Trying To Lose Weight? Are You Doing It Right? (Part 2) – Lt Col (Dr) Mohd Arshil Moideen

When I said in my part 1 article that we should be eating and living healthy the way our ancestors did it, I really meant it. This week, we will discuss on detox process and foods that we should avoid in our life if we were to stay healthy. It will be structured as questions below: –

Q1. Will detox regime help me to lose weight and clean my liver??

There are many detox regimes available from strict detox diet, colon cleansing, ozone therapy to the simplest method of using lemonade juice. Detox does  help majority of people who use it to feel energized and aid in better digestion  and is practiced widely by Hollywood stars and even by some famous world leaders. Colon cleansing for example is famous among top Malaysian leaders and celebrities and is being offered by some private centres in Klang Valley.  The real effects of detox  on improving the metabolism and weight loss is however debatable. I  would like to stress here that there are conflicting views and evidences with regards to the effect of detoxification regime on weight or fat loss. There are no real hard evidences to support the use of detox regime in weight loss nor against it. Because of this, I am not here to promote some invasive detox procedures nor will I support very strict detox diet which might deprive you of some essential nutrients needed for your general health. Because of reported positive effects in majority of people using it despite the absence of human clinical trials evidence, I will therefore promote the simplest way available for detox using 100% natural method. I will provide a simple explanation/theory  given by those who support Detox as part of an important stage in weight loss( even though this is debatable). Despite the conflicting views and evidences on the direct effect of detox on fat metabolism or weight loss, the fact that this simple and 100% natural technique will definitely help you feel more energized and also aid in digestion makes it something worth and harmless method to try.  Because of the inconclusive evidences, the choice is yours to make but I am personally  the supporter of the 100% natural detox regime described in the later section of this article below.

Q2. What is the explanation given by those who favor Detox regime as an important steps in losing weight?

If you choose to try and believe in detox process as 1 of an important step in losing weight,  you should do it before you start dieting. Below are the arguments and scientific explanations given by researches or expert opinions supporting Detox process as an important step for weight loss:-

a) To rid your body of fat permanently, you need to cleanse your body of toxins. Many people skipped this step and eventually failed in their efforts to sustain weight loss. WHY CLEAN YOUR LIVER?? Over the years, your body has accumulated toxins from processed foods, pollution, and chemicals in the environment. Our bodies were designed to adapt. As humans, our ability to adapt has helped us survive for thousands of years. BUT there is a problem with this when you apply it to your health. Your body adapts to a particular way of eating and you hit what is known as a fat loss plateau. And this is what stops you from losing weight on a diet.Have you ever noticed that when you start any diet program, you lose weight at the beginning and then the amount you lose tapers off and it becomes much harder to lose additional weight? The key to overcome this plateau is the cleansing and cleaning out of your liver to prime your body’s metabolism for long term weight loss. ( Sourced Fat Loss Factor e-Book)

b) The liver operates like a complicated filtering mechanism, breaking down fat and cleaning out substances that can harm the body. To accomplish this, it uses a substance called “bile,” a greenish (sometimes yellowish-brown) liquid that cleanses the organs and blood. The bile fluids are recirculated throughout the entire enterohepatic system up to eight times each day. For a person to lose weight, the overall composition of this circulating fluid should be low in fat and/or toxins; otherwise, excessive weight gain results as the body reacts naturally to these chemicals.It is critical that the liver regulates fat metabolism efficiently. If it fails to do so, weight gain will occur and fat accumulates in all the wrong places usually in the belly region, arms, around the buttocks, and in other places where body fat is commonly found. Fat deposits in these regions are often a sign of an unhealthy, poorly functioning or even a completely dysfunctional liver. In a scenario where the liver stops functioning properly, the situation resembles a filter clogged with waste, fat, toxins, and other debris, and it ultimately fails to perform its job. Small globules of fat begin to circulate in the blood stream, unabated, and they wreak havoc on the various organs of the body and ultimately they form cellulite deposits.( Sourced Fat Loss Factor e-Book).

Q3. So how  can I detox my body?

a) 1st step is to GO NATURAL. Start with avoiding all the processed food such as fast foods ( including burgers, nuggets, sausages, carbonated drinks etc..), canned foods, foods which are processed using  chemicals, coloring and preservatives. Wash all vegetables and fruits of pesticides residuals properly. This will definitely help to remove the toxins load from entering your body.  Try to go Organic or eat natural unprocessed food like fresh chicken, fresh fish and meat, fresh vegetables etc…. Planting your own vegetables at home  without the use of pesticides or chemical fertilizers is a good source of Organic food. Fast food like Mc Donald, Burger King, KFC and other fast foods are heavily processed, contain high amount of trans fat and are unhealthy. AVOID ALL THESE FAST FOODS WHILE TRYING TO LOSE WEIGHT AND IF POSSIBLE THROUGHOUT YOUR LIFE. Processed foods also include some foods marketed as health foods but are heavily processed and genetically modified. A good example of this is some cereals and wholegrain products which are genetically modified and heavily processed.  So-called “healthy” cereals are the worst foods you can possibly eat at the start of the day.They are usually loaded with sugar and refined carbs, which are some of the most fattening ingredients in existence.Starting your day off with a processed cereal will spike your blood sugar and insulin levels. When your blood sugar crashes a few hours later, your body will call for another snack high in refined carbs. This is the blood sugar roller coaster that is familiar to people on high-carb diets and will not help you to lose weight. Please READ the label carefully.  Most breakfast cereals, even those with health claims like “low-fat” or “whole grain” on the package, are usually loaded with sugar. Low Fat Yogurt are also loaded with sugars, some with High Fructose Corn Syrup which is bad for your health. Take Greek Yogurt or Natural Yogurt instead ( You can mix it with Organic Maple Syrup a bit). Corn is  one of the most genetically modified plant in this world. While local corn maybe natural and okay to consume, corn used in producing corn flakes etc…are heavily processed and genetically modified and may not be a healthy option if you want to lose weight. Often you heard many people who ate only these  cereals and nothing else failed to lose weight and in fact gained weight. These heavily processed cereals not only contain preservatives and chemicals but  also contain multiple sources of carbohydrates in it and will hamper your effort to shed your body fat. Look for NON-GMO, All Natural or Organic food instead. I will explain on healthier choice of diet in a bit more detail when i discuss Part 3 of my article next week. Reason why we should go all natural is simple, our body is designed to process and metabolized all natural foods efficiently. Intake of heavily processed and genetically modified foods may cause incomplete digestion and impairment of its metabolism, therefore leading to more fat gain as well as toxins production in the body.

b) Stop taking sweetened drinks and drink plain water or sugarless drinks instead. Avoid sugar in all your drinks. Malaysia is already a Carbohydrate heavy nation. We eat rice, noodles, bread and roti canai and all the local kuih which are already  high in carbs. Adding sugar to your drinks will not help you lose weight. Instead, it will lead to higher blood  sugar level in your body and resulted in  reduced insulin sensitivity and more fat gain. Excess sugar becomes  poison in your body which will affect various body organs and functions.

c) Stop taking refined products. An example of this would be refined table salt, refined carbohydrates, refined grains etc.. As for salt, sea salt is a much healthier all natural option than the refined table salt which contain higher amount of sodium and is responsible for Hypertension if taken in large amount regularly.

d) There are many expensive detoxification formulas available in the market, as well as expensive procedures like colon cleansing and ozone therapy as a mean to remove toxin from your body but don’t waste your money. You can try an all natural detox process  by drinking freshly squeezed lemonade juice ( 1 piece of lemon in around 300 mls of room temperature water ) up to 3 times a day for 2 weeks. Ideally, it should be in the morning before breakfast, afternoon after lunch and at night before you sleep. DO NOT USE PROCESSED BOTTLED LEMONADE OR SUGAR IN YOUR LEMONADE. Use only fresh lemonade. Forget about the debates surrounding the detox process involving lemonade juice. It works for many people of whom i know, so why not give it a try. After all, lemonade juice is a delicious drink to be consumed and will not harm you. Another favorite option of mine is to drink Japanese Organic Green Tea two to three times a day. I choose  Organic Japanese Green Tea because it is free of pesticides, herbicides and preservatives as well as containing the highest level of Flavonoids, known to be a potent antioxidant agent.

Q5. I can’t take my  coffee, tea or other drinks without any sugar!! What can I do?

You can substitute sugar  for with 100% natural sweetener such as Stevia or Organic Maple Syrup. I personally use Stevia or organic maple syrup (NOT MAPLE FLAVORED SYRUP WHICH  CONTAINS THE BAD HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP (HFCS) WITH MAPLE FLAVORING IN IT ) in my coffee as well.  Natural Sweeteners are  much better substitutes of sugar than the chemically produced Aspartame. Aspartame, has been long been at the centre of a debate among health professionals around the world as possible  cause of cancers and thought to disturb with body’s fat and carbs metabolism. Even though the highest level of evidence linking Aspartame and cancer has yet to be made available ( as it may be unethical to perform such study on human), there are no reasons why you should continue taking it when you have other 100% healthier natural options available. Generally, Low Glycemic Index natural sweetener  is preferred if you want to lose weight. However, there are exceptions to this as Glycemic Index is not the only important predictor of whether  or not a sugar substitute is healthy  or not. There are some low GI sweetener ( natural or not ) which are more harmful to our body and will result in a more disturbed state of  Insulin Sensitivity and fat metabolism. An example of this would be the previously celebrated Agave Syrup. Recent findings has dethroned Agave Syrup as the best Natural substitute of sugar. I will explain in detail why this is so in my Part 3 article next week. I will also explain on  the choices of good and bad  sweeteners available in the market in the same article. Meanwhile, stick with Stevia and 100% Pure Organic Maple Syrup as your choice of sweetener and get yourself off the refined sugar and aspartame for good.

Q6. What are the list of an all natural  Detox Diet options available for me ?

Based on its nutritional contents, some of the following food can be used as part of your detox diet.

a) Vitamin B1 and Vitamin B2: These vitamin can purify your blood and avoid too much of fatty acid oxidation in your body, helps to exclude unnecessary fat, impurity, waste and dioxin environment toxin, and promote internal body circulation. Food categories.  spinach, Brassica broccoli, rapeseed, green vegetables, Apple, strawberries, cherries.

b) Vitamin C and Vitamin E: Help to capture free radicals in your body, activate and decreasing your cell ageing from oxidize, you can strengthen your immune system too, if you take them frequently. Food categories. Lemon,  pineapple, oranges, persimmon, papaya, avocado, cabbage, spinach, rapeseed, carrot, beans, sesame, peanut, almond, walnut, hazelnut.

c) Dietary Fiber: Increase bowel movement, increase size of excretion to so body waste can discharge better, relieve constipation. Besides that, help liver to transform cholesterol to cholic acid and cholate to assist digestion of body fat, lower down cholesterol in blood, and stop Fat accumulation in your body. Food Categories: green vegetables, sweet potato,  beans, fruits, kelp, purple sea weed, wakame, Sargassum and sea weed.

d) Fruit Juice: Drink 2-3 glasses of fresh fruit juices per day help you to enhance body immunce system, and expel waste from your body. Food categories: Citrus,  lemon, grape fruit, tomato, luffa, cucumber, and carrot.

e) Organic Green Tea. Organic Green Tea is rich in a group of natural chemicals, called Catechin Polyphenols (Commonly known as Tannins, which contribute to bitter taste and astringency). These Catechin Polyphenols include Catechin, Epicatechin, Epicatechin Gallate (ECG), Epigallocatechin Gallate (EGCG), and various Pro-Anthocyanidins. They are also known as Flavonoids, and are very powerful antioxidants. Flavonoids, together with some amino acids like Thianine, are responsible for the potent flavor of green tea. Furthermore, green tea also contains Amino Acids such as Theanine, Butyric Acid & Liganin; Xanthine Alkaloids such as Adenine, Dimethylxanthine, Theobromine, Theophylline and Xanthine; Pectin (also found in fruits); saccharides (sugar), Chlorophyll and Triterpene Saponins. Some vitamins, like vitamin A, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, vitamin B3, vitamin C and vitamin E are also found in green tea.

Lt Col (Dr) Mohd Arshil was previously the Director for Preventive Medicine and Medical Ops , Military Health Division and is currently pursuing his DrPH. Find out more about him at The Team page.

[This article belongs to The Malaysian Medical Gazette. Any republication (online or offline) without written permission from The Malaysian Medical Gazette is prohibited.] 

 

References :

1. http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/76/1/281S.long
2. Claessens M et al. Glucagon and Insulin responses after ingestion of different amounts of intact and hydrolised proteins. Br J Nutr. 2008 Jul; 100(1):61-9
3. Andrew R. All About Dietary Acids and Bases . http: www.precisionnutrition.com/all-about-dietary-acids-and-bases.  Accessed 20 Jan 2014.
4. Report of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Evidence based guidelines: http:// www.cnpp.usda.gov/DGAs2010- DGACReport.htm.Accessed Jan 16, 2013
5. Fat Loss Factor e-Book by Dr Charles . Accessed 27th Jan 2014.

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