Each year the toxic burden in our air, food and water – and thus our bodies – grows higher than ever before. Companies manufacture 6.5 trillion pounds of 9,000 different chemicals each year. And the same companies release over 7 billion pounds of 650+ different pollutants into the atmosphere and water.

How toxic are you?

A recent study found the average person has over 91 toxic chemicals in their body. Some people had as many as 165, including 76 known to cause cancer, 94 known to be toxic to the brain and nervous system, and 79 known to cause birth defects and abnormal foetal development.

How about your baby?

Another study found an average of 200 industrial compounds, pollutants, and other chemicals in the umbilical cord blood of 10 newborn babies. If that wasn’t enough, our ‘standard’ diets are highly toxic. Processed and refined foods, industrial seed oils, high fructose corn syrup, and even so-called healthy foods like whole grains and soy can all have a toxic effect on the body.

How environmental toxins cause diabesity

An increasing amount of evidence has linked exposure to toxins with both obesity and diabetes. Toxins cause inflammation and immune dysregulation. And as we now know, obesity and diabetes are autoimmune, inflammatory diseases. Let’s see how industrial chemicals in our air, water and soil contribute. There are several mechanisms involved. Environmental toxins:

• interfere with glucose and cholesterol metabolism and induce insulin resistance;
• disrupt mitochondrial function;
• cause oxidative stress;
• promote inflammation;
• alter thyroid metabolism; and,
• impair appetite regulation.

There are probably other mechanisms that we don’t yet understand, but these are certainly enough to explain the link between toxins and diabesity. This information is backed by a significant number of scientific studies.

I’m toxic! What should I do about it?

The most obvious first step is to remove all food toxins from your diet. This means processed and refined foods, industrial seed oils, and high fructose corn syrup, as well as grains, legumes and other foods with toxic effects on the body. The second step is to take steps to reduce your exposure to chemicals at home. This means choosing non-toxic household cleaning, and personal products. The third step is to support the body’s natural detoxification capacity so you can effectively deal with the toxins you do get exposed to. This is a crucial step, because no matter how careful we are, there’s no way to completely avoid toxins.

Compounds that support healthy liver detoxification include:

• Protective compounds like milk thistle and artichoke leaf extract
• Bile stimulants such as dandelion and curcumin
• Bile motility enhancers like dandelion and beet juice
• Antioxidants like vitamins C & E, zinc, selenium and lipoic acid

Stay tuned for more to come…

Check out the Diabesity story so far and catch up on each installment below

See also Part 1 of our series The Modern Day Health Epidemic that you should know about See also Part 2 of our series Diabesity: Myths that kep you sick See also Part 3 of our series Diabesity and Inflammation See also Part 4 of our series Diabesity: How come I’ve got Type 2 Diabetes? I’m not fat!!! See also Part 5 of our series Diabesity: Not all Diabetics are Obese See also Part 6 of our series Diabesity: How modern lifestyles affects your metabolism See also Part 7 of our series Diabesity: The major triggers – What you need to know See also Part 8 of our series Ten ways stress can cause Diabesity See also Part 9 of our series Diabesity: A magic ingredient for weight loss? – A healthy gut