Good Morning You Rodents:
I hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving and are ready to work off the few extra pounds gained from stuffing yourself tighter than your bird. But before you take to one of my many weight loss tips and begin chugging water in order to speed up the elimination of your Holiday Feast, click here!
There are many, many reasons why the obesity rate in the United States is over 33% and continues to grow each year. We all know that a lack of physical activity, poor “nutrition” and certain genetic markers are all contributing factors to this epidemic. However, there is one other potential factor that even I was unaware of until a client mentioned it to me last week.
The latest culprit in this Battle of the Bulge is Bisphenol-A (BPA). I know some of you are very familiar with this cancer-causing chemical that is commonly found in plastics and plastic additives. But did you know that several studies have shown it to be detrimental to losing weight as well as being healthy? Yes my avid Body Designers, if you are trying to lose weight and drinking sufficient amounts of water (approximately 1 gallon a day), BPA is in the plastic water bottles you carry to the gym, keep in your car and have at your desk as you guzzle ounce after ounce in an attempt to reduce your body fat by increasing your metabolism.
That’s right! A study on mice by Masuno and colleagues (2002) showed that “relatively small amounts of BPA significantly reduced insulin sensitivity and accelerated the formation of adipocytes (fat cells)”. Translation, the BPA caused the mice to become fat! Worse, not only did the mice get fatter (by (150%) due to the reduction of their insulin sensitivity, the BPA also increased the conversion of previously existing pre-adipocytes (dormant pre-fat cells) to adipocytes (fat cells); causing a 1,300% increase in fat levels!
I know, I know, what’s a Designer to do? I have preached for a long time to drink a gallon of water a day. And most of us, me included, do so out of plastic bottles. And while we all have heard of the “harmful” chemicals in certain plastics, most of us, as with most things that are “bad”, never think developing cancer, let alone NOT being able to lose weight, as a result from using them, will ever happen to “us”. But in 2010, the United States’ President’s Cancer Panel concluded that “more than 130 studies have linked BPA to breast cancer, obesity, and other health problems.”
Furthermore, a new study, headed by Dr. Leonardo Trasande, an associate professor of pediatrics and environmental medicine at the NYU School of Medicine, found children and teens exposed to high levels of this chemical were more likely to be obese.
Yes, although it’s true there is no conclusive evidence that low levels of exposure to BPA causes weight gain in humans, it is circumstantial enough for me to believe that drinking your daily requirement of water out of a glass or stainless steel bottles is more effective for your weight loss program as well as your overall health. And wouldn’t you know, foregoing plastic for glass or “stainless” will allow those of you who are concerned about the environment to make a more dramatic impact.
