Can burning fat release toxins and make you sick/sluggish?

NeuroticVirgo · October 2010

I'm just wondering if anyone's heard this before. For the last week, I've felt really tired and just sick (with out actually being sick, no cough, no stuffy noise, no fever etc)

Well, I guess my husband was talking about me at work (nice to know huh lol), and one of the girls he works with says that when you burning stored fat, sometimes it can release toxins stored in your fat cells from the food you were previously eating (if you were guzzling down soda & Wendy's Triples for the last 6 months...kind of thing), and can make you feel just as icky as if you actually ate those foods again, even if you didn't.

I've never heard that before, but I thought I'd ask, to see if anyone else has heard something like that.

redefiningmyself · October 2010

I've heard that before too, but I honestly don't know if there is any merit to it or not.

JDMPWR · October 2010

sometimes that feeling is do to lack of calories. I recommend bumping up your caloric intake a little bit and have a day where you consumer a good amount of clean carbs.

charny164 · October 2010

I'm doing Atkins (extreme low carb) and for the first week or two, you feel like crap. No energy, so very tired and completely unmotivated. It explains in the book that when you cut out carbs (sugar, refined flour, refined foods) that your body actually has to adjust to a different way of metabolizing and burning calories/carbs and fat.
It could be that your body is adjusting to the lack of sugar and you are having some form of withdrawls.
Do you drink a lot of water?

ErinMarie25 · October 2010

Possibly, but never actually read that somewhere.

edorice · October 2010

Our fat cells are very inactive and useless. All they do is store toxins. While you are losing fat it is always recommended to drink a lot of water because the water flushes the toxins from you body.

azlady7 · October 2010

I'm doing Atkins (extreme low carb) and for the first week or two, you feel like crap. No energy, so very tired and completely unmotivated. It explains in the book that when you cut out carbs (sugar, refined flour, refined foods) that your body actually has to adjust to a different way of metabolizing and burning calories/carbs and fat.
It could be that your body is adjusting to the lack of sugar and you are having some form of withdrawls.
Do you drink a lot of water?

I did atkins for two months and was SERIOUSLY sluggish and low energy. If your cutting out a bunch of carbs and fruits (as well as processed surgars like in soda) then yes, you will feel sluggish. For me on atkins I never stopped being sluggish. I lost 20 lbs the first month though lol. Now eating normal food with smaller portions I do not deal with the sluggishness and I work out 5-6 days a week.

stormieweather · October 2010

Generally, when I feel that way (sick/sluggish, but without an illness), it's because I'm under-eating. Try eating a bit more and upping water intake and see if you don't feel better?

ChubbieTubbie · October 2010

I've also found that I feel sick/sluggish/blah when I haven't eaten enough...it's not always instantaneous, but after 3 or 4 days of eating below my cals and not eating any exercise cals I start feeling just off. Not sick, persay, but not normal. A good meal usually helps!

MizzFitness · October 2010

YES they do store fat cells. When you are over-toxic you can gain fat cells just as well as over-eating. Over-eating causes excess of nutrient & waste that the body doesn't need/can't process and this is stored in the fat cells as well as day to day toxins. So, when you start to lose weight you start releasing toxins. Your body doesn't like this, it gets overloaded sometimes, too much for the glands to process, so when you start losing fat your body makes you HUNGRY! Ever notice that you are a billion times hungrier sometimes when you are eating plenty?? You are burning fat.

AsaThorsWoman · October 2010

I've gotten ill from cleansing, but not just from exercise alone. But I would be an "exceptional" case of toxins... (or at least I was several years ago when this happened) Now my organs are clean!

NeuroticVirgo · October 2010

This is interesting to see what people say. I definitely haven't been cutting carbs lol. I've done atkins before, and actually felt ok on it (but that was like 3 years ago). This go around I'm just watching calories, and I eat A LOT of fruits. lol

I did eat a huge omelet this morning, and I feel a little better now. So maybe I was not eating enough? This week I've been eating better than the prior weeks, so maybe I'll start to get my dang energy back.

ashbridge · October 2010

when your body is use to you consuming something, and then you up and change it and in a sense "deprive" it your body has to get use to it. i know alot of my diabetic patients, that when they are use to having high blood sugars, and start eating healthy and taking their insulin, and their blood sugars become more regular, they always feel sick and worn down. it's just like when their blood sugars spike, they become all sweaty, tremors, and just feel like ****. it's because your body thinks it's being deprived, and is having to learn what "normal" really is.

teasdino · October 2010

I have read that about fat cells. Seems that what your body does is store toxins to save your organs the stress of having to filter them. So when you lose pnds those toxins do go into your system. Drinking lots of water will help with flushing them out so they dont stay to long. Exercising and getting a good swet up also helps your body release toxins. Allot of ppl will go to the gym and do the steam room to swet out toxins. I personally cannot do that ...to much yuck factor for me....lol. I am sure other ppl will have plenty advise on the subject. Good group of ppl ;-]

carolynJLoo · April 2014

This is EXACTLY how I have felt. In fact I actually did run a fever yesterday, and lots of aches and pains that traveled all over. I was a little worried so I made sure I took some elderberry extract just in case it was a virus. I am trying hard to do a paleo diet, and I might actually be losing although painfully slow. I am in menopause, need I say more

I think it makes sense what you said about toxins being released from the fat. I wonder if I will feel like crap until all the fat is gone, hope not. Has anyone had experience with this? I will up my water intake too, but the sick thing is a little scary.

carolynJLoo · April 2014

Have you ever heard of Epson Baths to help get rid of the toxins? I was recommended to try this for a knee injury which is a different purpose, but I also heard that the magnesium sulfate can help with toxin removal. Also heard that magnesium chloride will do it, maybe better. Any thoughts?

_Zardoz_ · April 2014

This may be an old thread but it's been the funniest thing I've read for a while.

mactaffy84 · April 2014

Our fat cells are very inactive and useless. All they do is store toxins. While you are losing fat it is always recommended to drink a lot of water because the water flushes the toxins from you body.

No, fat cells are very active, but not in a good way. They can interfere with hormone production and increase inflammation in the body. They don't store toxins, so your husband's friend is not correct.

As someone else mentioned, you can get "withdrawal" effect from foods - notably sugar. Lasts a few days and people feel just what you describe. Get through it and you will be feeling better inside a week.

Quasita · April 2014

This thread resurrection is a little early for Easter o_O

For the record? Yes. All sorts of stuff gets stored. Not just toxic levels, but hormones like estrogen. It's a beast to battle if you're a female who didn't take very good care of herself for a long time *sigh*

Rocbola · April 2014

Yes, that can absolutely happen.

Unknown · April 2014

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Deipneus · April 2014

This may be an old thread but it's been the funniest thing I've read for a while.

Anything that someone read "somewhere" is fair game.

csontos · April 2014

Oh my lord. Can somebody please tell me what these "toxins" are?

Samby_v1 · April 2014

p_s1984 · April 2014

I had another symptom that had to do with Estrogen. As you exercise your estrogen levels start to drop since the fat holding the "toxins" go away and the Estrogen gets released from the cell. Get the picture? Its a female issue. Anyways, yes, fat cells hold many things. I have had the hungry thing, the sick thing and the estrogen thing. Working out is awesome since now you don't have those yuckies in your body

p_s1984 · April 2014

P.S.---I don't hold a PhD or anything, but I realized the human body is very complex and hormones play a big part in how your body feels

Quasita · April 2014

Yes, that can absolutely happen.

Please explain.

Things like hormones ie: estrogen and fat soluble vitamins, to name a couple, do in fact get released into the blood stream as we "burn" fat cells and force structural alterations to these stores. Depending on how quickly you release these fat soluble chemicals, you can suffer a variety of issues... Whether it be general lethargy and irritability to full blown cold/flu symptoms... all the way to (in females) the manifestation of ovarian cysts and cycle alteration due to the estrogen influx. Then, after you purge these things, your body can go through a period of withdrawal, as it's status quo amount of these substances has dropped significantly, which can then cause you to feel ill for a whole new reason.

It all balances out in the end for most people, but some of us have a bunch of problems along the way. Me, I have lost 1/3 of my babymaker to these issues, and continue to have issues. Almost like clockwork, I've landed in the hospital every 30 pounds of fat loss. Then I deal with regains. Very much 2 steps forward one step back but it's the price some of us pay for treating our bodies like trash for years.