Your body (fat) is polluted

And reducing it dumps pollution in your blood

One of my strongest-held beliefs that really kicked off my journey to try and decode obesity was the idea that hunger always exists for a reason.

Our bodies are wildly intelligent machines - so intelligent that for everything that happens in your body, there are a thousand feedforward and feedback systems.

It's just not acceptable to say our body does a thing because it we have a gene mutation that never had to be turned off before now (the thrifty gene hypothesis).

As you pursue this line of thinking that our body does everything for a reason, it leaves you questioning things like:

Why is it that we store such massive amounts of body fat?"

There is no evolutionary argument in which it makes sense to.

We as humans used to need to store up some body fat for the winter months, but actually, if anything, we evolved to be able to rapidly drop that body weight in the spring when it was essential we could move efficiently and with pace to hunt, gather, war, mate etc.

From what I've seen, if you are metabolically healthy and you eat completely organic, extremely clean whole foods, you can make yourself fat enough for the winter.

When you decide to stop overeating, your body weight will drop back to its normal baseline. This has been borne out in clinical studies where you can overfeed humans and they will gain weight (eating too much causes weight gain is actually a biological fact) but as soon as you stop overfeeding them, they will lose that weight and go back to baseline.

Overfeeding, by the way, is the condition where people are putting food in their mouth and forcing themselves to swallow it, but every cell in their body is screaming at them that they do not want to eat more food. Oddly enough, that seems to be a phenomenon which is happening rarer everyday today.

And so what is making us all so damn hungry?

Obesity is not caused by overeating or that you miscalculated your maintenance calories and put too many in.

“Calories In Calories Out is like a burrito: burrito in, burrito out. If you poop out more burrito than you eat, there's less burrito in you. First law of burritodynamics!”

Overeating is a result of our hunger signals telling us to eat. If we can find what would make us hungry, we might have a chance at cracking Obesity.

Let me say that again. Eating too much and gaining excessive body fat is the result, not the cause. Do not let people tell you that you gained weight because you have no discipline etc. Those people are ****ing idiots. You cannot beat your hormonal directive.

Having been on some version of a ketogenic diet for the better part of 8 years (which ended for me in January of this year), I used to say that hunger is primarily driven by sugar, carbohydrates, and insulin spikes.

I wouldn't listen to any person that said otherwise until one day I ate 4oz of honey with my morning coffee.

I barely finished it.

It wasn’t sickly like you’d imagine, I love sweet stuff, but as I got to the bottom of the glass I could almost hear the cells in my body screaming “PLEASE ****ING STOP”.

My hunger was gone. Nowhere to be found. I did not eat again til dinner. That was the first time in a long time, my brain just shut up about food for hours on end.

That, plus several other experiments and a ton of research that I've done subsequently, has led me to believe that our body is fundamentally hungry for one of four reasons:

1. It needs energy

2. It needs micronutrients

3. It needs to create fat

4. It is chemically dis-regulated

I will dig in to 1, 2 and 4 in later posts on uncivilized, but for now I want to dig in to this idea that our bodies make us hungry because they are TRYING to create fat.

(N.B. See the post on Seed Oils and Obesity - this is pertains to number 4)

Why would we want to make fat?

Well we’ve covered that it is an energy store (for winter/hibernation).

But as seen in a day of my ranting and dumping scientific studies on X this week.

There are toxins and pollutants in our environment which are lipophilic.

This means that they like to stick to fat particles as they travel through the body, and as such should be filtered out by the our livers, released into our bile and pooped out (if you eat the right things and poop regularly enough).

Now if you liver’s detox capacity is overwhelmed, and your liver cannot store easily store more toxins in it these pollutants will continue to float around your body in your blood doing damage.

Until they don’t…

And this is where I think you body may want you to create more body fat, to sequester these toxins out of your blood and into hibernation. By storing them in body fat, they are in no way inert, but they are for sure way less harmful.

Imagine body fat as a vault—a place where your body stashes things it can't easily get rid of. It’s clear it stores substances that don’t belong in our blood, particularly persistent organic pollutants, or POPs.

These pollutants—industrial chemicals like dioxins, PCBs, and other compounds that resist breaking down in the environment—enter our bodies through air, water, and food, and, thanks to their stubborn chemical structure, end up tucked away in our fat cells.

Unlike nutrients or excess calories, which we can eventually burn off or use up, POPs stay locked in that vault for years, if not decades, waiting for the day they’re released. And for many people, that day arrives when they decide to lose weight.

When you lose weight, you don’t just burn fat; you unlock this vault and unleash its contents back into your bloodstream. This release of stored pollutants isn’t just a neat biological quirk; it’s a critical health risk.

Studies have shown that losing body fat can increase the levels of POPs circulating in your blood, leading to a range of unexpected health issues. Imagine working hard to slim down, only to face an invisible consequence: a surge of chemical exposure your body thought it had safely stashed away.

Persistent organic pollutants are incredibly stable, meaning that once they're inside your body, they don’t degrade easily. This chemical stability is why they end up in fat cells; it’s the body’s way of quarantining these unwanted guests, keeping them away from vital organs.

Yet the process of losing weight disrupts this system. Rapid or substantial weight loss, especially through methods like bariatric surgery, can lead to an especially high release of these stored pollutants. This means that while weight loss can reduce cardiovascular strain and improve insulin sensitivity, it may simultaneously put you at risk for POP-related toxicity.

Something your body doesn’t want in its blood, back in the blood… Does that sound like a reason to slow your metabolism, make you hungry and gain back all that weight you lost? Hmm 🤔

So, what happens when these pollutants re-enter circulation? Studies suggest that they can interfere with metabolic processes and may actually counteract some of the metabolic benefits of weight loss itself.

For example, one review found that in individuals with type 2 diabetes, calorie-restricted diets might not produce the expected improvements in blood sugar regulation because POPs can impair insulin function. It’s like trying to clean a house while releasing hidden dust all over; even as the surface improves, new obstacles emerge.

POPs can even impact cognition, especially as they are mobilized from fat stores into the bloodstream. Research following the Look AHEAD study showed that some individuals experiencing weight loss also faced unexpected cognitive declines, and POPs were considered a likely factor . In other words, pollutants stored in fat could affect the brain when released, especially in cases of rapid weight loss.

For younger people and teens, this effect is just as concerning, if not more. In fact, a study on obese adolescents found that the release of POPs during weight loss can create unique risks for developing bodies, potentially impacting growth and metabolic regulation.

And while detox diets sound appealing, they don’t live up to the hype when it comes to dealing with POPs. Research shows fad “detox” or “liver cleanse” diets are largely ineffective in safely clearing pollutants from the body. Rather than offering a genuine solution, they might simply encourage further weight loss, thus releasing more stored POPs.

POPs and other lipophilic toxins pose a dilemma. We’re conditioned to think of weight loss as a straightforward path to health, especially in a society plagued by obesity.

Yet, if your fat is storing not just energy but also a backlog of chemical pollutants, slimming down becomes a double-edged sword.

Studies suggest that instead of merely focusing on weight loss, we need strategies that safely address POPs directly or focus on reducing their intake in the first place.

Well ain’t that depressing.

You lose a bunch of weight, and this stuff stays elevated in your blood for over a year unless you (very slowly) detox it, or you put it back in the vault by gaining the fat back.

But I don’t eat persistent organic pollutants

Whilst it is true that a person's persistent organic pollutant load has gone down in recent years due to legislation restricting the use of these chemicals in our environment, they are just one example of toxins that overwhelm our liver’s detox pathways (ALDH being the primary one).

In a world of processed food, fluoridated water, vitamin fortified foods, microplastics, “natural flavorings”, mold growth, amalgam fillings and excessive alcohol, it is reasonable to understand how our livers become overwhelmed.

Think of a leaky bucket under a running tap. If the leak gets gummed up, the bucket will start to fill and at some point the bucket is full and every seconds causes a spill. That is your liver in a modern environment.

Ask ChatGPT “What are key things foods Substances and habits in modern life that slow down the ALDH pathway in the liver” and here’s what we get:

Alcohol and Acetaldehyde Accumulation

• Alcohol itself is a significant inhibitor. After consuming alcohol, acetaldehyde builds up faster than ALDH can break it down, particularly in those with ALDH2 deficiency (common in East Asian populations).

• Alcoholic beverages often contain added chemicals or congeners (impurities), which can further burden the ALDH pathway.

• Seed oils (if eaten) as mentioned in my previous post are an enormous source of the aldhyde - 4-hydroxynonenal (Seed Oils = Alcohol in your liver)

So not just the alcohol, the additives we put in with it to make trulys and keep wine from spoiling.

Processed Foods and Additives

• Preservatives like sodium benzoate: Found in sodas, candies, and processed foods, these preservatives can inhibit ALDH activity, adding to the body's aldehyde load.

• Artificial flavorings and colorings: Common in packaged snacks and beverages, these additives create oxidative stress, indirectly overwhelming the ALDH pathway.

• Sugary and high-fructose corn syrup: These cause insulin spikes, which contribute to systemic inflammation and can indirectly impair ALDH function.

I have experimented with the honey diet, and peaty inspired ways of eating, which I do believe are mostly harmless if not beneficial (if your metabolism is unblocked) but the underlying insulin spikes themselves can be inflammatory and slow down ALDH - this is one of the most compelling reasons to avoid added sugar in my opinion.

Pollution and Environmental Toxins

• Airborne pollutants (e.g., formaldehyde and other aldehydes): Often inhaled in urban environments, these aldehydes can overwhelm the ALDH system.

• Cigarette smoke: Both firsthand and secondhand smoke contain acetaldehyde and other aldehydes, which can quickly exhaust ALDH enzymes.

• Industrial chemicals: Frequent exposure to chemicals in cleaning products, cosmetics, and plastics can increase the toxic burden on the liver.

I know someone who at the slightest smell of smoke would have a nervous breakdown and had to be taken to hospital. Turned out his liver was cooked. He also somewhat insanely, could not get below 20% bodyfat without screaming food noise and uncontrollable hunger (all solved since dealing with his liver issue).

Medication and Pharmaceuticals

• Paracetamol (acetaminophen): This common pain reliever depletes glutathione, a key antioxidant needed by the liver to support the ALDH pathway.

• Certain antibiotics and antifungals: Some medications, including metronidazole and certain antifungal drugs, inhibit the breakdown of aldehydes, taxing the ALDH pathway.

Fans of the show “Reacher” might be surprised to know that Alan Ritchson had to go on TRT (he was already jacked) after staying on paracetamol and NSAIDs for weeks on end which caused a hormonal mess originating in his liver.

Nutrient Deficiencies

• Low glutathione levels: Glutathione is essential for detoxification pathways. Poor diets, nicotine or high toxic loads can deplete it, slowing ALDH effectiveness.

• Vitamin B deficiencies (especially B2, B3, B6, and B12): These B vitamins play critical roles in liver function and detox pathways, including ALDH.

• Low levels of magnesium and zinc: Both minerals support detox pathways, and deficiencies can impair enzymatic function.

We all know our soil is depleted. The foods we eat today contain 1/10th of the nutrients our grandparents ate. To be nutrient deficient isn’t a whooshky idea - we likely all are. The CDC estimates 91% of American’s are deficient in at least one key nutrient.

Why this sticks for me

This idea is very sticky to me for a number reasons.

Self famed “rebound” experts seemingly focus on tampering our bodies’ natural immune response to fat loss, by narrowing in on the mechanisms of autoimmunity which turn on during a fat loss phase, but NEVER ask themselves

Why is the body having an autoimmune response to fat loss?

Seems like a no brainer question to ask. Maybe trying to overrule your bodies autoimmune response is essentially a really bad idea.

Your body is trying to protect you and keep you alive.

Another thing here is the role that exercise can play in detoxing.

It is known that we cannot directly tie energy “burned” in exercise to fat mass loss or total energy spent. We have strong theories and some maths that is correlated (but not that tightly). Even the constrained energy model, which I love, breaks for any random sampling of people.

But what does exercise do? Exercise liberates fat from stores, degrades organic pollutants in circulation, and increases sweat volume (a key detox mechanism).

Is the role of exercise in weight loss, actually not simply to burn calories, but to amp up detoxing our stored pollutants?

Our livers are collectively screwed and until we unscrew them every +1 pollutant will drive hunger and fat gain.

Your DNA matters

“Well they have good genetics” is mostly and asinine statement that removes agency from someone suffering from obesity.

However, your genetics do play a role.

Personally I have a combination of gene mutations which means my ALDH pathway is messed up (the key liver detox pathway) in addition to having a double MTHFR mutation which means more detox pathways are gummed up, and other mutations which on the whole means I need to eat the equivalent of 9 eggs day to function like a normal human being.

Good news bad news

The good news is:

• this is a scientifically proven model that can explain a major driver of obesity (or even just a little belly fat), that is separate from seed oils (for avoiders that are lacking progress)

• that when addressed can get hunger under control (it did for me) and leave you in a much healthier state ensuring not only weight loss, but no rebound weight gain.

• it is mostly cheap to solve

• no need to take experimental GLP-1 medication
  
  The bad news is:

• detoxing your liver and body fat can take years and lots of experimentation

• the NIH seems to want to ignore this glaringly obvious issue

weight loss medication that suppresses hunger (ozempic) is likely overpowering your bodies signals that you are toxic and slowing motility so you are reasbsorbing toxins in digestion

A place to start

So where do I start?
At a high level ask yourself if you have ever been exposed to a core toxin source?

Work forwards from there.

Do you have DNA results? What does your microbiome look like? How is your blood?

Want help?

We’re helping people across America decipher their own situation with scientific testing, experimentation and extremely easy to follow plans - come check it out at Patchwork.

We promise there’s no cardio or calorie counting required.