Is Plastic Making Us Fat?

planetgreen.discovery.com:

No one's blaming these compounds for the country's entire obesity epidemic fast food and lack of exercise are not off the hook but emerging research points to them as one cause of the unexplained tendency for some individuals to gain weight no matter what (or how little) they eat or how much they exercise.

Read the whole story: planetgreen.discovery.com

Comments

[Angie Cordeiro - Huffpost Blogger]

Sometimes science simply needs to use the "spin" of FAT PEOPLE, yet the science is there folks and American's are past being FAT, we have the largest population of MORBIDLY OBESE PEOPLE on the planet, including children. Some are now born predisposed to this tragedy; and one of the culprits: Plastic....enjoy your morning shower ;-).

[Lahonda]

Yes.

[friedfish2718]

but do not tell the wife that plastic makes her fat!!!

[Agentlady007]

Plastic is giving people cancer, especially when you use it in the microwave.

[KIVPossum]

Every little bit we have to get a new theory as to why people are obese. The simple fact is, obesity is a life style choice. People decide to take in more calories than they burn.

[Agentlady007]

No. People do not always decide to be fat. There is a disease called obesity and it is genetic. I don't think it has anything to do with calories. It is in the genes. There are some people who just get really fat, and they could eat as much as someone who weighs 110 lbs, but they still weigh 200. I think it's rare though, and your comment about calories is probably for the majority of people who fail to use exercise with their diet plans. They have to work together.
That's life.

[SaltySaltillo]

Agentlady007 - your hyperbole is clouding your thinking. To say obesity has nothing to do with calories and everything to do with is an absurd exaggeration. Obesity is mostly about calories. There is a genetic component. The genetics do not trump the basic math of calories in-calories burned. This is not the same "genetics" that says I am predisposed to having 2 arms and 2 legs and there is nothing I can change about behavior to fix it. No, this is "soft" genetics - the kind that can be trumped by behavior. Genetics, like age, affects how quickly a body consumes calories. As a consequence, some people need to work even harder - consume even less calories and burn even more calories - to get the same result as another person with a faster metabolism. In addition, different people have different genetic bone structures - broader shoulders, wider pelvis bones, etc. And there is no changing that. But bones don't make you obese, they make you big. Obesity is an excess of body fat, not bones. Finally, the biggest problem facing obese people today, it seems, is psychological. The obese need to conquer their own minds and gain control of their behaviors to win the battle on obesity.

[saami]

No, it's eating more calories every day than we burn. We eat to much and move too little. It really is that simple.

[SaltySaltillo]

agreed.

[eilish]

This is America! If it makes a cheap profit, we're stuck with it. Just like corn syrup, who cares if it's healthy, it's addictive and profitable. Health insurance is all about profit and not about being healthy, weight is a major factor in American health care. I look around me and the plastic problem is so pervasive (as the article states) that where to start just makes it 'too big to handle'. Everything in America seems to be 'too big to' make positive changes.

[SaltySaltillo]

Doesn't sound plausible yet. ALL of us are exposed to plastics and related chemicals. But not all of us are fat. There are lots of reasons why plastics are bad. But let's not find new ways to rationalize the basic math of the human body machine - it is a function of calories consumed and calories burned.

[sixyfivepercentwater]

Most if not all of these chemicals have already been banned in Europe. Once again, America lags behind.