.

Cleansing has been around for centuries and is utilized by many cultures as a way to help strengthen the body and prevent chronic conditions. How? By removing toxins from the body and assisting organs that are often over-burdened. The goal of detoxification is to reduce toxicity which has been linked to chronic diseases including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. The body removes toxins through 5 major channels which include:

Liver, Lungs, Kidneys, Colon and Skin

A carefully designed program takes into account all of these major channels and gently assists in removing toxins thereby decreasing the toxic load of the body. When you decrease the toxin load you will often feel better and see a reduction in many kinds of symptoms including headaches, joint pain, fatigue, stubborn weight loss and more.

How Cleansing Helps Weight Loss

How can cleansing the body help to lose weight? First understand that on a cleanse you remove all allergenic foods such as gluten and dairy. There is a connection between food intolerances and weight gain and when you remove foods that you are intolerant to you will often lose weight. Many are eating foods they do not realize they are intolerant to because they do not provoke immediate and severe reactions. Secondly when you remove these foods you are are decreasing inflammation in your body. One very well known doctor states an inflamed body is an overweight body. Simply by reducing inflammation you can effectively lose weight. Some of you may have heard of JJ Virgin and her book called The Virgin Diet. She points out that by removing 7 foods (which are allergenic) you can lose 7 pounds in 7 days. More and more research is pointing to allergenic foods and inflammation as to why so many struggle to take the pounds off.

Toxicity and Weight

Science is now also showing a link between toxicity and weight gain. Toxins affect our ability to lose weight because we store most of the toxins in our body in our fat. This affects metabolism and makes it harder to lose weight. Consider this study: In a 2003 researchers reviewed 63 scientific studies on the link between chemical toxins and obesity, and what they concluded was that pesticides and PCBs (from industrial pollution) are released from the fat tissue, where they are typically stored and poison our metabolism, preventing us from losing weight. This means people with a higher BMI store more toxins because they generally have more fat.

In another study the Environmental Protection Agency evaluated the levels of various toxins in fat tissue and found five of the most toxic chemicals humans have created were in 100% of all samples.

It's clear toxicity is a factor that affects metabolism and weight loss. It is one reason many struggle to lose in spite of a good diet. It is also something everyone can benefit from even if you're not trying to lose weight.

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