Persistent Organic Pollutants
and Weight Loss

"There's more than what meets the eye when dealing with weight loss and poor health. Environmental poisons are a major factor that people are not aware of."

Hi everyone,

This page is about a classification of chemicals called “Persistent Organic Pollutants (POP’s) and how they stop your weight loss. This is a page that will be used as a reference page for this "Lose Weight With Detox" section.

I am including this because I want to educate you on the environment you are facing when trying to lose weight by regaining your health. It is a formidable environment and I want you to understand why.

The definition of "Persistent Organic Pollutants" from the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency is:

“Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are toxic chemicals that adversely affect human health and the environment around the world. Because they can be transported by wind and water, most POPs generated in one country can and do affect people and wildlife far from where they are used and released. They persist for long periods of time in the environment and can accumulate and pass from one species to the next through the food chain.”¹ You can read this yourself at http://www.epa.gov/oia/toxics/pop.htm#pops.

Because of this, they have been observed to persist in the environment, to be capable of long-range transport, bioaccumulate in human and animal tissue, biomagnify in food chains.²

Biioaccumulate means to accumulate in life forms. Biomagnify means to grow in effect or quantity. In this case, as animal and plant life naturally grow and reproduce and in interact with each other, they spread and magnify the accumulation and effect of these toxins.

A whale in water polluted water can eat plankton that is polluted. The whale now has a greater concentration. It is stored in the whales fat tissue. The whales fat tissue is harvested and turned into human products. In the manufacturing process, POP's are inadvertently added. Then we eat it. Bio-magnification through the food chain.

Can Travel Vast Distances

POPs released to the environment have been shown to travel vast distances from their original source. Due to their chemical properties, many POPs are semi-volatile and insoluble. These compounds are therefore unable to transport directly through the environment. The indirect routes include attachment to particulate matter, and through the food chain. The chemicals' semi-volatility allows them to travel long distances through the atmosphere before being deposited.³

Thus POPs can be found all over the world, including in areas where they have never been used and remote regions such as the middle of oceans and Antarctica.⁴

POP exposure can cause death and illnesses including disruption of the endocrine, reproductive, and immune systems; neurobehavioral disorders; and cancers possibly including breast cancer. Exposure to POPs can take place through diet, environmental exposure, or accidents.⁵

Diabetes

A study published in 2006 indicated a link between blood serum levels of POPs and diabetes.⁶ Individuals with elevated levels of persistent organic pollutants (DDT, dioxins, PCBs and Chlordane, among others) in their body were found to be up to 38 times more likely to be insulin resistant than individuals with low levels of these pollutants, though the study did not demonstrate a cause and effect relationship.

Obesity

Among study participants, obesity was associated with diabetes only in people who tested high for these pollutants.

These persistent organic pollutants are accumulated in animal fats, so minimizing consumption of animal fats may reduce the risk of diabetes.⁷

Almost all the listed POP’s are the Xenoestrogens listed on my "Xenoestrogen" page.

They are also endocrine disruptors. Endocrine disruptors are chemicals that have an effect on your weight as well. You can read about them on, "Endocrine Disruptors"

What this means is that these toxic chemicals that contribute to weight gain and obesity are also POPs.

I hope this have given you a bit more clarity on the nature of the world we live in as it relates to our health. There is a lot that affects people’s health that we are not even aware of.

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

Persistent Organic Pollutants are 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. 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.

Got a Question? Ask Me Here!

Return to "Lose Weight With Detox"

Return from "Persistent Organic Pollutants" to "Natural Weight Loss" Home Page

References

1. "Persistent Organic Pollutants: A Global Issue, A Global Response | International Programs | USEPA." U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Jan. 2010. <http://www.epa.gov/oia/toxics/pop.htm#pops>.
2. Ritter L; Solomon KR, Forget J, Stemeroff M, O'Leary C.. "Persistent organic pollutants". United Nations Environment Programme. http://www.chem.unep.ch/pops/ritter/en/ritteren.pdf. Retrieved 2007-09-16.
3. ibid
4. ibid
   
5. ibid
   
6. Lee DH, Lee IK, Song K, Steffes M, Toscano W, Baker BA, and Jacobs DR Jr. (2006), A Strong Dose-Response Relation Between Serum Concentrations of Persistent Organic Pollutants and Diabetes. Diabetes Care, 29:1638-1644.
7. "Living on Earth: POPsible Nightmare". Living on Earth. 2006. http://www.loe.org/shows/segments.htm?programID=06-P13-00050&segmentID=2.