Environmental Toxins and
Weight Management
Why Calorie Counting Is Not Enough
T
he holiday season, filled with fes- tivities, fun and food has ended, and for many of us, the New Year
begins with the ever-present resolution to lose weight. For anyone who has ever tried to diet, the simple equation that calories in must be balanced by calories out doesn’t always add up to weight loss. Scientists continue to find more reasons why this may be the case. While getting off the couch and making good food choices can’t be ignored, there are other issues at play that can tip the scales in favor of success. Surprising and varied factors such as bacteria, viruses, environmental chemi- cals, and sunlight play a role in weight management and the ultimate victory in our battle of the bulge.
Vitamin D You can hardly check the news
these days without seeing headlines about Vitamin D, also known as the “sunshine vitamin,” which is not really a vitamin at all. It is a hormone precur- sor that is intimately involved in regula- tion of the endocrine system, and as a result, our weight. Vitamin D manages weight in a variety of ways. It helps us absorb calcium, a nutrient that not only
18 January 2011
enhances bone strength, but improves weight loss. Vitamin D also controls leptin, a hormone that tells us when we are full. When we don’t produce enough leptin, we don’t get those sig- nals and so keep eating to excess. Unfortunately, the majority of
adults and children in the Northeast are Vitamin D deficient, resulting in lower levels of calcium and leptin that derail our attempts at dieting. We can natural- ly produce Vitamin D from sun expo- sure, but only when we don’t use sun- screen, and not in the winter months when critical UVB rays can’t make it to our skin. We can get it from food, but it is found in fatty foods like certain fish that are not a big part of a typical American diet. In addition, Vitamin D is best absorbed with fats so weight loss plans which focus on lowering fat are also low in Vitamin D. The relation- ship between Vitamin D and weight is complex. Low Vitamin D stores seem to promote weight gain, while excess fat cells store Vitamin D and make it unavailable to the body, causing a vicious cycle of weight increase. To compound the problem, overweight people often spend less time outdoors, and wear more concealing clothing, further reducing their Vitamin D status.
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The active form of Vitamin D is D3, so taking a supplement of 2,000IU daily during the winter is a good adjunct to any weight control plan.
Probiotics
Another unexpected mediator of excess weight is probiotics- the good bacteria that live in our digestive tract and seem to be a popular subject for commercials these days. Trillions of these tiny microbes not only survive in our gut but ideally should thrive there, where they play numerous roles in supporting health. Probiotics such as acidophilus help produce enzymes that aid digestion, regulate blood sugar control, and produce needed nutrients such as Vitamin B12, as well as a host of other activities that affect how the food we consume is utilized. One intriguing but lesser known effect is that probiotics impact our ability to harvest energy from the food we eat. The more energy we can glean from our food, the more calories we can take in. Studies show that lean and heavy people have differing amounts of specific strains of these gut bugs, and these strains have different capacities for energy yield. Lean people tend to
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