Toxicity is one of the easier factors to control for transformation. Exposure to toxins comes from what you eat, drink, put on your skin, or inhale. Three of those four are easy to manage. The last and most un-suspecting source of toxicity is your own gut which we will get to later.
In terms of body composition, research suggests toxicity from petrol chemicals is one of the leading causes of obesity. To you as a whole person these microscopic toxins seem inert and un-effecting to your daily life. To your cells however, they are very dangerous, especially over time and with accumulation.
In terms of body composition the biggest thing to know is that the more toxins you have built up in your body, the slower your metabolism will run and the more dysregulated your hormones will become. If you are not detoxifying chemicals like xylene and benzene that you are exposed to everyday just from breathing the air outside or drinking water, then you are at risk of lowering the effectiveness of your thyroid. It only takes a 1% decrease in thyroid function to lower your metabolism ~3%. For the average person that burns 2000 calories a day, that’s equal to 6lbs of fat you could gain a year for every 1% your thyroid is affected. Toxins also increase inflammation and the more inflamed you are, the more fat and less muscle you will accumulate.
To protect your organs and nervous system from toxins, your body will store excess toxins in fat tissue, where they are less harmful. This means during a fat loss program, you will actually have not only the burden of the toxins you come into contact with every day, but the toxins you have been storing as well.