Louisville ranks one the best cities in the country for its filtration system. The air might not be the greatest, but the 
water sure is clean and refreshing. However, what they didn’t take in consideration is what apparently ranks, “Head and Shoulders” above the water that is contributing to being over weight!
I thought I heard it all until…
Paula Baillie-Hamilton, an expert on metabolism and environmental toxins, was one of the first to make a link between the obesity epidemic and the increase in environmental chemicals. Baillie-Hamilton argued that exposure to chemicals can damage your body’s natural weight-control mechanisms. She calls toxic chemicals that act as endocrine disruptors “chemical calories.”
Environmental researchers now call these chemical calories “obesogens.” These organic pollutants can derail the hormonal mechanisms that control your weight.
According to Grist:
“… [I]t is impossible, now, to tease out how much of obesity is caused by chemicals, and how much by energy balance. They’re intertwined, anyway, with imbalances in appetite-regulating hormones like leptin and ghrelin causing us to want to eat more of the available food … [S]teer clear of Bisphenol-A … [and] shampoos, cosmetics, and soaps containing phthalates.”
Even buying organic shampoo and other personal care products may not protect you. As the Center for Environmental Health recently reported:
“Dozens of shampoos, lotions, toothpastes,and other personal care products sold by national retailers including Target, Walgreens, CVS, Rite Aid, Whole Foods and other stores are mislabeled as organic, in violation of California law, according to a lawsuit filed … by the Center for Environmental Health (CEH).”
Several of the products contain potentially toxic ingredients, including disrupting hormones, despite being labeled as organic.
Is there truth to any of this, maybe, but not an excuse? No reason to take this one and run with it, because its reaches just a little too far even the most imaginative. I think we have just about run the course on reasons for not eating right, pushing away from the table, and using the treadmill in our bedroom only for a coat rack. Are there things with our environment that can chemically influence our metabolism, I don’t know, but let’s not forget about common sense here either?
It is of my opinion that excuses and far reaching studies such as these are used mainly as deflection off of the REAL issue at hand, “Personal Responsibility and Accountability.”
Oh, but God forbid that we mention words like, responsibility and being held accountable for our behaviors. Let’s just blame it on our hair care products. You know what, “I think my lazy boy is sending me bad vibes, my butt’s looking a little wider these days, I’ve noticed.”
