Industrial pollutants that build up in our own body fat may help explain the link between obesity and diabetes.
Diabetes and Dioxins
4.4/5 - (18 votes)
Below is an approximation of this video’s audio content. To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video.
Finding higher diabetes rates among those heavily exposed to toxic pollutants—Agent Orange exposure, chemical plant explosions, living next to a toxic waste dump, or eating fish out of the Great Lakes—that’s one thing.
But, would the same link be found in just a random sample of the general population? Yes. A strong dose-dependent relationship between the levels of these pollutants circulating in people’s blood, and diabetes. Those with the highest levels of pollutants in their bloodstream had 38 times the odds of diabetes.
Interestingly, “there was no association between obesity and diabetes among subjects with non-detectable levels of [pollutants].” In other words, “[o]besity was a risk factor for diabetes only if people had blood concentrations of these pollutants above a certain level.” We all know obesity predisposes us to diabetes. But, according to this study, only if our bodies are polluted—only, perhaps, if the fat we’re carrying is carrying chemicals.
This finding kind of implies that “virtually all the risk of diabetes conferred by obesity is attributable to [these] pollutants, and that obesity [might] only [be] a vehicle for such chemicals.” Could we be carrying around our own little toxic waste dump on our hips? “This possibility is shocking.”
Now, it’s “entirely possible that the six” pollutants they looked at “are not themselves causally related to diabetes.” Maybe they’re just “surrogates of exposure to a mixture of [chemicals].” After all, 90% of these pollutants come “from animal foods in the general population.”
“Except for individuals living or working around industrial sites where [these chemicals] were used or dumped, the most common source of exposure to PCBs is from diet, with foods of animal origin, especially seafood.” So, this strong relationship they found between certain pollutants and diabetes may just be pointing to other contaminants in animal products.
Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.
- WJ Crinnion. The role of persistent organic pollutants in the worldwide epidemic of type 2 diabetes mellitus and the possible connection to Farmed Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar). Altern Med Rev. 2011 16(4):301 – 313.
- DO Carpenter. Environmental contaminants as risk factors for developing diabetes. Rev Environ Health. 2008 23(1):59 – 74.
- DH Lee, PM Lind, DR Jacobs Jr, S Saliovic, B Van Bavel, L Lind. Polychlorinated Biphenyls and Organochlorine Pesticides in Plasma Predict Development of Type 2 Diabetes in the Elderly. Diabetes Care. 2011 34(8):1778-1784.
- JH Wu, R Micha, F Imamura, A Pan, ML Biggs, O Ajaz, L Djousse, FB Hu, D Mozaffarian. Omega-3 fatty acids and incident type 2 diabetes: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Br J Nutr. 2012 107 - Suppl - 2(NA):S214 – 27.
- T Jafari, AA Fallah, L Azadbakht. Role of dietary n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in type 2 diabetes: A review of epidemiological and clinical studies. Maturitas. 2013 74(4):303 – 308.
- A Wallin, D Di Giuseppe, N Orsini, PS Patel, NG Forouhi, A Wolk. Fish consumption, dietary long-chain n-3 fatty acids, and risk of type 2 diabetes: Systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies. Diabetes Care. 2012 35(4):918 – 929.
- Y Takata, X Zhang, H Li, YT Gao, G Yang, J Gao, H Cai, YB Xiang, W Zheng, XO Shu. Fish intake and risks of total and cause-specific mortality in 2 population-based cohort studies of 134,296 men and women. Am J Epidemiol. 2013 178(1):46 – 57.
- J Ruzzin. Public health concern behind the exposure to persistent organic pollutants and the risk of metabolic diseases. BMC Public Health. 2012 20(12):298.
- J Ruzzin, DH Lee, DO Carpenter, DR Jacobs Jr. Reconsidering metabolic diseases: The impacts of persistent organic pollutants. Atherosclerosis. 2012 224(1):1 – 3.
- M Porta. Persistent organic pollutants and the burden of diabetes. Lancet. 2006 368(9535):558 – 559.
- DH Lee, IK Lee, K Song, M Steffes, W Toscano, BA Baker, DR Jacobs Jr. A strong dose-response relation between serum concentrations of persistent organic pollutants and diabetes: Results from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999-2002. Diabetes Care. 2006 29(11):1638 –1644.
- PT Fujiyoshi, JE Michalek, F Matsumura. Molecular epidemiologic evidence for diabetogenic effects of dioxin exposure in U.S. Air force veterans of the Vietnam war. Environ Health Perspect. 2006 114(11):1677 – 1683.
- AC Pesatori, D Consonni, S Bachetti, C Zocchetti, M Bonzini, A Baccarelli, PA Bertazzi. Short- and long-term morbidity and mortality in the population exposed to dioxin after the
- M Kouznetsova, X. Huang, J Ma, L Lessner, DO Carpenter. Increased rate of hospitalization for diabetes and residential proximity of hazardous waste sites. Environ Health Perspect. 2007 115(1):75 – 79.
- M Turyk, H Anderson, L Knobeloch, P Imm, V Persky. Organochlorine exposure and incidence of diabetes in a cohort of Great Lakes sport fish consumers. Environ Health Perspect. 2009 117(7):1076 – 1082.
Images thanks to Mikael Häggström via Wikimedia
Below is an approximation of this video’s audio content. To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video.
Finding higher diabetes rates among those heavily exposed to toxic pollutants—Agent Orange exposure, chemical plant explosions, living next to a toxic waste dump, or eating fish out of the Great Lakes—that’s one thing.
But, would the same link be found in just a random sample of the general population? Yes. A strong dose-dependent relationship between the levels of these pollutants circulating in people’s blood, and diabetes. Those with the highest levels of pollutants in their bloodstream had 38 times the odds of diabetes.
Interestingly, “there was no association between obesity and diabetes among subjects with non-detectable levels of [pollutants].” In other words, “[o]besity was a risk factor for diabetes only if people had blood concentrations of these pollutants above a certain level.” We all know obesity predisposes us to diabetes. But, according to this study, only if our bodies are polluted—only, perhaps, if the fat we’re carrying is carrying chemicals.
This finding kind of implies that “virtually all the risk of diabetes conferred by obesity is attributable to [these] pollutants, and that obesity [might] only [be] a vehicle for such chemicals.” Could we be carrying around our own little toxic waste dump on our hips? “This possibility is shocking.”
Now, it’s “entirely possible that the six” pollutants they looked at “are not themselves causally related to diabetes.” Maybe they’re just “surrogates of exposure to a mixture of [chemicals].” After all, 90% of these pollutants come “from animal foods in the general population.”
“Except for individuals living or working around industrial sites where [these chemicals] were used or dumped, the most common source of exposure to PCBs is from diet, with foods of animal origin, especially seafood.” So, this strong relationship they found between certain pollutants and diabetes may just be pointing to other contaminants in animal products.
Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.
- WJ Crinnion. The role of persistent organic pollutants in the worldwide epidemic of type 2 diabetes mellitus and the possible connection to Farmed Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar). Altern Med Rev. 2011 16(4):301 – 313.
- DO Carpenter. Environmental contaminants as risk factors for developing diabetes. Rev Environ Health. 2008 23(1):59 – 74.
- DH Lee, PM Lind, DR Jacobs Jr, S Saliovic, B Van Bavel, L Lind. Polychlorinated Biphenyls and Organochlorine Pesticides in Plasma Predict Development of Type 2 Diabetes in the Elderly. Diabetes Care. 2011 34(8):1778-1784.
- JH Wu, R Micha, F Imamura, A Pan, ML Biggs, O Ajaz, L Djousse, FB Hu, D Mozaffarian. Omega-3 fatty acids and incident type 2 diabetes: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Br J Nutr. 2012 107 - Suppl - 2(NA):S214 – 27.
- T Jafari, AA Fallah, L Azadbakht. Role of dietary n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in type 2 diabetes: A review of epidemiological and clinical studies. Maturitas. 2013 74(4):303 – 308.
- A Wallin, D Di Giuseppe, N Orsini, PS Patel, NG Forouhi, A Wolk. Fish consumption, dietary long-chain n-3 fatty acids, and risk of type 2 diabetes: Systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies. Diabetes Care. 2012 35(4):918 – 929.
- Y Takata, X Zhang, H Li, YT Gao, G Yang, J Gao, H Cai, YB Xiang, W Zheng, XO Shu. Fish intake and risks of total and cause-specific mortality in 2 population-based cohort studies of 134,296 men and women. Am J Epidemiol. 2013 178(1):46 – 57.
- J Ruzzin. Public health concern behind the exposure to persistent organic pollutants and the risk of metabolic diseases. BMC Public Health. 2012 20(12):298.
- J Ruzzin, DH Lee, DO Carpenter, DR Jacobs Jr. Reconsidering metabolic diseases: The impacts of persistent organic pollutants. Atherosclerosis. 2012 224(1):1 – 3.
- M Porta. Persistent organic pollutants and the burden of diabetes. Lancet. 2006 368(9535):558 – 559.
- DH Lee, IK Lee, K Song, M Steffes, W Toscano, BA Baker, DR Jacobs Jr. A strong dose-response relation between serum concentrations of persistent organic pollutants and diabetes: Results from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999-2002. Diabetes Care. 2006 29(11):1638 –1644.
- PT Fujiyoshi, JE Michalek, F Matsumura. Molecular epidemiologic evidence for diabetogenic effects of dioxin exposure in U.S. Air force veterans of the Vietnam war. Environ Health Perspect. 2006 114(11):1677 – 1683.
- AC Pesatori, D Consonni, S Bachetti, C Zocchetti, M Bonzini, A Baccarelli, PA Bertazzi. Short- and long-term morbidity and mortality in the population exposed to dioxin after the
- M Kouznetsova, X. Huang, J Ma, L Lessner, DO Carpenter. Increased rate of hospitalization for diabetes and residential proximity of hazardous waste sites. Environ Health Perspect. 2007 115(1):75 – 79.
- M Turyk, H Anderson, L Knobeloch, P Imm, V Persky. Organochlorine exposure and incidence of diabetes in a cohort of Great Lakes sport fish consumers. Environ Health Perspect. 2009 117(7):1076 – 1082.
Images thanks to Mikael Häggström via Wikimedia
Comparte "Diabetes and Dioxins"
Términos
Puedes compartir este material en la red o impreso bajo nuestra licencia Creative Commons. Deberás atribuir el artículo a NutritionFacts.org y agregar la liga a nuestro sitio en tu publicación
Si se realizan cambios en el texto o video original, se debe indicar, razonablemente, lo que ha cambiado en relación con el artículo o el video.
No se puede usar nuestro contenido para propósitos comerciales.
No puede aplicar términos legales o medidas tecnológicas que restrinjan a otros a hacer cualquier cosa permitida aquí.
Si tienes alguna duda, por favor Contáctanos
Título
Diabetes and Dioxins
LicenciaCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)
URLNota del Doctor
If these pollutants are particularly found in seafood, are fish-eaters at higher risk for diabetes? See Fish & Diabetes and Pollutants in Salmon & Our Own Fat.
For more on dioxins, see:
For more on PCBs, see:
- Food Sources of PCB Chemical Pollutants
- How Fast Can Children Detoxify from PCBs?
- The Wrong Way to Detox
These pollutants may also play a role in our rising epidemic of allergic diseases; see Alkylphenol Endocrine Disruptors & Allergies and Dietary Sources of Alkylphenol Endocrine Disruptors.
Échale un vistazo a la página de información sobre los recursos traducidos.
Video anterior
Siguiente video
