Six foods that can help eliminate toxins and aid weight loss!

Our world is polluted with toxic chemicals, many of which are fat-soluble. This means they dissolve in fat and concentrate in the fat of your body. They are not flushed out of your body by drinking lots of water – they need to be excreted with fat. By increasing the excretion of fat out of your bowel we can effectively help you clear your body of these fat-soluble toxins.

The studies show the ability of these herbs to increase mobilization and elimination of fat-soluble toxins out of the digestive tract. This is beneficial for both clearing toxins and losing weight.

1. Oolong Tea – Large amounts of this green tea caused twice the fecal fat secretions and increased cholesterol excretion compared with a control group.

2. Seaweed – Rats fed dioxin (a very toxic by-product of improperly treated industrial waste) as well as the seaweed Nori were found to have 2.4 times the excretion of dioxin as those who were not fed the seaweed. They also found that the higher the amount of Nori the more dioxin excreted. This was done with Wakame seaweed as well and there was twice the excretion as the non-seaweed group.

3. Chlorella – Rats fed chlorella and dioxin were found to indicate chlorella prevented the absorption of dioxin and enhanced the excretion of the dioxin. A Japanese trial compared pregnant women taking chlorella and pregnant women not taking it. Those in the chlorella group had 30% less dioxin in their breast milk. Another study showed a comparison of chlorella with vegetable diets (basil and spinach) and the chlorella had a 30% lower liver accumulation of dioxin.

4. Chlorophyll from vegetables – Rats fed dioxin and then a diet with vegetables were shown to excrete more dioxin with the following vegetables- Japanese mustard spinach, Mitsuba (a Japanese green that looks like parsley), Chinese chive, green lettuce, broccoli, Chinese cabbage, and onion.

5. Ginger – Mice on a high fat diet but given a water solution of ginger were inhibited from gaining weight.

6. Matcha Green Tea- Rats given a 10% solution of matcha green tea saw an increased excretion of dioxins by 4.4 times compared to control group.

These are wonderful foods to help us maintain a healthy lifestyle in our ever-increasing toxic world. They also can help keep excess weight off! However, please be aware that these studies were dose-dependent. If you start taking supplements or drastically change your diet to help lose weight please talk to us about how much is safe to consume in a day or what is the best strategy to lose weight in your body.