Are Common Chemicals Feeding Obesity Epidemic?

Are Common Chemicals Feeding Obesity Epidemic?

Source Link: news.yahoo.com

Exposure to a class of chemicals commonly found in soap and plastics could be fueling the obesity epidemic by contributing to abdominal obesity and insulin resistance in men, a new study suggests.
The chemicals, known as phthalates, have already been implicated in male reproductive problems including low sperm counts and low testosterone levels. However, it's too soon to know whether they are actually causing these health problems, cautioned the researchers and others.

(visit the link for the full news article)

So if I use soap that means I won't be having any children and I'll turn into a lady?
Damn, that's a fair dilemma . . .


Phthalates are added to plastics to increase their flexibility, and can also be found in perfume, nail polish and, wouldn't you know it, sextoys, among other things. 400,000 tons of this stuff is produced every year.
But according to this site, the tests that established that phthalates are 'bad' for humans were in fact not all the well run. It's well worth giving that site a read.
But then again, a few pregnant women had their urine tested, and those with higher levels of phthalates had a much greater chance of having a baby boy with a smaller penis size and a smaller AGD. You want to find out what AGD means? Go ahead.

Whaaa... they put a chemical in soap and sex toys that gives men large stomachs and small penises? And they call it Phht.. Pffht.. Phthh.. Oh God, that's pure evil genius.

I have seen reports that aspartame in diet soda actually makes you more hungry, thus you consume more calories to reduce the cravings induced by this artificial sweetener.

So folks eating all that diet junk may actually be eating more of it and have higher calorie intake than with regular food. Maybe that's why fat ladened Atkins and South Beach diets are successful for many?

So not exercising and eating too much has nothing to do with it? I am a die hard conspiracy-theorist but this is going way too far, get some responsibility people.

You guys are absolutely correct in what you're saying. There are chemicals in many of the things we consume that are proven to cause/add to the obesity epidemic. Scientists test new diabetic meds on mice/rats. The only problem is there are no fat mice naturally so one day old mice are injected with MSG to cause a predisposition for diabetes. When MSG is ingested by human test subjects it affects the pancreas by stimulating it to produce triple its standard output of insulin which finds the excess sugar in the system and stores it as fat. A few hours after ingesting foods with MSG the excess insulin the MSG triggers reduces Your blood sugar level so much that You become tired and hungry again. Have You ever wondered why after you eat chinese food You get hungry again almost right away? MSG is added to most dishes as a 'flavor enhancer'. Some asian restaraunts now say 'MSG Free' on the bottom of their menus.The Defeat Autism Now Conference in D.C. actually had a speaker there with a theory that MSG may be a cause (one of) of autism in children, that during the 1st & 2nd month while a fetus brain is developing the MSG passes through the placental barrier causing problems and possibly autism. Some people even get severe headaches after eating MSG laced food due to the impact the chemical has on the neurons in Our brain. Yes. We do need to be responsible, especially as parents. Nothing is better than healthy foods, fresh air & excercise and We MUST be aware of what we put into Our bodies. Our bodies are like finely tuned machines and if neglected or maltreated it will fail Us.

Peace. K*

Lets not forget high fructose corn syrup. As well as regular corn syrup. And anything hydroginated, partially or otherwise.

I love seeing old movies or photos back when everyone drank whole milk and ate butter with everything and red meat at every meal. They werent nearly as fat.

Then comes the FDA and the CDC pushing sugar alternatives, fat alternatives and we get morbidly obese en masse and a weak apology along with a subtle "lets ban the trans fats but not remind people that we put them there in the first place" attitude.

If it was made in a lab, chances are your body has no idea what to do with it and you probably shouldnt eat very much of it.

A read a couple of weeks ago that some chemicals in leading brand shampoos causes men to grow "breasts."

If this is true, then their use from an early age will indeed cause obesity.

[edit on 19-3-2007 by Benevolent Heretic]

Originally posted by Demetre
You guys are absolutely correct in what you're saying. There are chemicals in many of the things we consume that are proven to cause/add to the obesity epidemic.

Not only that but the estrogen we put into the environment (birth control pills, estrogen therapy, etc) through waste products, is also a danger, not necessarily to obesity, but it causes people to get cancer and messes with men's systems pretty bad.

Plastic polycarbonate bottles such as Nalgene are still popular as drinking water bottles. However polycarbonate releases a chemical known as bisphenol A also know as BPA. Whereas plastic industry safety studies find no significant health effects from typical daily doses of bisphenol A, a full 90% of government studies found harmful health effects [1] especially to children and expecting moms, [2] but also for male sexuality and reproduction as well. [3]

The problem is that bisphenol A acts as a "xenoestrogen," which just means it's like the female hormone estrogen, except for two things: 1) it's foreign to the body, which is what "xeno" means, and 2) it is way more harmful than our natural estrogen for everyone, male and female. Breast cancers are much more of a risk in women who carry a high burden of xenoestrogens, and both sexes are subject to a huge range of other harmful health effects.

CAConrad0825 where did you read that "not exercising and eating too much has nothing to do with it"? No one even implied that. This is additional information, not a replacement for diet and exercise.

The plastic bottles soft drinks come in are pure polyethylene terephthalate.

from what i've read in the article,
there's the question of finding out if the Phthalates cause the pot bellies and other symptoms of those with high levels in their systems.

Or, that people which have the lowest concentrations of Phthalates,
are the ones that metabolized it out of their system, likely by exercise and a more conscientious diet...
because it seems-> all of society

if it is indeed estrogenic, that itself will promote fat gain. Testosterone promotes fat loss, while high estrogen levels promote fat storage. I think that eating badly and sedentary behavior is more the problem than plastics and chemicals though....

Originally posted by mythatsabigprobe
Whaaa... they put a chemical in soap and sex toys that gives men large stomachs and small penises? And they call it Phht.. Pffht.. Phthh.. Oh God, that's pure evil genius.

I dont have anything to add to this conversation, but your icon is the most genius thing ive ever seen.

It seems the short condensed version of this thread would focus around eating only grass, since it sure seems like everything else under the sun (and the moon too to be fair to the ladies) is positively terrible for us and will surely be our undoing. Call me crazy but I think its more a societal problem rather than chemical, but thats just me. Back in the day people used to do real jobs, now people aim to sit on their hind quarters as much as possible.

Interesting read. Indeed, phthalates are present in almost any product that comes in a plastic container, making this an issue that affects almost everyone. I mentioned plastic soda containers in an earlier post.

While I am no expert in the medical effects of phthalates on humans, I can tell you that the E.P.A. has had environmental chemists like me routinely testing for phthalates in water, soil and other materials for over 20 years. One would assume that there are concerns about phthalates, and has been for some time. Some phthalates are known to be toxic at high levels, Di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate being an example. Although phthalates are in such widespread use today, the effects on humans at low levels are not clearly defined. I certainly think it merits further study. This study needs to be thorough and done by labs and medical researchers that are totally independent of industry groups.

It's always something, isn't it? I share your frustration. I dislike claims made by scientists without adequate proof. More research is the only avenue open to us, to determine the truth one way or another. Unlike global warming, which has much uncertainty with all of it's myriad theories of cause and effect, the testing of plastics etc. for phthalates involves some analytical methods that can nearly 100% establish facts that can be 100% reproduced wherever competent research is done. Armed with excellent analyticals, medical personnel should be able to conduct a really meaningful study.

The next item on the threat list will be MTBE, methyl-tertiary-butyl-ether.
MTBE is an oxgenate that was added to gasoline for the past 30 years to reduce air pollution. A prime example of bad policy and bad science, the air is cleaner, but the water is polluted.....with MTBE. But, that's another story.











[edit on 3/21/2007 by TheAvenger]