Phthalates? Unsuspecting Products We Use Everyday That Could Be Making Us Fat!

What you might not know could be making you fat. Leah Zerbe, Online Editor for Rodale.com, has researched this subject extensively and will join Smart Health Talk Thursday, August 30th at 4:00 pm PST so we can better understand how they get in our bodies.

San Bernardino, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 08/30/2012 -- If taking weight off wasn’t hard enough, the 80,000 or so chemicals used in everything from food to shampoo could be forcing our bodies to do things that can also make us fat. Like we need something that we didn’t even know was there, that can cause us to make more fat cells in our bodies, and not just any fat cells but fat cells that can store even larger amounts of fat, and at a time when we are facing the largest obesity rates in history.

Obesogens as they are called, confuse the body’s nerve centers by sending false messages. They take up docking stations that are only meant for something our body made for that purpose and not outsiders. Their presence prevents insulin and hormones from taking their place and keeps them in the blood at high concentrations. With docking stations full, our bodies are tricked into thinking it should decrease production of key hormones. Low hormone levels can have a negative impact on overall health and the body’s ability to defend itself.

When the docking stations become full from phthalates and take the place of our own hormones, high blood concentration levels of insulin, glucose, and hormones accumulate and can damage vital organs and lead to other disease conditions.

Numerous sources can be identified with high levels found in pesticides on food and personal care products, and even air fresheners and detergents. Packaging can also contribute to phthalate load with chemicals of its own.

Obesogens have been associated with increased cancer risk.

Before this week it was thought that the primary mechanism for phthalate induced breast and prostrate cancer tumors were hormone based. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) had reported that phthalates are known animal endocrine system disruptors.
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