Those of you who have followed our blog or attended our seminars know that over the years researchers at CFL have warned of a number of food additives demonstrated in scientific studies to trigger weight gain.  This study has added yet another chemical to that growing list…the industrial chemicals commonly used in food packaging that have been shown scientifically to migrate into the food can alter our endocrine systems and trigger weight gain.  If you are struggling with an inability to lose unexplained weight gain and your healthcare team has eliminated the usual suspects, you may want to try removing processed foods–and their additives–from your diet.

Weight gain through plasticisers

Researchers find the metabolic pathways responsible

Scientists have discovered that phthalate DEHP–a chemical commonly used in processed food packaging that can migrate into the food– leads to weight gain and revealed the metabolic processes involved…

Dr. Von Bergen and his UFZ team performed the study in collaboration with researchers Nora Klöting and Matthias Blüher (spokespersons for the Collaborative Research Centre “Obesity Mechanisms”) from the Integrated Research and Treatment Center (IFB) Adiposity Diseases at the University of Leipzig and the University Hospital Leipzig. The results of the study were recently published in the PLOS ONE journal. They show where phthalates can interfere with metabolism and pave the way for weight gain.

–

“It is evident that phthalates seriously interfere with the hormone balance. They give rise to significant changes, e.g. weight gain, even in low concentrations.”

– Dr. Martin von Bergen, Head of the Department of Molecular Systems Biology at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research

–

Phthalates are used as plasticisers in polymer processing to make plastics soft, flexible or tensile. Under certain conditions, phthalates can also emerge from the material and be uptaken into our bodies most prominently by our diet. Phthalates are mainly transferred from the food packaging of fatty products, e.g. cheese or sausages…

–

“Correlations between increased phthalate concentrations in the human body and the development of overweight have already been proven in epidemiological studies and should be analyzed in more detail.”

– Dr. Martin von Bergen, Head of the Department of Molecular Systems Biology at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research

Journal Reference: Klöting, N., et al., Di-(2-Ethylhexyl)-Phthalate (DEHP) Causes Impaired Adipocyte Function and Alters Serum Metabolites. PLOS ONE, 2015; 10 (12): e0143190 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0143190