Q: Dear Tom: I have been following your Burn The Fat system with good results. I am losing body fat and maintaining my current lean mass. I've noticed that during my calorie deficit phase I sometimes suffer from light headedness and nausea out of the blue for no particular reason but not during my maintenance phase. I was looking into it and read an article that said that toxins from the food in the "typical American diet" of processed crappy foods get stored inside our fat cells along with excess dietary fat when we overeat, and when we create a calorie deficit and burn the excess fat in our bodies, we release those toxins back into the blood stream. Have you ever heard of this? Any truth?

A:Yes, your fat cells can accumulate numerous types of toxins. For example, almost everyone has traces of pesticides in their bodies. Many people freak out when they hear this, and so they become more likely to fall for all kinds of bizarre and usually unproven "detoxification" rituals. It is a shame that our environment has become polluted, but the real questions are whether trace amounts of these substances pose any health risk and whether you actually have toxic levels in your body.

One group of substances that has come to attention recently in the context of fat loss, in addition to health concerns, is organochlorines because there is indeed scientific evidence that these chemicals can be stored in fat cells and released into your system when fat is lost.

The fish and wildlife service web page (fws.gov) has some detailed info on the chemistry and toxicology. One part was of particular interest:

"Organochlorines are compounds that contain carbon, chlorine, and hydrogen. Their chlorine-carbon bonds are very strong which means that they do not break down easily. They are highly insoluble in water, but are attracted to fats. Since they resist metabolism and are readily stored in fatty tissue of any animal ingesting them, they accumulate in animals in higher trophic levels. This may occur when birds eat fish that have been exposed to the contaminant. It may also affect humans if they drink milk of a dairy cow that has ingested the chemical because the chemical is excreted in its milk fat. This is called biological magnification."

Organochlorine (OC) pollution appears to remain a very real issue. Just look up DDT, PCB or dioxins, etc. Some people may recall Rachel Carson and "Silent Spring" back in the 1960's which was largely responsible for the environmental movement and banning of DDT pesticides. nevertheless, these chemicals can remain in our environment and in our bodies for years.

As for the release of these substances from your fat cells with weight loss, well, what can you say, the consequences of environmental pollution do suck and this is just one more reason to stay lean and eat clean. But I do believe for the most part, your body is quite well equipped to naturally detoxify most toxins that are ingested in "normal" (small) amounts or would likely be released slowly with normal rates of fat loss. I don't think it's a reason NOT to lose weight, although some researchers say that obese men and women have to "weigh the health advantages of losing the weight with a potentially harmful effect."

Unfortunately, there is another twist: Some data I've seen suggests that if these chemicals are released into your system as you lose weight, they could hamper fat loss by decreasing thyroid (T3 conversion) or reduce thermogenesis during weight loss if indeed an obese person had accumulated these chemicals in their fat cells.

Some obese people have a defect in thermogenesis and their hormones can be out of whack, so scientists began wondering if chemicals released from stored fat into circulation could be a cause of that. To the best of my knowledge, these findings have not been confirmed as causative through experimental research. It's a disturbing prospect, but I wouldn't say it's cause for alarm.

Regarding your question about nausea and lightheadedness, I looked at several scientific studies on this subject and even after reading the full papers, I did not see any references to nausea or light headedness being related to Organochlorine release with weight loss. I did, however, see references to suppressed immune system and estrogenic effects. Light headedness could be as simple as low glycogen/ blood sugar and caloric deficit.

If you take this research at face value it creates quite a conundrum, doesn't it? My advice is... don't. Don't be alarmist. Take the weight off anyway. Do it slowly and safely, and then keep it off - do NOT cycle up and down in weight.

It would surely be a good thing if there were a way to get rid of OC's stored in fat cells without releasing them into general circulation. However, I wouldn't let articles about "the typical american diet poisoning you with toxins" make you worry too much or jump on any bizarre detox rituals that don't have scientific support. You have to be pretty careful in the area of "detoxification" because it is filled with quackery and pseudoscience.

Packaged, processed and refined foods are unhealthy. But this issue isn't as simple as saying that eating "junk food" fills you with toxins, therefore, you need some special "detox diet." This is an environmental pollution issue, where the toxins find their way into our food supply - even "clean foods" - and then into our bodies. For now, the best bet is to maintain a healthy weight, and eat clean, unprocessed foods as much as possible. Some people choose organic to avoid pesticides, although benefits would be preventative, not retroactive.

If you want more specific training and dietary strategies for losing the fat while keeping the muscle (or staying lean while you add muscle mass), then check out my e-book, Burn The Fat, Feed the Muscle here: www.burnthefat.com