How might we help flush the pollutants stored in our fat that come spilling out into our bloodstream during weight loss?
“Fasting to Detox”
¶
0:10.20
Most persistent industrial pollutants,
like organochlorine pesticides
0:14.64
such as DDT and PCBs,
were banned several decades ago,
0:18.78
and dioxin emission
is strictly regulated.
0:21.48
However, we’re still exposed to these
chemicals through several routes,
0:25.32
the major source of which
is contaminated food,
0:28.74
especially fatty animal products
such as fish, meat, and milk.
0:33.06
When we eat these chemicals,
they get primarily stored
0:36.54
in our own fatty tissue
where they slowly leach out
0:39.18
into our bloodstream,
but better in our fat
0:42.36
than in our brain
or other vital organs.
0:44.70
Having more body fat may
actually play a protective role
0:47.88
by sequestering
the toxins away,
0:49.68
but they can come spilling
out when we lose weight.
0:55.56
Body weight loss increases
the concentrations
0:58.08
of potentially toxic pollutants
in obese individuals.
1:01.62
Of the 19 pollutants studied,
they all went up,
1:04.44
15 significantly so.
1:06.18
Every study that has looked at it
found increased blood levels
1:10.20
of toxic pollutants
accompanying weight loss
1:12.30
whether induced by diet
or bariatric surgery:
1:15.12
increases between 14 and 388
percent with a large enough loss.
1:22.77
The more weight that’s lost,
the higher the pollutant levels
1:25.63
climb because all those
chemicals stored in your fat
1:27.96
over all those years
come spilling out.
1:30.12
The theoretical concern is that
if released into the blood
1:33.60
at a faster rate
than they are cleared,
1:35.34
the levels of these compounds
could become toxic,
1:38.04
causing side effects, such
as sweating, headache, and nausea,
1:41.28
but the opposite happened when
PCB-poisoned patients were fasted.
1:47.16
In 1979, about 2000 people
in Taiwan were exposed
1:51.00
via an industrial accident
that contaminated rice oil,
1:54.12
leading them to have a
higher body toxicity burden
1:57.12
than even long-time
consumers of seafood.
1:59.46
But after a modified
fasting regimen,
2:01.92
all 16 patients they tried
it on showed improvements,
2:04.92
with some enjoying dramatic
relief of their sufferings,
2:08.04
but this was after just
a few days of fasting;
2:10.56
so, they couldn’t have really
lost that much body fat.
2:13.14
And, they didn’t measure
PCBs before and after;
2:16.74
so, it’s not clear they were
experiencing some sort of detox,
2:19.44
nor what relevance
this has for people
2:22.26
who haven’t been
acutely poisoned.
2:24.36
The initial rise in pollutant
levels in the first year
2:27.42
of weight loss may
eventually stabilize or fall.
2:30.48
Check out what
happened in Biosphere 2,
2:34.02
a remarkable experiment designed
to be a completely closed ecosystem,
2:37.74
the longest sustained
period of humans isolated
2:40.38
in a confined environment
on record.
2:42.97
But due to crop failures,
it turned
2:44.70
into a 2-year experiment
of calorie restriction.
2:47.51
They all lost about 25 pounds
in the first 6 months
2:50.04
and stabilized there,
and while the levels of PCBs
2:53.70
and a DDT metabolite
known as DDE initially went up,
2:57.18
they appeared to start
coming back down,
2:59.82
but that initial spike
is quite a jump.
3:02.52
That’s one of the reasons
health authorities recommend women
3:05.04
don’t try to slim down
during breast-feeding.
3:09.72
For example, here’s a woman
whose breast milk levels
3:12.30
jumped up after she had fasted
and lost about 20 pounds.
3:16.38
Because fat is mobilized
into breast milk,
3:19.08
the secretion of human
milk is a major way
3:21.36
these pollutants are eliminated
from the mother’s body.
3:24.42
Breast is still best regardless,
but you can keep your levels lower
3:29.76
by not going out of
your way to lose weight
3:32.16
until after breastfeeding
is finished.
3:35.58
What can one do to help flush
the contaminants during weight loss?
3:39.00
One of the reasons the pollutant
levels in the biosphere subjects
3:41.63
eventually dropped is because
they were eating a high fiber diet
3:45.30
centered around fruits, whole grains,
beans, nuts, and vegetables,
3:49.44
and we know that fiber can
bind to these pollutants
3:52.56
and potentially flush
them out of the body.
3:55.02
So, when losing weight,
eating lots of whole grains
3:57.84
may be important to increase
the elimination of pollutants
4:01.68
while, of course, cutting down
on animal fat, including fish,
4:04.20
so you don’t pile on
extra at the same time.
4:08.46
What about just
eating some Pringles?
4:12.42
What was the dietary intervention
in this randomized trial
4:15.54
to decrease the body
burden of pollutants?
4:17.40
Subjects were randomized
to 24 fat-free Pringles
4:21.14
a day or regular Pringles.
What?! Why?
4:26.33
It all started with this
crazy case report of a guy
4:29.94
heavily contaminated by PCBs
who managed to rid himself
4:32.94
of 90 percent by losing
weight eating potato chips
4:36.48
made out of the fake fat olestra,
which doesn’t get absorbed,
4:40.50
and so appears to pull
pollutants out of the bloodstream
4:43.50
into the stool for elimination.
4:45.66
It works in mice, increasing the
excretion of hexachlorobenzene
4:50.34
30-fold and cutting the levels
in their brains in half,
4:53.76
but in people, the drop in PCB blood
levels with the olestra Pringles
4:59.22
was not statistically significantly
greater, and for some reason,
5:03.48
LDL bad cholesterol levels shot
up 28 points in the olestra group.
5:07.68
And, while olestra and drugs
like cholestyramine may absorb
5:11.46
pollutants and remove
them from your system,
5:13.50
they also may cause you
to dump fat-soluble vitamins.
5:17.16
So, to get the best
of both worlds,
5:19.74
losing pollution
without losing vitamins,
5:22.62
fiber-rich foods
maybe our best choice.
5:27.06
Instead of olestra
supplementation to detox,
5:30.24
why not try to not tox
so much in the first place.