(PhysOrg.com) -- With obesity emerging as a leading health threat to Americans, it’s easy to blame a couch-potato culture addicted to calorie-rich foods. But UC Irvine biologist Bruce Blumberg doesn’t believe lifestyle alone explains this growing obesity epidemic. He thinks industrial pollutants play a part too.
Blumberg is among a growing number
of researchers exploring how chemicals used in plastics, food
packaging, pesticides and cosmetics can trigger dramatic increases in body fat.
He has even coined a word for these compounds that corrupt the normal function
of metabolic hormones: obesogens.
“It makes a lot of sense that
chemicals able to reprogram metabolism and favor the development of fat cells
could be important contributing factors to obesity,” says Blumberg, professor
of developmental & cell biology and pharmaceutical sciences. “The role of
obesogens in fat accumulation raises questions about the effectiveness of just
diet and exercise in helping people lose pounds and maintain a proper weight.”
Obesogen research is in its early
stages but gaining widespread attention, including recent in-depth coverage in
Newsweek. While it’s unclear to what degree these chemicals contribute to the obesity
epidemic, what Blumberg and other researchers around the world are
finding is troubling.
In ongoing studies, Blumberg has
identified how obesogens target signaling proteins to tell a developing fetus
to make more fat cells. This can have lifelong consequences, increasing the
likelihood of body fat accumulation as a person ages and making it more
difficult to lose excess weight.
Blumberg points out that it’s not
known whether obesogens have the same effects on adults, but he suspects that
they may have already left their mark on Americans born after World War II —
when exposure to industrial chemicals became widespread.
“The causes of obesity are very
complex, but if you travel to other places in the world, you’ll notice that
this epidemic is predominantly American,” Blumberg says. “Elsewhere, the
consumption of prepackaged foods is much lower, food is grown and eaten
locally, and people are far less exposed to food additives and chemicals. These
are all contributing factors.”
Until medical science can identify a
way to repair obesogen-affected metabolism, he and others in this field
recommend a “better safe than sorry” approach. “Use glass and stainless steel
instead of plastics to store fluids and foods,” Blumberg says. “And try to get
locally grown produce, organic if possible.”
He also suggests an attitudinal
adjustment: “Obesity
isn’t exclusively caused by personal behavior. It’s increasing despite our best
efforts. If obesogen exposure causes someone to have more fat cells,
or an altered metabolism, others should be more sympathetic
that he or she will have to work harder to lose weight.”
Despite the difficulty of changing
public — and scientific — perception, Blumberg is hopeful. “The tide is
turning,” he says. “Over the past few years, acceptance of obesogens has grown,
and it’s now possible to get funding for research. It’s an idea whose time has
come.”
Provided by UC Irvine
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