Obesogens are likely to be a relatively unknown topic in today’s conversations.
But they should be known.
We certainly ingest them on a daily basis, and they negatively affect our health.
What an obesogen is; it is a chemical that disrupt our hormones in such a way that they cause weight gain.
This weight gain can ultimately lead to obesity, hence the name; obesogens.
Some of these obesogens are taken knowing that weight gain is a side effect, a lot are taken with the knowledge that it’s just simply bad for us, and most are taken without our knowledge or consent.
“Rebecca is a 5 yr old girl who has gained 20 lbs in one year and is referred to us for premature breast development. An MRI of her head rules out a brain tumor. A pituitary evaluation to look for onset of puberty is unrevealing and tests show no estrogen in the blood. A more detailed history reveals Rebecca’s mother has recently taken to bathing her daughter in Victoria Secret’s bath gel. The assumption is that the bath gel contains plant estrogen. The mother is counseled to stop the bath gel and subsequently Rebecca’s weight gain and breast development cease.”
(Excerpt from the book Fat Chance , Chapter 15 Environmental Obesogens)
Let’s take a look at what exactly contains obesogens, what they do to us, and how we can avoid them.