In the 25 years Dr. Rispoli has been a Clinical Nutritionist she has discovered that there are five hidden causes of obesity and weight gain.  Finding the imbalance and correcting them with nutritional intervention will give you the support you need to finally loose those stubborn pounds and feel great.

There are more than 100 million of us currently fighting the battle of the bulge Some regimens are too hard to follow, whereas others lack any real variety or satiety. In the end, we usually wind up back where we started—unhappy and overweight once again.

Over the years, I’ve had my own struggles with weight gain, as have many of my patients just like you. Twenty years ago my life took on an about-face once I began a program of cleansing and detoxification. (Which, by the way helped me lose fat from those stubborn hips of mine rather effortlessly?) I lost 30 pounds in three months! For the first time, I realized that whole foods, herbs and dietary supplements could become a path not just to healing, but also to weight loss.

I’ve been able to keep my body pretty much fat-resistant for nearly three decades now by discovering an entirely new approach to managing my weight the Five Hidden Weight Gain Factors.

THE FIVE HIDDEN WEIGHT GAIN FACTORS:
Include the following: a toxic liver, deficient EFA’s, too much insulin or insulin resistance, the stress-fat cycle, and a unique take on “when fat is not fat.” These factors are caused by a stagnant lymph system, sneaky food allergies, birth control pills, hormone replacement therapy, and medications.

The Five Hidden Weight Gain Factors didn’t happen overnight. It progressed naturally out of every area of my life, from my personal weight control quest and spanning my entire career (over 25 years) as a Nutritional Advisor in my clinical practice .

HIDDEN FACTOR #1: YOUR TIRED TOXIC LIVER
I learned that the Liver is your fat metabolizer, and toxin filter of your body. Toxins are trapped in your fat cells. When you begin to lose fat these toxins are released and it is the job of the Liver, Gallbladder, Lymphatic System, and Colon to clean them out.

The first revelation was the surprising connection between weight loss and the liver. I recognized early on what researchers are only now beginning to understand—that not only is the liver the main organ for detoxifying pollutants and chemicals in the body, but this vital organ also is a hidden key to effortless weight loss. Based on simple biochemistry, I learned first hand that one of the best kept secrets to weight loss and lasting weight control is keeping the liver, the key organ for fat metabolism, in tip-top shape. Your liver is a workhorse that can even regenerate its own damaged cells. However, it is not invincible.

When it lacks essential nutrients or when it is overwhelmed by toxins, it no longer performs as it should. Hormone imbalances may develop. Fat may accumulate in the liver and then just under the skin or in other organs. Toxins build up and get into your bloodstream. Among the signs of “toxic liver” are: weight gain, especially around the abdomen, cellulite, elevated cholesterol, and fatigue.

When your liver is sluggish, every organ in your body is affected, and your weight loss efforts are blocked. Unable to carry out its activities to control glucose, a toxic liver can lead to hypoglycemia, which can produce sugar cravings, weight gain, and Candida overgrowth. A toxic liver is unable to process toxins, enabling them to escape into your bloodstream and set off an immune response. A liver overloaded with pollutants and toxins cannot efficiently burn body fat, and thus will sabotage your weight loss efforts.

The bottom line is you’ll need to clean your Liver and Gallbladder at least once a year.

HIDDEN FACTOR #2: WHEN FAT IS NOT FAT -Another valuable insight I learned was that cellulite—that dimpled accumulation of stored fat on our thighs and buttocks—was more connected to a sluggish Lymphatic System. The Lymphatic system, a relatively unknown secondary circulatory system underneath the skin, rids the body of toxic wastes, bacteria, heavy metals, dead cells, trapped protein, and fat globules. In essence, the lymphatic system is the garbage disposal of the body.
On a “good” day, your body is 60 to 70 percent water by weight. About two-thirds of the water is in your cells; the rest is in blood, body fluids, and spaces between cells. This water is essential. However, many individuals carry an extra 10 to 15 pounds of water trapped in their tissues. This water contributes to abdominal bloating, cellulite, and face and eye puffiness. It’s what I call “false fat.” It is ironic, but consuming too little water can cause your body to retain water.

Food Sensitivities can lead to False Fat Too

Food sensitivities are also one of the most common causes of weight gain through fluid retention and through overeating brought on by cravings. The production of histamine and other chemicals causes blood vessels to expand and contract, leaking fluids into tissues and setting off a secondary inflammatory response and swelling. This leaking fluid often carries protein with it, and the proteins attract sodium and still more fluid. To compound the weight gain from waterlogged tissues, food sensitivities also trigger weight gain from adipose tissue. This results from either heightened cravings for reactive foods or disruption of your metabolism. Fatigue and irritability set in. Once again, you crave the reactive food to bring back your energy level. Your insulin levels become destabilized, which lowers your blood sugar levels, you are weak and starved for food, especially carbohydrates. Finally, as if all this weren’t enough, your levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin drop. This chemical controls hunger resulting in cravings for high-carbohydrate foods to help move serotonin to the brain.

Candida and Food Reactions: It’s Overgrowth, Not Overweight

Among the most common reasons food enters the bloodstream before it’s fully digested is Candidiasis, an overgrowth of the naturally occurring yeast Candida Albicans damages the intestinal wall creating Intestinal Permeability (Leaky Gut). The holes in your intestine allow food macromolecules to enter the bloodstream—the trigger for food reactions. Many of the symptoms of Candidiasis mimic those of food reactions: fatigue, headaches, bloating, nasal congestion, heartburn, and moodiness, among others. The relationship between Candidiasis and food sensitivities is made even stronger by consumption of sugars and refined carbohydrates. The foods you are most likely to crave as a result of food allergies are the ones most enjoyed by the Candida cells

Hormonal Imbalances Lead to Obesity

For too many women, the hormone cycle is disrupted, and weight gain—from both actual fat and water retention—becomes permanent. Among the symptoms of estrogen dominance are fat gain (especially around your abdomen, hips, and thighs), sluggish metabolism, bloating, and water retention. Estrogen can promote sodium retention (and thereby more water retention). The hormone changes the way your body metabolizes the amino acid tryptophan, which is necessary to produce serotonin. You’ll remember that serotonin deficiency can lead to food cravings and weight gain. When estrogen is much higher than progesterone, you may develop hypothyroidism. A healthy thyroid gland secretes hormones that help signal the pancreas to produce insulin. With a sluggish thyroid, your body may produce too little insulin and trigger low blood sugar (hypoglycemia), along with intense cravings for carbohydrates.
Fluctuating estrogen levels are only one-half of the equation. Low levels of progesterone cause your body to burn 15,000 to 20,000 fewer calories per year and increase water retention.
High levels of progesterone, on the other hand, increase your appetite. They also slow down intestinal transit time to increase food absorption, which can increase insulin levels. The resulting additional blood glucose is absorbed by fat cells to add pounds of true fat.

Causes of Imbalance: Hormone-replacement therapy (HRT) are common causes of estrogen-progesterone imbalances, with millions of American women currently on HRT. Research into the effects of these therapies on weight has found conflicting results. For example, when researchers gave monkeys estrogen with synthetic progestin (a form of progesterone), their weight increased, fat tended to accumulate around their abdomens, and they secreted excess insulin. On the other hand, monkeys given estrogen with natural progesterone did not experience these effects.

HIDDDEN FACTOR #3: FEAR OF EATING FAT

You read about your need for essential fatty acids such as GLA. However, you still don’t quite believe it, do you? Eating fat to get thin flies in the face of reason, of everything you’ve heard about the dangers of fat. You’re not alone in your fear of eating fat. An estimated 80 percent of Americans eat a diet deficient in essential fatty acids (EFA’s). This is unfortunate, because our bodies cannot make EFA’s. Yet, as precursors to hormone-like prostaglandins, they regulate every body function at the cellular level. This includes water retention, sodium balance, and fat metabolism.

In your efforts at weight control, fat also carries fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K through the bloodstream, activates the flow of bile, helps your body conserve protein, slows the absorption of carbohydrates to balance blood sugar levels, is a building block for production of estrogen, testosterone, and other hormones.
Essential Fatty Acids and their role in fat burning and hormone balance are critical. Therefore, I recommended gamma-linolenic acid (GLA)—rich supplement known as evening primrose oil. Besides eradicating their symptoms, many women also experienced a welcomed side benefit—weight loss!

HIDDEN FACTOR FOUR – EXCESS INSULIN AND FAT STORAGE

A fat-free diet, low in protein but high in carbohydrates keeps insulin levels elevated, which promote fat accumulation since insulin is a fat storage hormone.

All carbohydrates are not created equal. Traditionally, nutritionists have categorized carbohydrates as either simple (white flour, pastas, white rice, potatoes, starches, sugars) or complex carbohydrates vegetables, fruits, beans and seeds). However, more recent research has increased our understanding about how food is metabolized, and the simple-complex categorization has been replaced with the glycemic index. Low-glycemic foods fill you up and help keep you satisfied longer. They also help you burn more body fat and less muscle tissue.

HIDDEN FACTOR #5: STRESS AS FAT MAKER

Living in this information age has most of us Americans going nonstop at “cyber speed.” So it’s no surprise to me, after assessing my own clients’ stress levels for so many years, that 68 percent of us admit to being stressed out, or that 90 percent of us admit to using food as our drug of choice to pacify things. The irony of the matter is that stress, is making the adrenals kick out the hormones cortisol, which raises insulin and insulin is a fat storage hormone. Elevated cortisol makes you store fat around the mid section. Central fat cells are deep abdominal visceral cells, which are a fast energy source in times of stress. These central fat cells also happen to have four times more cortisol receptors than the fat cells found right beneath the skin. Consequently, cortisol is drawn to the central fat cells, which ultimately ups fat storage in that area. Thus, every time you’re stressed, you’re encouraging your body to have enough reserves of fat to handle the problem.

You may ask, “What about other hidden weight gain factors like low thyroid or chronic dieting that throw the body into a metabolic slowdown?” These are valid but secondary to the five hidden factors.

If you are like most people, you’ve exercised, counted calories, and cut out fat, then protein, and now even carbohydrates. Perhaps you lost weight, perhaps not. Chances are you’ve regained most, if not all, of the pounds. I can tell you this, thousands of my patient discovered which of the Five Hidden Causes to Weight Gain were throwing their body out of balance and by correcting these imbalances they’ve lost pounds and inches and kept them off. You can too.

Dr. Rispoli, Ph.D., L.Ac. President and founder for Complete Health in Agoura Hills has helped thousands in her 25 years as a Nutritional Advisor lose weight, balance hormones naturally, eliminate food allergies and stop GI distress, leaky gut and Candida. She can be reached at (818) 707-3126.