The Missing link between toxins and weight gain
Your body is a detox machine. Every day, the detox pathways in your body clear out toxins to keep all the other organs, systems, and processes running smoothly. In Ayurveda, these pathways are called srotas; toxins accumulate when they become overwhelmed, sluggish, or clogged. This vicious cycle increases the toxic load, causing your metabolism and digestion to suffer, leading to weight gain. Studies have shown that blockages in these detox pathways are a secondary cause of obesity (1-3).
Ayurveda's deep understanding of toxins, known as ama, tells us how when our agni (digestion) is weak, metabolic waste accumulates in the digestive system, putrefies, clogs the srotas, and gets deposited as fat, specifically around the midsection.
A high toxic load alters how you metabolize sugar and mimics hormones in your body, disrupting regular cell communication and signaling fat deposition. It can be especially problematic in women who are already experiencing fluctuations in their hormones during perimenopause and menopause. Hello, menopause spread...
Rather than blaming genetics and the natural cycle of aging, much can be done—and it isn't dieting.
So many diets fail because calorie restriction places more stress on the body, signaling it to hold onto every calorie and store it as fat, just like our ancestors would have done during lean periods or times of famine. If you feel like you have put on more weight recently and have not changed your lifestyle or diet, or if you have dieted and actually gained weight, look at your stress levels and your toxic load.
Ayurveda works because it addresses the root cause of dis-ease. We live in a toxic world. Our air, water, and soil are riddled with plastics, pollutants, and chemicals. We further burden our detox pathways by bringing products into our homes laden with harmful chemicals and hormone disruptors, and we knowingly put them on our skin, spray them on surfaces, and into our air "to clean our space."
Ayurveda has been around for over 5000 years. It has been tried and tested and confirmed over millennia.
The classic texts state that the first key to healing is to remove the cause. Detoxing your home is easy to do by choosing products with cleaner and fewer ingredients. Lifestyle habits and diet choices are harder, especially if you are unsure what to do or have received mixed messages about the latest diet trends and wellness protocols.
Remember that ama and agni have an inverse relationship.
A gentle Ayurvedic cleanse is designed to increase your agni/digestive fire, boosting your ability to digest ama. It also prepares and signals the body to release the toxins that have been stored in the channels/srotas, lowering your toxic load and reducing fat deposition.
This is why people feel clearer and lighter, with increased energy after a cleanse.
Key Signs Your Toxic Load is High
1. White coating on the tongue
2. Your diet is unchanged, but you are gaining weight
3. Constipation (not having a BM daily)
4. Frequent headaches
5. Brain fog, fatigue, and low energy in the afternoon
5. Low appetite or nausea
6. Indigestion, gas or bloating
7. Skin issues such as acne or rosacea
8. General feeling of heaviness in the body-mind
9. Bad breath
10. Joint pain, body aches and stiffness
11. Perverse cravings for sugar, high carbs, junk food
If you are ready to feel lighter, think more clearly and reclaim your energy, consider our Gentle Ayurvedic Cleanse happening October 20-25. With a mono-diet of kitchari and ghee, the tissues are deeply nourished and the channels are lubricated to allow the toxins to free up and be eliminated.
It is truly amazing how much better you can feel in only 5 days.
Your body is a detox machine.
Sometimes, it just needs a little help to come back to balance.
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