By Ann Louise Gittleman, PhD

Are you over forty and experiencing a metabolic slowdown, making those extra pounds hard to shed? Or are you younger—in your twenties or thirties—but having issues such as a sluggish thyroid or Hashimoto’s that bring your metabolism to a screeching halt? If your answer is yes, then it could be time to look at your toxic exposure. 

Toxins, not just calories, could be dialing down your metabolism. No matter how clean a life you lead, it is impossible to avoid all the poisons in today’s ubiquitously polluted world. Incredibly, we have thirty to fifty thousand more chemicals in our body than our grandparents had. We can minimize our exposure, but we can’t completely eliminate it. Only by giving our body additional support will it have the means to purge more of these toxic agents.

Environmental Toxins

What kinds of toxins are at play? Things like heavy metals, manmade chemicals, and electro-pollution all contribute to the body’s toxic burden. 

Take fluoride, for example. Fluoride intake can pack on the pounds by blocking iodine receptors in your thyroid gland, which shuts down your body’s thyroid hormone production. Your thyroid gland uses fluoride to make an “imposter hormone” that triggers weight gain, fatigue, depression, and hair loss. This hormonal charlatan poses as thyroid hormone in blood tests, which makes deficiencies almost impossible to detect. Sneaky sources of fluoride include fluoridated water, dental products, processed food and beverages, pharmaceuticals, Teflon pans, and pesticides.

Another metal that can mess with your thyroid, should you have too much of it, is copper. Copper is necessary for good health, but only in the proper amount. Our body can accumulate excess copper if we consume too many copper-rich foods such as nuts, seeds, avocados, grains, shellfish, tea, and several others.

And then there’s glyphosate. Glyphosate is the primary chemical in the notorious weed killer Roundup and is extremely damaging to the body by several different mechanisms. It’s an endocrine disruptor and major metal chelator—meaning, it binds tightly to metals such as mercury and aluminum and carries them directly into your brain. Endocrine disruptors shut down your thyroid and trick your body into storing excess fat. They are so good at this that they’ve earned the nickname “obesogens.” 

Glyphosate also makes other chemicals more toxic by blocking certain enzyme pathways in your liver that detoxify all sorts of chemicals. These blocked pathways prevent your liver from converting vitamin D into its active form, thereby contributing to vitamin D deficiency. The best way to reduce your glyphosate exposure is to buy organic, non-GMO food products. To eliminate glyphosate from your body, get plenty of sunlight and eat sulfur-rich foods like garlic, onions, leeks, cruciferous vegetables (cauliflower, broccoli, kale, etc.), pasture-raised meat and eggs.    

You might not consider your cell phone or computer to be a risk factor for weight gain, but they are! Weight gain, as well as many modern-day diseases, has been scientifically linked to physiological disruptions from man-made electromagnetic fields (EMFs). We are surrounded by microwaves from our cell phones, portable phones, smart meters, computers and other technology. There is a very narrow range of EMFs to which our brain cells respond, resulting in increased production of the hormones cortisol and adrenaline. Elevated cortisol leads to elevated blood sugar and insulin, mood instability, cravings, loss of muscle mass, and increased abdominal fat.

Foods & Practices that Mitigate Toxins

While it is not possible to eliminate all EMF exposures, we can reduce them. A few simple, yet impactful suggestions are to keep your cell phone at a distance, not on your body; talk on “speaker phone”; turn Wi-Fi equipment off at night and keep all electronic devices out of your bedroom.

Bitter foods are a key, little-known toxin cleanser. Besides being the antidote to “sweet addiction,” bitters help detox your GI tract and clean out your liver. Dozens of familiar foods are considered “bitters” including asparagus, arugula, artichokes, cucumbers, grapefruit, basil and thyme—even coffee! Not only will the right coffee boost your detoxification efforts, but studies show it can improve your insulin sensitivity, metabolic rate and lipid profile, and even reduce inflammation levels.

Dandelion root is another fabulous bitter that can boost your body’s detoxification processes. Roasted dandy tea gets your digestive juices flowing to stimulate good bile flow, which is necessary for carrying toxins out of the body. Working bitters into your diet several times a day is a top Radical Metabolism tip.

Because toxicity is such a factor in weight gain and weight loss resistance today, it is crucial to mitigate any metabolic damage by reducing your exposure to toxins as much as possible and taking the right measures to support your body’s ability to cleanse itself. When the body can detoxify properly, all your glands function better—including your thyroid!

—

New York Times bestselling author, diet, and nutrition trendsetter Ann Louise Gittleman, PhD, is the author of Radical Metabolism. For more information or to contact the author, visit https://RadicalMetabolism.com.