Weight gain: sometimes it is also known as a “smart body” responding to a crisis
Historically, there are many causes for weight gain. In these modern times of high pollution there are additional new causes cropping up. Adaptation is an especially necessary component in order for the human body to thrive, or even survive, during this time of high toxic load.
Mostly we have judgment about fat, thinking it is either a manifestation of someone eating too much, or not exercising enough. These days there is a significant additional cause.
Before the pregnancy of my daughter I was actually underweight. I was one of those people that ate a lot but could never gain weight. With the pregnancy I gained an additional 65 pounds, which is pretty significant considering I only weighed about 120 pounds to start. After my daughter was born I only lost 10 pounds, which probably consisted of the combined weight of baby and her “swimming pool”. With breast feeding the weight mostly stayed on, even with consistent daily exercise. I have eaten well my entire life so I was completely flummoxed as to the weight gain that was not disappearing. The only red flag was nursing my baby through the night: likely to have some cortisol surging happening. Since cortisol surges are essentially the equivalent of mini adrenaline bursts it is clear to see that the metabolic system does not have the backup it needs as a result. Once I weaned my daughter I did lose a little more weight, but still not anywhere near the amount that I needed in order to feel I was at my optimal weight.
After having a blood panel administered, complete with thyroid check, and nothing showing up to be the cause of the extra weight, I finally gave up. It appeared I would just have extra weight forever.
My Naturopathic Doctor, Bonnie Nedrow, who is also my sister, finally helped solve the mystery. It has to do with this smart body I was born with. I lived on the Kona side of the Big Island of Hawaii for 7 years, which has volcanic emissions in the air equivalent to L.A. smog on a bad day. One of the elements present is mercury gas, as it vaporizes fairly easily when mixed with hot lava. When I got pregnant my smart body protected my baby by encapsulating all of the heavy metals in the supreme insulator. You guessed it: fat! Once I gave birth, and baby was no longer in danger, my smart body decided it was actually better to keep me protected, by holding onto the fat for dear life. So there you have it…
I eventually lost the weight by taking Bonnie Nedrow’s keto adaptation class. Unlike myself, who follows a well worn trail complete with a lineage, my sister’s style is to be at the very tip of the arrow where new ideas are born. I am very grateful to her dogged persistence in supporting me to take her class. Being keto-adapted has not only helped me to finally safely lose the weight, but also, even more importantly, given my liver a very important new strategy for adapting to our very toxic world. I just wish I had done it sooner ;).
Another additional bonus I experienced from becoming keto adapted was inadvertently creating a much healthier intercellular picture. When we are young the water inside the cell is a higher ratio than the water outside the cell. As we age the ratio switches as a result of not being able to excrete the toxins quick enough from the cell and metabolize it. Dr. Bonnie had access to a machine that measures not only fat mass and protein mass, but the really important information of how much water is inside the cell compared to outside the cell. Pre-keto adaptation testing always showed up that my internal picture was approximately 15 years younger than my biological age. Call it good genetics combined with a mostly good lifestyle pattern: eating organic and exercising regularly most of my life. However, once I received the test after becoming keto-adapted my stats were that of a 25 year old!
In a nutshell, becoming keto adapted has to do with reintroducing a trick for the liver, which was lost with the introduction of the modern diet. All of us know how to burn fat as babies, but our livers quickly stop doing so if the body is given the much easier carb pathway. Carbohydrates, as we all know, are the easiest substances we consume that can be converted to energy, followed by proteins, aka muscle mass. The last on the list are fats due to the three step process required for the liver to break down fats. Because of this dynamic the body tends to hold out from burning anything but carbs, because it knows more are coming later, even if we skip a meal of such. This presents a new problem since the liver is now out of this particular loop. Its similar to a car never having the oil changed. The car will still run, but obviously not as well, the longer the old oil is still in the engine. Our liver functions overall much better when it is asked to do all of it’s jobs ongoingly.
It is important to note that being keto adapted is not the same as a keto diet. Our bodies do need carbohydrates for good health. Think Atkin’s diet. Keto adaptation means a person has the ability to burn fats when needed. Carbohydrates are added back into the diet once the liver has re-learned the trick it was born knowing how to do. It is maintained by sometimes omitting carbohydrates or by skipping a meal. After becoming keto adapted skipping a meal engages the liver’s function to burn stored fat. This then provides a safe way to lose weight as long as not too much at a time. Toxins too rapidly removed from fat stores being mobilized can make a person sick by having those toxins floating free in the blood stream. My sister, Bonnie Nedrow, ND., has written a book called Metabolic Flexibility: how to heal your metabolism with a ketogenic diet. Since it is written from the perspective of a Naturpathic Dr., whose specialties are diseases caused by the environment, it is an invaluable book for walking you through the path safely. You can pick up this book from me or order it on Amazon.
My experience of Chinese medicine is that it is observation based and also fairly logical once you understand the language. My focus as an acupuncturist is to take the basic principles of Chinese medicine and put them through the lens of modern times. I feel that one of the most challenging aspects for the person living today is how to incorporate modern lifestyle without losing sight of the fact that we are still at the effect of Nature. We are, after all, still animals as far as our bodies go. Controlling Nature can only go so far. There are huge expressions of misfire in this arena: pesticides and many drugs are two pretty good examples. It is my view that, in order to survive as a species, we will need to synthesize ancient wisdom with leading-edge, new innovations. Creativity is the human specialty. As long as we attempt to stay integrated with Nature I feel we have the potential to solve any problem. Thriving, not just surviving, is our birth right.
Yours in Health & Vitality,
Leslie Shanai
