Toxins bind to fats, how that affects our health + 12 ways to reduce contaminant impact.

As I wrote last week’s article about dietary fats and why we need them, my moral compass was nagging me about something I did not address: dietary fats as a hidden source of toxicants. Whenever I guide about food and nutrition, my conscience urges me to say, “Ensure it’s uncontaminated…” – despite knowing everything is contaminated. Whether discussing fish, yogurt, tofu, wheat or spinach, I recommend, “Buy the best quality you can afford…” – despite knowing “quality” is subjective.

Taking accountability for diet and lifestyle is vital, so it’s important to understand the role of environmental contaminants in our food system, how they wreak havoc in our bodies and, especially, their detrimental role on our endocrine system. It’s as complicated as unearthing root causes of my clients’ health concerns. Dysfunctional hormones do not always show up on lab tests, nor do toxicants (1). Plus, we don’t need tests when a client feels “off” in energy, cognition, anxiety, weight, digestion, metabolism and is struggling with autoimmunity, dysbiosis, leaky gut, liver function, depression, sleep, Circadian Rhythms – and more. Could an underlying root cause of feeling unwell relate to excessive burdens of a tainted diet? Yes!

It’s no secret that our food system is contaminated. To deal with this daily and to make better choices, some of us buying USDA Certified Organic foods, which does limit pesticide exposure (2), while others choose for The Clean Fifteen and avoid The Dirty Dozen. Notably these lists are limited to produce. Why does that matter? Because many of the most damaging chemicals are fat-soluble, and most fruits and vegetables are water-soluble (thereby containing water-soluble contaminants, which are easier to rid from the body). Some research shows that up to 90% of exposure to toxicants, namely fat-soluble dioxins, comes from our diet (3) with primary exposure to ample fat-soluble organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) from dairy, meat, fish and produce (4).

Fat-soluble chemicals dissolve in fats, not water, making them “lipophilic.” The very nature of POPs gives them a high affinity for binding to soil and just hanging out there – not moving or breaking down, though some evaporate into vapors that travel long distances to contaminate other areas. Hence, these “persistent organic pollutants” (POPs), which include OCPs, are rather stable and persist in the environment and include toxicants that have been banned for decades, like dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT). In their resistance, they concentrate (“biomagnification”) and recirculate (“ioaccumulation”) (5). 

In living creatures, these POPs also bind to animal fats and concentrate in meat, fish, eggs and dairy. The plants these animals eat – primarily grains and greens, seeds and legumes – also contain fat-soluble chemicals, like phthalates (3), contributing to bioaccumulation.  

Here's how it works: plants are grown with pesticides; animals eat plants contaminated with pesticides; persistent organic pollutants accumulate in the animals we eat (stored in their fats); humans eat both animals and plants contaminated with pesticides. and then they bioaccumulate in the human body (in our own stored fats), as well. Unfortunately, as in nature, fat-soluble toxicants don’t break down easily in animals or humans, which means these “forever” chemicals remain within us and build up in concentration, just like in the environment. Herein lies the reason why these POPs become problematic for those of us higher on the food chain.

How do these chemicals affect us? The POPs bind to adipose (fat) tissues, which comprise a complex network of white, brown and beige fatty tissues (aka “body fats”), each with metabolic roles, like storing energy; insulating the body and vital organs; regulating digestive hormones like insulin; and regulating a wide range of hormone (“endocrine”) actions and communication (6). Because of the roles of fats in hormone production and regulation, adipose tissue is considered part of the endocrine system.

Unfortunately, POPs interrupt endocrine function, hence the term “endocrine disrupting chemicals” (EDCs), contributing to a wide range of metabolic and hormone disorders and conditions, from obesity, insulin resistance, inflammation, Metabolic Syndrome, Type 2 Diabetes (3, 6) – which fall under the umbrella of endocrine disorders. In addition, EDCs have adverse effects of reproduction, growth and neurodevelopment; increased risk of cancers; gene alteration; immune abnormalities (3), neurodegenerative diseases, endometriosis, depression and many behavioral problems like hypersensitivity (1), to name a few. Of significant concern is early life exposure of fetuses and breastfeeding infants (1).

To further complicate things, fat-soluble contaminants bind to fat cells differently, depending on each chemical’s size and composition, the adipose tissue itself, and the lipophilicity of both the chemical and the fat cell. In general, the larger the compound, the better it binds and the more resistant it is to biodegradation (5). Further, the more adipose tissues we have individually, the more potential for EDCs to accumulate and increase risk of hormone disruption (5).

There are too many POPs and EDCs with unique effects on human health – and much is still unknown. How do we eliminate them from our bodies? It’s not easy as water-soluble chemicals, which move through the body and are excreted in sweat and urine. As with soil, fat-soluble toxicants resist, build up and cause all the aforementioned health issues. The liver alters the structure of these toxicants and uses bile to move them into the bloodstream where most, unfortunately, are reabsorbed (1). Others are transformed into more water-soluble forms via a range of enzyme reactions, then some are eliminated by moving through the digestive tract via feces while others recirculate in the body (7). Some POPs are eliminated through sweat but most are stored in adipose tissue (1).

It’s tough to study exact ways to remove these toxicants, yet there are ways to reduce exposure to them and eliminate them in the ways we know works. Below are a dozen ways to reduce exposure to – and impacts from – fat-soluble contaminants via diet and lifestyle.

1.     Choose organically grown foods + foods from farms limiting pesticide use.

2.     Reduce intake of fats from animal-derived foods.

3.     Eat more plant-based foods.

4.     Avoid fried foods.

5.     Eat small, wild fatty fish vs fish higher on the food chain.

6.     Choose fatty foods (like olive and coconut oils) in glass, not in plastics.

7.     Eat leafy greens & dark colored fruits to support liver function.

8.     Wash produce with leaves and skins with filtered water.

9.     Ensure optimal fat digestion.

10.  Poop daily.

11.  Sweat often.

12.  Maintain a healthy weight.

Originally written for and published by 5B Gazette.

Image credit from HERE.