What's Really Making Us Fat?

There are many causes of overweight and obesity but eating too much and exercising too little (aka energy imbalance) seem to be the only reasons that people focus on.  As a matter of fact, if you read the page I've just linked you to, energy balance appears to the main cause while everything else is "other". 

For little over a year now, I have been focusing more and more on the "other" causes of overweight and obesity.  I have been growing especially concerned about the chemical additives that are in foods.  This has been mostly because of my personal experiences with weight loss combined with information I picked up in school.  However, this week I was going through my copy of the January issue of Prevention magazine and I stumbled upon an article that seems to validate my concerns. 

The printed version of the article is titled, "What's Making Us Fat?" and it talks about a study done on the effects of obesogens.  Obesogens affect us by 1) increasing the number of fat cells in the body or storage capacity of fat cells; 2) changing our metabolism; and 3) affecting the way our body regulates hunger and fullness (Henig 2014).  Get this: exposure to obesogens will affect future generations.  Example--you could be exposed to an obesogen but the effect will be felt by your children and grandchildren.  Whoa.  Please, read the article to get more information on obesogens-what they are, where they are, and who's at the highest risk. 

Let me just say, I do not think that this absolves us of our responsibility to eat better and to exercise.  In fact, I think eating better (by better I mean real food) could possibly help the body cleanse itself of the toxins we're exposed to.  And, I've been clear that I believe in exercise. I just think if you're trying to lose weight then it's important to recognize everything that has contributed to your weight gain or is making it that much more difficult to lose weight. 

Antoinette


Reference:
Henig, Robin M.  (2014 January).  What is making America so fat?  Prevention.