The holiday season, filled with festivities, 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 chemicals, and sunlight play a role in weight management and the ultimate victory in our battle of the bulge.
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 precursor that is intimately involved in regulation 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 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 signals 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 naturally produce Vitamin D from sun exposure, but only when we don’t use sunscreen, 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 relationship 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. 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.
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 B 12, 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 have more of a type called bacteroides, which are less efficient (wasting calories), while heavy people have more of the calorie hogging firmicutes strain.
These effects are seen early and can be far reaching. Pregnant women with higher levels of certain microbes tend to gain more weight during pregnancy and their infants will colonize their own bacteria in a similar weight promoting ratio, predisposing them to obesity later in life. This difference in bacterial ecology may be one piece of the puzzle as to why some people can seemingly eat whatever they want without gaining weight, while others struggle with a lower calorie intake. We do have some control over which bugs survive in our gut. Not only do our bacteria impact how we process what we eat, but what we eat affects our bacteria. A high fat, high sugar diet will increase the obesity causing germs while a lean, plant based diet encourages growth of the less efficient “skinny” bugs.
Mothers influence their children’s future potential for obesity by more than just the ecology of their digestive tract. Breast feeding is associated with normal weight in infancy and beyond, while formula fed infants are more likely to be overweight as children and adults. Standard infant formulas contain higher amounts of protein than human milk, and when low protein formulas have been investigated in a research setting, they reduced the incidence of overweight in children. Whether the protein content is the only aspect of breast milk affecting obesity is unknown, but this is just one more reason that nursing is the optimal form of infant feeding.
Digestive bacteria are not the only suspects in the weight control mystery. Infectobesity is the name for overweight caused by pathogens, and oddly enough, certain viruses have been linked to excess weight. A few small studies have shown that more obese people than those of normal weight are infected with a bug called adenovirus 36 (AD36). In one study of children, those in the obese group who had been infected with AD36 weighed even more than the uninfected yet still overweight children. The virus has been found in the fat cells of animals and it appears that AD36 increases the number of fat cells in the body, thereby promoting more weight gain. However, the correlation between viruses and obesity is weak, and many people who have been exposed to the virus maintain a normal weight. No one has determined whether AD36 causes obesity or excess weight makes it easier to catch the virus, but since being overweight can weaken the immune system, a plant based diet, high in antioxidants from fruits and vegetables, and low in sugar is once again the weapon of choice in the fight for fitness.
Another new weight related term is “obesogens,” which are chemicals that disrupt normal hormonal processes, leading to weight gain and the many diseases that result. These industrial compounds also encourage normal cells to turn into fat cells and possibly alter our genes. Obesogens can come from food, water, plastics and packaging, pesticides, hormones and antibiotics, lawn care and personal care products and a host of other synthetic sources.
The use of industrial pollutants has increased exponentially in the past decades and this increase also correlates to the rise in obesity. Not only do these compounds promote weight gain, but they are implicated in a host of disorders from ADHD to infertility to cancer. Over 90% of Americans have them swimming in their blood or resting in their fat cells. Water bottles are commonly made from Bisphenol A (BPA), which is known to leech into the water it holds and acts as an endocrine disruptor. Most metal cans are lined with BPA as well. Pthalates are another undesirable plastic often used in food packaging and children’s toys, and heating any of these plastics can increases their transfer into the food. Triclosan, the chemical used in antibacterial soap is another potent endocrine disruptor. Pesticides sprayed on crops and used for lawn care have similar effects and no one knows what happens when this multiplicity of toxins is combined in one body.
Beef and chicken, whether eaten at a fast food restaurant or at home are also a factor and not just because of the calories they contain. Hormones are purposely fed to conventionally raised animals to make them gain weight and increase the farmer’s profits, but these hormones can have the same effects up the food chain. We eat excess hormones and steroids when consuming that non-organic burger or chicken breast, and so are fattened up just like the cows and chickens before us. The hormone effect is of particular concern in young girls who are reaching puberty much earlier than in the past, but the effect on young boys – though less apparent – may be equally serious. In both cases, weight gain in and of itself can lead to early puberty, but the increase in hormones can only exacerbate the problem. On the flip side, organic, grass-fed meats contain none of these undesirable elements. In fact, they seem to actually help control weight because they have increased levels of weight balancing nutrients found in muscle tissue.
We often hear that a Mediterranean diet low in animal protein, high in plant foods, and rich in olive oil is more healthful than a typical American diet, and while this is true, we are learning that even the Mediterranean diet can be improved. Italian researchers compared an organic Mediterranean diet with a similar diet made up of conventional foods and discovered that the organic diet not only improved markers for heart disease in the subjects, but they had less fat mass as well. It increasingly appears that not just the quantity, but the quality of the food we eat matters.
Unnatural additives seem to affect chickens too. A recent study of the effect of organic food on the health of chickens showed that the birds fed an equal calorie and nutritionally comparable diet gained more weight when eating conventional feed than those eating an organic diet. The organic birds were also, healthier, with enhanced immune activity.
Another unnatural ingredient, High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) has also been called an obesogen. It is receiving lots of buzz lately, as corn processors are spending big money to spread the message that “corn sugar,” as it is now being called, is no different than regular sugar. The facts however, tell a different story, especially as it pertains to weight gain. The chemical make up of HFCS is quite different than table sugar, and no one disputes that it is absorbed and used differently in the body, The question was whether that affected weight gain, and a recent study shows that it does. Researchers from Princeton University found that rats gained significantly more weight on a diet containing HFCS than rats fed and equal calorie diet sweetened with table sugar. The amount they consumed was half as concentrated as that in a comparable amount of soda, yet they became not only obese, but in a follow up study, had increased triglycerides and abdominal fat. While more research needs to be done in this area, the increase in obesity in our country mirrors the ever-growing use of HFCS which, like low Vitamin D levels, is known to limit leptin, resulting in overeating
If HFCS is off the menu, one might think that artificial sweeteners make a smart substitute for the caloric kind, but it is another false assumption. The body has natural mechanisms for signaling when we have eaten enough, and when is time to stop, but artificial sweeteners don’t trigger that response. As a result, using artificial sweeteners actually causes an increase in sweet cravings and total calorie intake over the course of a day, and adds to weight gain. When a little sweetness is desired, a more natural choice is a small amount of honey or natural sugar which will send the right satiety messages to our brains.
Environmental toxins have negative effects on health throughout the stages of weight management. They not only promote weight gain, but wreak havoc on our bodies when we successfully lose weight as well. Since most toxic chemicals are stored in fat cells, they are released when a dramatic amount of weight is lost and this places a great burden on our bodies’ capacity to eliminate them. It is not uncommon for a person achieving successful weight loss to suddenly become ill with a chronic disease a short time later and it is plausible that the chemical cascade released from the cells is the cause. It is prudent for anyone planning a large weight loss to follow a detoxification regimen in advance.
While balancing food and exercise choices can not be ignored in any weight management plan, they appear to be only one piece of a far more complex puzzle. The likelihood of maintaining a desirable weight can be enhanced with some simple lifestyle changes.
- Eat a mostly plant based diet, with 7-9 servings of fruits and vegetables daily
- Choose organic food, free of artificial additives, preservatives, sweeteners, high fructose corn syrup, chemicals, pesticides, hormones and antibiotics
- When eating animal protein, select wild fish, pasture fed animals and eggs from cage free birds. Avoid plastic-wrapped meat.
- Use small amounts of natural sweeteners instead of those made in a lab.
- Opt for fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables instead of canned.
- Use a reverse osmosis or carbon filter on the water system to remove chemicals.
- Drink from a reusable stainless steel water bottle instead of a plastic one containing BPA
- Store food in glass containers and never microwave in plastic.
- Avoid non-stick coatings on cookware
- Enjoy 20 minutes of unprotected sun in summer and supplement Vitamin D3 in winter.
- Maintain a good balance of intestinal bacteria.
- Choose to breast feed babies when possible.
- Use non-toxic cleaning, personal and lawn care products.
- Participate in pleasurable physical activity on a regular basis.
It is possible that by incorporating all these tools into a weight management plan, you will be sliding into some new jeans well before you can wear that new Vitamin D-boosting bikini!
Vicki Kobliner MS RD, CD-N is a Registered Dietitian and owner of Holcare Nutrition (www.holcarenutrition.com). Vicki works with infants, children and adults with digestive disorders, food allergies, ADHD, autism and other chronic illness, and provides fertility and prenatal nutrition counseling. Vicki has extensive experience in using dietary modification, appropriate supplementation and functional lab testing to achieve optimal wellness. She has contributed her expertise to www.gfcfdiet.com and is a contributing author to A Compromised Generation: The Epidemic of Chronic Illness in Americas Children. She can be reached at 203 -834-9949 or vicki@holcarenutrition.com.