Removing Toxins for Detoxification, Weight Loss & Metabolism Support
Removing Toxins for Detoxification, Weight Loss & Metabolism Support
Promote detoxification and renew your metabolism for weight management
If you were to visit a functional medicine Toronto provider, you’d be surprised to learn that you’ve already been exposed to toxins.
Small amounts of toxins may already be in some of your household items, paint, water, air, and even some food. Because we’re exposed to these toxins on a daily basis, they can build up over time and trigger a wide range of individual symptoms.
So what if we told you that lessening toxins could impact your metabolism, detoxification and weight loss? The Toronto Functional Medicine Centre explains what toxins are and how they can prevent us from reaching optimal health. We also discuss how to detoxify and facilitate weight loss by recharging your metabolism.
Toxins: What They Are and Their Potential Risks
What exactly is a toxin? A toxin is an internal or external “poison” that’s usually a naturally occurring chemical or synthetic format. Toxins can be poisonous substances from plants or animals; they could also be some medications that are harmful in high doses; or they can come as bacteria or heavy metals, such as mercury.
In particular, heavy metal toxins can hinder short- and long-term health when left untreated. When exposed to excessive levels of metals (i.e. aluminum, mercury, arsenic), this can lead to developmental issues and weak bones in children. Meanwhile pregnant women are at risk of miscarriage or giving birth prematurely when exposed to heavy metals, especially cadmium and lead. Some symptoms of heavy metal poisoning include:
- Vomiting, nausea, diarrhea
- Abdominal pain
- Chills and weakness
- Confusion
- Headaches, brain fog
- Tingling sensations
Now did you know that toxins are linked to weight gain and wonky blood sugar levels? Research has shown that environmental factors – including chemical exposures – could stimulate obesity and insulin resistance. “Evidence points to endocrine disrupting chemicals that interfere with the body’s adipose tissue biology, endocrine hormone systems or central hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis as suspects in derailing the homeostatic mechanisms important to weight control,” explains a Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology review.
Moreover, scientists suggest that obesogens (toxins that impede metabolism and trigger obesity) could modify childhood and adulthood metabolism. This is because obesogens can target fat cells and hormones related to appetite, which can be the root cause of weight gain.
So how do you refrain from toxins? Let’s first minimize our exposure through daily habits. For example, start shopping for organic foods and try healthy strategies to recharge your metabolism and help lose weight.
Quick Tips for Lessening Exposure to Toxins
- Consume and purchase organic foods because they’re grown or made without pesticides and artificial fertilizers.
- Eat less of any fish that contains high mercury levels (i.e. grouper, mackerel).
- If you need to manage pesky weeds in your garden, use low-risk pesticides. Read the labels carefully to make sure that they’re non-toxic to humans and pests.
- Refrain from using plastic bottles in case they contain BPA, which is considered to be a “hormone disruptor”.
- Don’t wear your shoes indoors in case you track pesticides from the outdoors.
If you suspect that toxins are triggering your current symptoms, please visit a functional medicine provider to find out. At our private practice, our healthcare providers can conduct suitable functional medicine testing and customize a treatment plan based on your lab tests, lifestyle factors, family history and environmental factors.
Strategies for Eliminating Toxins and Lose Weight
Removing toxins is something our functional medicine healthcare providers would discuss if you were concerned about toxicities. This is important for improving your wellness because obesogens can interrupt your body’s homeostasis, causing energy levels, glucose and lipid metabolism, and the regulation of adipogenesis (fat cell formation) to go out of whack.
The human body has the ability to remove toxins (i.e. through urine, feces, and perspiration linked to the kidneys, skin, lungs, colon and liver). But when toxins kick into gear, they may overwhelm the body’s balance; inflammation can encircle the toxin-infected areas, which can generate hormone imbalances, and disturb other body systems. Consequently, you become at risk for degenerative and/or chronic disease conditions from built-up toxins.
At the Toronto Functional Medicine Centre, we offer some collaborative approaches to removing toxins that are based on integrative and functional medicine:
- Chelation Therapy: A toxic elements panel would be conducted to indicate how much heavy metal is in your body. Then if need be, you’d be given a chelating agent to remove heavy metals from the body. The agent fastens to the metals in your blood, which forms a compound in the kidneys. Then you’re able to urinate the heavy metals out of your body.
- Metabolic Reset Detoxification Program: This unique functional medicine program embraces natural ways to look (and feel!) like a healthy, revised version of yourself!
Excessive toxins and obesity can wreak havoc on your metabolism. This program is designed to reinvigorate and optimize your metabolism, while encouraging toxin removal, preventing prospective toxic exposures, and promoting healthy weight loss. Take note: Functional medicine testing would be conducted to measure the following:
- Hormones (gastrointestinal, thyroid, adrenals, pituitary and reproductive)
- Glucose and insulin resistance
- Cholesterol and triglycerides
- Liver and kidney function
- Body fat content and basal metabolic rate
After test results have been analyzed, you may begin the Metabolic Reset and Detoxification program with medications, dietary supplements, clinical nutrition with anti-inflammatory functions, lifestyle counseling, and other integrative functional medicine tactics to help recharge cellular function, boost energy levels, improve your metabolism and reach a hormonal balance.
Remove Toxins and Upgrade Your Metabolism at the Toronto Functional Medicine Centre
If you’re having trouble dealing with oxidative stress or losing weight, our clinical therapies and patient-centered care are available – and we’re accepting new patients!
A wide range of restorative medicine and natural treatment options are offered for personalized treatment plans, including allopathic medicine, Traditional Chinese Medicine, naturopathic care, acupuncture, IV therapy/intravenous drip therapy, and other approaches in treatment. Let’s customize your treatment plan to help remove toxins, boost energy levels, alleviate nutritional deficiencies, and promote increased energy levels and chronic pain relief.
Ask yourself this: what’s stopping you from optimizing body and cellular function and supporting weight loss? How would recharging your metabolism benefit you? Call (416) 968-6961 to reserve a DISCOVERY SESSION on functional medicine in Toronto.
References
“5 Ways to Reduce Toxic Exposures in Your Home” by Jane Tavyev Asher, MD, EWG, posted April 10, 2017, viewed on June 6, 2022.
Griffin MD, Pereira SR, DeBari MK, Abbott RD. Mechanisms of action, chemical characteristics, and model systems of obesogens. BMC Biomed Eng. 2020;2:6. Published 2020 Apr 30. doi:10.1186/s42490-020-00040-6
Grün F, Blumberg B. Endocrine disrupters as obesogens. Mol Cell Endocrinol. 2009;304(1-2):19-29. doi:10.1016/j.mce.2009.02.018
Holtcamp W. Obesogens: an environmental link to obesity. Environ Health Perspect. 2012;120(2):a62-a68. doi:10.1289/ehp.120-a62
Jones OA, Maguire ML, Griffi n JL. Environmental pollution and diabetes: a neglected association. Lancet. 2008;371(9609):287-288.
Kelishadi R, Poursafa P, Jamshidi F. Role of environmental chemicals in obesity: a systematic review on the current evidence. J Environ Public Health. 2013;2013:896789. doi:10.1155/2013/896789
Key TJ, Spencer EA, Reeves GK. Symposium 1: Overnutrition: consequences and solutions for obesity and cancer risk. Proc Nutr Soc. 2009 Dec 3:1-5.
Mandeep Kaur, Priya Sharma, Rajinder Kaur & Preeti Khetarpal (2022) Increased incidence of spontaneous abortions on exposure to cadmium and lead: a systematic review and meta-analysis, Gynecological Endocrinology, 38:1, 16-21, DOI: 10.1080/09513590.2021.1942450
