The other day, I read an article about chemicals in plastics contributing to obesity if you are exposed during certain developmental periods. I kept thinking about how to relate the information here. Then it hit me, this is perfectly relevant, taking care of the environment is also a health benefit!

The chemicals, known as obesogens, mimic natural hormones and can wreak havoc on your endocrine system. Obesogens may explain why we all know skinny people who eat whatever they want and others who gain weight even if they watch everything they eat.

Some of these chemicals can cause your body to make more fat cells, which stay with you for life. Although having more fat cells doesn't mean you'll definitely be overweight, it does make it harder to lose weight. "Fat cells want to hold onto fat," says Robert Lustig, an endocrinologist at the University California, San Francisco. "They will go to the mat to hold onto their fat. They do not want to give it up."

Obesogens can also affect your metabolism (how quickly your body burns calories) and how quickly your hunger is satisfied. Timing of exposure is critical. The data so far indicates that development (in utero, and the first few years of life...perhaps even to puberty) is the most sensitive period, says Jerrold Heindel of National Institute of Environmental Sciences (NIEHS), who recently published a recent paper on the latest science of obesogens in Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology. Researchers at Tufts found that rats who ingested bisphenol-A from pregnancy through lactation had offspring that exhibited an increase in body weight that continued into adulthood.

Note that bisphenol-A is commonly known as BPA. This was often used in plastics including drinking bottles for many years. As we learn to use renewable energy, reusable containers and take better care of the environment, we should also be reducing our contact with these chemicals.

For more information on the actual research, follow the related link.