Losing Weight–there’s More to it than you Think!

Recently I spent three days at the Integrative Healthcare Symposium in New York City. What a thrill it was to once again be surrounded with practitioners who believe that we can help our patients have good health—-by looking at the whole person and evaluating what they see, and then implementing strategies to allow the body to heal itself! Truly, it is medicine for the 21st century!

One of the keynotes and highlights for me was all the focus on functional medicine, a branch of medicine that is enthusiastically promoted by Dr Jeff Bland and Dr Mark Hyman. Functional medicine is almost the opposite of medicine as we know it in America. Instead of having a specialist for every body part, functional medicine is systems medicine– it looks at the body as a whole unit, and analyzes disruptions in all areas including physical, psychological, and even spiritual. One of the areas that functional medicine works beautifully is in obesity and its affiliate diseases, diabetes and heart disease.

Weight loss is not about calories in and calories out. It is oh so much more than that. Research is finding that the toxins we have accumulated in our environment and in our bodies are very disruptive and often responsible for our inability to lose weight! What we take into our body in the way of pesticides, hormones, sugars and drugs affects every system in our body. Toxins in particular are stored in the body fat– which is why they tell us not to eat the skin on poultry or the fat on steaks. As we start to lose weight, we release the stored toxins into our blood stream where they can cause a lot of problems ranging from fatigue, feeling sick, lowered resistance to disease and slower metabolism! And to make matters worse, these toxins do not readily leave the body, but instead get recirculated and redeposited in the remaining fat tissue. So not only do they keep us from losing weight, they don’t leave! Talk about an unwanted house guest!

But I did get to listen to some great speakers and talk with some excellent environmental health doctors and learned some things about moving toxins out of the body. If we can do this, we can keep the weight loss going, keep the metabolism fires stoked, and keep the toxins moving out of the body—all of which spells better health for you! I learned about the benefits of using fiber properly, certain supplements that help escort toxins out of the body, the use of saunas and detox baths and more. At the same time, I learned how to prevent more exposure to toxins as well. It was an enlightening experience! Although I do not have a weight problem, I am employing some of the techniques in my own regimen so that I can keep my body lean and clean!

I’d love to share what I’ve learned with you. Do you have a problem losing weight? Do you feel sluggish all the time, and can’t seem to get going in the morning without your daily cup of coffee? Do you feel foggy? Let me help get you on the right track to a healthy body and mind. What better time than spring time to do your own personal spring cleaning??