There’s a lot of weight management news in the pipe this week, so I thought I’d focus on that issue and make sure we see all of it in this space. Today, we segue to a chemical family known as ‘obesogens’, because they appear to promote weight gain by suppressing your resting metabolic rate…
PFASs are all around us: In processed foods, packaging, clothing and other products.
They may even me in the bottled water you drink, if the ‘spring’ from which the
water was drawn is near a commercial, industrial or military installation.
Obesogens – literall, ‘things that make you fat’ – formally known as perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) have been linked with cancer, hormone disruption, immune dysfunction and high cholesterol as well as obesity. And they’re found in a wide range of foods, packaging, clothing and other items you probably have around the house.
PFASs have been used for more than 60 years in products ranging from food wrappers to clothing to pots and pans, and studies have shown that they’ve contaminated drinking water near industrial sites, military bases, and wastewater treatment plants. These chemicals can accumulate in drinking water and food chains and persist for a long time in the body.
The study…
Researchers at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health teamed with colleagues at from Louisiana State University and Tulane University, analyzed data from 621 overweight and obese participants in the Prevention of Obesity Using Novel Dietary Strategies (POUNDS LOST) clinical trial, which was conducted in the mid-2000s. The trial tested the effects of four heart-healthy diets on weight loss over a period of two years. Researchers looked at the possible connection between the amount of PFASs in participants’ blood as they entered the study and their weight loss or gain over time.
During the first six months of the trial, participants lost an average of 6.4 kilograms (kg), but regained 2.7 kg over the course of the following 18 months. Those who gained the most weight back also had the highest blood concentrations of PFASs, and the link was strongest among women.
The conclusions…
“We typically think about PFASs in terms of rare health problems like cancer, but it appears they are also playing a role in obesity, a major health problem facing millions around the globe,” said study co-author Philippe Grandjean, Adjunct Professor of Environmental Health at Harvard Chan School. “The findings suggest that avoiding or reducing PFAS exposure may help people maintain a stable body weight after they successfully lose some weight, especially for women.”
The catch? Avoiding or reducing PFASs may be difficult. They don’t show up on the labels of non-food products, and they’re pretty much ubiquitous in the processed and packaged food sphere. On the other hand, you should be able to avoid most food-borne PFASs by eating fresh food you prepare yourself.
~ Maggie J.