Endocrine Disruptors
and
Weight Loss

"Endocrine disruptors are chemicals in our environment
that enter our bodies and alter the way your hormones
act and react. By this method they either cause weight
gain or prevent weight loss."

Endocrine means relating to internal secretion. Hormones are secreted by glands. The endocrine system in the body is the system that regulates the secretion of hormones from these glands. When a gland secretes a hormone, the hormone goes through the blood. When the hormone reaches the place where it is supposed to go and the receptor at the other end receives it, it sends a message through the nervous system and the gland stops secreting it.

Disrupts Hormone Process

An endocrine disruptor is something that disrupts the endocrine process (the process of glands sending and receiving hormones). These chemicals act as if they were hormones.

But they are not. They can block, excite, or inhibit. Some of these chemicals go into the receptor and block the real hormone. Some go into the receptor and give a signal strength that is too strong. Others will go into the receptor and give a signal strength that is too weak. Imagine stepping on the gas while driving and the brakes have a blocker or inhibitor which prevents the brakes from receiving the signal. Your car won’t stop. Or it can be putting your foot on your car breaks and having your car accelerate!

Examples of Endocrine Disruptors:

• Pesticides: pest killers
• Insecticides: insect killers
• Herbicides: weed killers
• Fungicides: fungus killers
• Plastics
• Solvents
• Heavy metals

Feedstock

Cattle and Poultry feed are laden with toxic chemicals. Livestock are grown close together and because of this the spread of illness moves swift and this is very costly for the livestock business. As a preventative measure, animal feeds used contain a myriad of hormone-disrupting toxins including pesticides, antibiotics, and drugs to combat disease when so many animals are packed closely together.

Where Do They Come From

How much is used? One half of all antibiotics produced in the US is used on livestock feed.¹

If you eat in any developed country, you are eating pesticides from fruits and vegetables, many of which are known endocrine disruptors.

Approximately 5 billion pounds of pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and other biocides are being added to the world each year. In the past 100 years, several hundred billion pounds of pesticides have been released into the environment.²

Pesticides that are banned in the US, such as DDT, are being used in some other countries freely. It is estimated that a person eats illegal pesticides 75 times a year just by following the USDA's recommendation of five servings of fruits and vegetables a day if these are purchased in regular supermarkets.

Vegetables grown in developing foreign countries such as South America and Africa find their way back to our dinner table in this global community.

Many endocrine disruptors are also Persistent Organic Pollutants as well. This means that they stay in the environment for a very long time, travel vast distances and accumulate in tissue and proliferate through the food chain. You can learn more on the the page, "Persistent Organic Pollutants."

Cause Confusing Hormone Symptoms

Pesticide residues have chemical structures that are similar to estrogen and are classified as xenoestrogens. Though there are "normal" level of estrogen in the body, your body is exhibiting signs of having much more estrogen. You can read more about this in "Estrogen Dominance."

Many also have proven to alter thyroid hormone production and cause hypothyroidism and subclinical hypothyroidism.

Videos on Endocrine Disruptors

Dr. Robert M. Carey, president of the Endocrine Society, announced the societys first-ever scientific statement on endocrine-disrupting chemicals. Dr. Hugh Taylor, a reproductive endocrinologist at Yale University, describes advice to give to patients. The volume is very poor so you will have to turn up the volume to hear what he is saying clearly.

This video is the third part of a series of videos that discuss chemicals that affect the endocrine system.

You Can Do Something About It

• The first step in changing the world we live in is to become aware of it.
  
  
• All of you reading this have the ability to change it for the better by the voting system. The modern capitalist system has a voting system that determines how our world is shaped. That voting system is what I call "Vote By Purchase." Each purchase you make is a vote for what manufacturers will produce.

Do you know this is how Gandhi brought the most powerful empire to its knees? He wanted independence from England. The fatal blow he delivered was when he convinced India to stop producing for England. India was the greatest source of raw materials for Great England. Without its supply of raw materials, all commerce for England stopped.

You may be dealing with one of me, but I work with many of you and I see so many of you changing your habits and actions as a result of what you read on my site and through my consultations. You can make a difference.

• Keep learning. Subscribing to my blog and getting my updates and simply asking questions is something you can do.
  
  
• The last thing is to share this information with others. I am sure you can see that my aim is health first and weight loss as a by product. Share this information with others.

Metabolism Makeover

Endocrine disruptors is a part of our life whether we like it or not. Learning what to do about it and how it affects our health is what you have to focus on.You can reduce the amount stored in your body. My book has a plan to help the body detoxify and and attain higher levels of health. If you are interested check out Metabolism Makeover.

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References

1. Kristof, Nicholas (November 7, 2009). "Chemicals in Our Food, and Bodies". http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/08/opinion/08kristof.html. Retrieved 2009-11-09.
2. David Biello . Plastic (Not) Fantastic: Food Containers Leach a Potentially Harmful Chemical. Is bisphenol A, a major ingredient in many plastics, healthy for children and other living things? http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=plastic-not-fantastic-with-bisphenol-a.

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