Chemical Obesity: How Lessening Your Toxic Load Could Be The Answer To Losing Weight When You've Tried Everything
You’ve tried it all: Weight Watchers, Atkins, Beach Body, Keto, “just watch your calories and work out,” “your body’s in starvation mode,” “add more healthy fat,” “ high-cal dressing ruins a salad,” and so on, and so on.
You tell yourself, “Maybe, I just need to be more body positive,” but you can’t ignore your lack of energy, abnormal cycle, joint pain, and other symptoms that you feel your excess weight may be contributing to. What’s a girl to do?
Well, you’re not alone. According to Statista, “As of 2020, almost 32 percent of the population aged 18 years and older was obese.” That’s one in every three people over the age of 18, and we know there’s a wealth of studies to show that, no matter how positively we see ourselves, obesity affects our health in many ways.
It’s important to note that it’s often not without trying. Losing weight is probably the most common New Year’s Resolution. There are even articles giving tips on how to "manage the gym rush in January." Fitbit practically became a fashion staple in the last decade. And the diet industry stats are astounding – it’s an estimated $72.6 billion dollar industry as of 2021. It seems like almost everyone is trying to lose a few pounds – or more. So, what gives? Are we just not trying (or spending) enough? Maybe there are more pieces to the puzzle that we haven’t seen yet.
Obesity, Meet Obesogens
What are obesogens, you might ask? This fake-sounding word is actually an umbrella term for tons of chemicals that interfere with your body’s processes that affect weight. According to an article from WebMD, “For several decades, researchers have noted that lab animals gain weight when they are exposed to specific substances.” If you’ve struggled with endless diets your whole life to no avail, you may be screaming at your computer, “I knew there was something else going on!” Well, hold on to your pants, girlie. We’re just getting started.
Obesogens affect your weight in multiple ways, but there is something they all have in common: They’re endocrine disruptors. As much as that sounds like a new species in Jurassic Park, it’s not half as cool. Your endocrine system, in simple terms, is your hormone system; it’s responsible for producing the hormones involved in metabolism, mood, and fertility, among other things. When obesogens interfere, your body can produce too much or too little of these needed hormones, causing weight gain.