Chemical obesogens in the food supply may be contributing to the obesity epidemic.
Obesity-Causing Pollutants in Food
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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.
The dramatic rise in obesity has been blamed on overeating and inactivity—but might it be something more? I talked about the “chicken obesity virus.” Scientists are now identifying industrial chemical pollutants released into the environment in the last few decades that can disrupt our metabolism and predispose us to obesity. These pollutants have been called obesogens.
The existence of chemical obesogens suggests that the prevailing paradigm, which holds that diet and decreased physical activity alone are the causative triggers for the burgeoning epidemic of obesity, should be reassessed—which is what scientists are doing now.
The focus has been on these organotin compounds. Basically they turn preadipocytes—pre-fat cells— into fat cells. How are we exposed? Through our diet.
Where are these obesogens found the most? Beans, dairy, fish, fruit, grains, meat, nuts, or veggies? There are actually some in conventionally grown fruits and veggies, because some of these chemicals are used as fungicides, but the #1 dietary source is fish.
Again, you hear the word pollutant, you think fish, as oceans have become humanity’s sewers. Everything eventually flows down into the sea.
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- F. Grun and B. Blumberg. Environmental obesogens: Organotins and endocrine disruption via nuclear receptor signaling. Endocrinology, 147(6 - Suppl):-50, 2006.
- P. Rantakokko, T. Kuningas, K. Saastamoinen, and T. Vartiainen. Dietary intake of organotin compounds in Finland: A market-basket study. Food Addit. Contam., 23(8):749-756, 2006.
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.
The dramatic rise in obesity has been blamed on overeating and inactivity—but might it be something more? I talked about the “chicken obesity virus.” Scientists are now identifying industrial chemical pollutants released into the environment in the last few decades that can disrupt our metabolism and predispose us to obesity. These pollutants have been called obesogens.
The existence of chemical obesogens suggests that the prevailing paradigm, which holds that diet and decreased physical activity alone are the causative triggers for the burgeoning epidemic of obesity, should be reassessed—which is what scientists are doing now.
The focus has been on these organotin compounds. Basically they turn preadipocytes—pre-fat cells— into fat cells. How are we exposed? Through our diet.
Where are these obesogens found the most? Beans, dairy, fish, fruit, grains, meat, nuts, or veggies? There are actually some in conventionally grown fruits and veggies, because some of these chemicals are used as fungicides, but the #1 dietary source is fish.
Again, you hear the word pollutant, you think fish, as oceans have become humanity’s sewers. Everything eventually flows down into the sea.
Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.
- F. Grun and B. Blumberg. Environmental obesogens: Organotins and endocrine disruption via nuclear receptor signaling. Endocrinology, 147(6 - Suppl):-50, 2006.
- P. Rantakokko, T. Kuningas, K. Saastamoinen, and T. Vartiainen. Dietary intake of organotin compounds in Finland: A market-basket study. Food Addit. Contam., 23(8):749-756, 2006.
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Obesity-Causing Pollutants in Food
LicenseCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Content URLDoctor's Note
For more on industrial chemicals in food, check out these videos:
Food Sources of Perfluorochemicals
Dairy Estrogen and Male Fertility
California Children Are Contaminated
How Fast Can Children Detoxify from PCBs?
Pollutants in Salmon and Our Own Fat
And check out my other videos on persistent organic pollutants.
For further context, also see my associated blog post: Boosting Gut Flora Without Probiotics.
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