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Chris DeVocht "Why are we as a society so fat today?"
reposted with author's permission
Chris DeVocht
@UnModded_Human
Why are we as a society so fat today?
For context I was 220lbs in high school, got into fitness and lost 60 pounds at least 3 times over with many smaller instances of weight loss. I've been dieting and involved in fitness for over 16 years. Why do we keep getting fat even after successful weight loss?
I was trying to explain a theory of mine that implicates fat as having a dual purpose: both energy storage and toxin storage.
These are all items found in human fat:
-PCB’s, Dioxins, Organochloride Pesticides, Heavy Metals (e.g. Mercury, Lead), Persistent Organic Pollutants
Acetaldehyde (a metabolite of alcohol)
Triglycerides, Cholesterol
Hormones: Estrogen, Cortisol
Lipophilic Medications
Endocrine Disruptors: Bisphenol A (BPA) from plastics
Industrial Chemicals: Perfluorinated Compounds (PFOS, PFOA)
Agricultural Chemicals: Organophosphate Pesticides
Nicotine, Tobacco Smoke Compounds, Endocannabinoids
Phthalates (from flexible plastics, PVC, IV bags, medical tubing, certain cosmetics, fragrances, and personal care products like shampoo and deodorant)
Mycotoxins (aflatoxins produced by certain molds)
Preservatives: Parabens (used in cosmetics and personal care products)
Metabolites from Drug Use
Airborne Pollutants absorbed through the respiratory system
Pro-inflammatory Cytokines
Vitamins A,D,E,K
Our liver is responsible for dealing with these items, it can either add them to bile, urine, sweat, or other substrates for removal but mainly through bile (which is added to feces for removal). The liver only has the capability to remove so much at a time, if we are exposed to more of these 'toxins' than we can remove on a daily basis, they begin to accumulate.
We live in a time where there is more exposure to all of these substances than ever before.
Our liver can store a lot of these fat soluble toxins inside the liver itself, but as it becomes overburdened I propose that the body creates additional storage tissues to sequester these toxins, this would be fat. The body then signals hunger because it requires the calories to create these tissues (yes thermodynamics still apply, fat is 3500 calories per pound)
So we create fat cells and load them up with toxins to keep the liver from becoming overly debilitated, because once the liver is so congested that it can no longer function (liver disease) it's a dire threat to our health, it's much safer to be fat than have liver disease.
Our body is ALWAYS trying to protect us from the most immediate harm.
A few data points on this.
A 2015 study published in the journal Obesity Research and Clinical Practice found that it has become more difficult for adults today to maintain the same weight as those in the 1970s or 1980s. The study revealed that an adult living in 2008 who consumed the same calories, proteins, carbs, and fats, and engaged in the same amount of exercise as someone of the same age in 1985, would have a Body Mass Index (BMI) approximately 2.3 points higher. In other words, people today, following identical diet and exercise regimens, weigh on average 10 percent more than their predecessors. [1]
People today are fatter (more toxic) than people decades ago. You can exercise and do everything else the exact same but you'll always be fatter if you're exposed to more toxins.
When we diet for weight loss, we are depleting the fat cells and this liberates all of their contents. Any toxins contained in a fat cell will be released when you burn it up for energy.
This is demonstrated by rapid weight loss causing severe liver dysfunction, sometimes resulting in the need for a liver transplant or even death. [2]
Rapid weight loss can pose significant risks, particularly due to the release of toxins from fat cells into the bloodstream [3]
Bariatric surgery can result in substantial and sustained weight loss, they have been associated with an increase in circulating persistent organic pollutants [4]
So, fat is a liver protective tissue, which takes some of toxic burden off of the liver. If you lose the fat without addressing the toxins contained in the fat, you transfer this burden to the liver.
You're 50 pounds into your weight loss journey and instead of feeling great, you start to feel lethargic, ill, and extremely hungry. Your body is desperately seeking to save your liver and put the toxins back into fat cells.
I fought this and continued to over-diet for multiple years, maintaining around 10% bodyfat, although my body wanted to be near 20%. I ended up seriously damaging my liver and suffered the worst pains of my life which almost ended on multiple occasions for two years straight.
I've been focusing on liver health and supporting my body to remove these toxins I had accumulated, and an unexpected result was effortless weight loss. I've never been this lean (sub 10%) and had no hunger or fatigue in all of my years of dieting previously. I look and feel healthier and it's 100% sustainable.
If you think about it, it's fairly obvious that accumulating a lot of harmful substances will weigh negatively on our health and cause us problems.
Addressing the toxicities removes the purpose of having fat as a toxin reservoir. Sure, we may need a little bit for energy purposes, but not much more than 10 pounds, that's plenty of energy redundancy for survival.
If you fight your body and restrict calories without addressing the root cause of weight gain, you risk liver damage and will have an impossibly hard time losing further weight and keeping it off permanently. Most diets fail and result in a rebound because the total toxic load never changed. You feel "normal" when you have your usual amount of fat.
The key points are:
-We live in a toxic world and need to take extra precautions to be healthy.
-Our body is always aiming to protect us from the most dire threat, it's not wrong and you're not broken if you're constantly hungry/overweight. But your diet or your environment sucks.
-Focus on liver health and if you take the proper actions, your overall health will dramatically improve, and weight loss will come naturally. The liver is responsible for blood pressure, cholesterol, producing hormones, regulating blood glucose, and so much more. The liver is the foundation for metabolic health.
Any trainer can tell you to "eat less and move more." It's a great business model because you'll probably come back multiple times because it never works long term. Proper detox and diet will inevitably result in weight loss and a host of other benefits.
In earning health the right way, you will be lean and feel better than you ever believed possible. You will not be: hungry, tired, no libido, no sleep, irritable, etc.
If you're tired of diets that always fail, I hope you'll give this some consideration.
9:04 PM · Sep 28, 2024
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I believe this is true, and I also think that some people are better at creating fat in which to store toxins, and others instead their body chooses to detox all day every day. These other people are the "naturally skinny" people we meet who don't gain even in older age. (And some people are a mix but I think my guess is that things have gotten so bad that their body is now doing both).
I have a beloved aunt who has been obese her entire life and has made it to 90. You could argue that storing away toxins safely instead of being burned by them a second time, is a "valid" choice... or that at least a case can be made for why it evolved. I'm actually not sure the naturally-skinny live longer or easier lives. A heavy trainer who doesn't allow the fat to accumulate, or a person attempting major weight loss, or a person who works a physically demanding job... might have results more akin to the naturally skinny.
The naturally skinny people in my life (myself included) tend to eventually become what is called "auto-immune" and what appears to be an over-active immune system. But it is not over-active immune system but always-active detox system. The naturally skinny sometimes do get the fat around the liver as part of the end game (the so-called skinny-fat type).
I'm searching for a metaphor here. You have two neighbors. One is a hoarder. His house looks neat from the outside, but inside it's wall to wall magazines and furniture and nick-nacks. He sits watching TV because he can hardly get around. The other is a Swedish-death-cleaner. His house has an overflowing dumpster and you can even see him angrily throwing things out windows and doors onto his lawn. Broken glass surrounds his house. He barely sleeps he's so busy cleaning.
And is this about visceral fat or all fat? Dr O'Mara seems to be all about targeting the visceral rather than the subcutaneous. My guess would be that it is about visceral which IS blamed for all sorts of maladies.
I was watching a video about fat in the face, and it was talking about how there is visceral fat in the face (not just in the gut). (buccal fat). In the video, this is the photo they used of visceral fat. I don't know if it is a real photo or illustration, but I do know that visceral fat is yellow. Look at it! OMG. It looks like pizza.
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