Why You Can't Lose Those Last 10 Pounds

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Why You Can't Lose Those Last 10 Pounds






by: Stephen Perrine and Heather Hurlock

On May 11, the White House announced it was targeting a new threat to America’s health and security. It wasn’t some rogue nation or terrorist organization, or a newfound disease or environmental threat. It was a class of chemicals that are making Americans fat. They’re called endocrine disrupting chemicals, or EDCs. And chances are you’re eating or drinking them right now.

The White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity released a report called "Solving the Problem of Childhood Obesity Within a Generation." In the report they list endocrine-disrupting chemicals as a possible reason for increased obesity in the country and describe how scientists have coined a new term for these chemicals — "obesogens" — because they "may promote weight gain and obesity."

What does this mean for you? It means that weight gain is not just about calories-in versus calories-out.

No, America’s obesity crisis can’t entirely be blamed on too much fast food and too little exercise. We have to consider a third factor: the obesogens. They’re natural and synthetic compounds, and many of these chemicals work by mimicking estrogen — the very hormone that doctors DON’T want women taking anymore (as a large clinical trial linked hormone therapy to increased risk of heart disease, breast cancer, stroke, blood clots and abnormal mammograms).

Why traditional diets don’t work anymore

Because high school biology was likely a while back, here’s a quick refresher: The endocrine system is made up of all the glands and cells that produce the hormones that regulate our bodies. Growth and development, sexual function, reproductive processes, mood, sleep, hunger, stress, metabolism and the way our bodies use food — it’s all controlled by hormones. So whether you’re tall or short, lean or heavy — that’s all determined in a big way by your endocrine system.

But your endocrine system is a finely tuned instrument that can easily be thrown off-kilter. "Obesogens are thought to act by hijacking the regulatory systems that control body weight," says Frederick vom Saal, Ph.D., curators’ professor of biological sciences at the University of Missouri. That’s why endocrine disruptors are so good at making us fat — and that’s why diet advice doesn’t always work — because even strictly following the smartest traditional advice won’t lower your obesogen exposure. See, an apple a day may have kept the doctor away 250 years ago when Benjamin Franklin included the phrase in his almanac. But if that apple comes loaded with obesity-promoting chemicals — nine of the ten most commonly used pesticides are obesogens, and apples are one of the most pesticide-laden foods out there — then Ben’s advice is way out of date.

The obesogen effect is the reason why traditional diet advice — choose chicken over beef, eat more fish, load up on fruits and vegetables — may not work anymore. This is why we’re calling for a New American Diet.

See, while digging up all of this research on obesogens we’ve discovered some good news: There’s no reason why all of our favorite foods — from steak to burgers, from pasta to ice cream — can’t be part of a reasonable weight-loss program. We just need to get rid of old thinking. We can reverse the obesogen effect if we simply adopt these four simple laws of leanness:

Leanness Law No. 1: Know When to Go Organic
The average American is exposed to 10 to 13 different pesticides through food, beverages and drinking water every day and nine of the ten most common pesticides are EDCs. But according to a recent study in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, eating an organic diet for just five days can reduce circulating pesticide EDCs to non-detectable or near non-detectable levels.

Of course, organic foods can be expensive. But not all organics are created equal—many foods have such low levels of pesticides that buying organic just isn’t worth it. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) calculated that you can reduce your pesticide exposure nearly 80 percent simply by choosing organic for the 12 fruits and vegetables shown in their tests to contain the highest levels of pesticides. They call them "The Dirty Dozen," and (starting with the worst) they are celery, peaches, strawberries, apples, blueberries (domestic), nectarines, sweet bell peppers, spinach, kale/collard greens, cherries, potatoes and grapes (imported). And you can feel good about buying the following 15 conventionally grown fruits and vegetables that the EWG dubbed "The Clean Fifteen," because they were shown to have little pesticide residue: onions, avocado, sweet corn (frozen), pineapples, mango, sweet peas (frozen), asparagus, kiwi fruit, cabbage, eggplant, cantaloupe (domestic), watermelon, grapefruit, sweet potatoes and honeydew melon.

Leanness Law No. 2: Don’t Eat Plastic
This ought to be a no-brainer. Indeed, you’re probably already thinking, Well, I don’t generally eat plastic. Ah, but you do. Chances are that you’re among the 93 percent of Americans with detectable levels of bisphenol-A (BPA) in their bodies, and that you’re also among the 75 percent of Americans with detectable levels of phthalates. Both are synthetic chemicals found in plastics that mimic estrogen — essentially, artificial female hormones. And like pesticides, these plastic-based chemicals trick our bodies into storing fat and not building or retaining muscle. Decreasing your exposure to plastic-based obesogens will maximize your chances both of losing unwanted flab and of building lean muscle mass. Here’s how: 1) Never heat food in plastic containers or put plastic items in the dishwasher, which can damage them and increase leaching. BPA leaches from polycarbonate sports bottles 55 times faster when exposed to boiling liquids as opposed to cold ones, according to a study in the journal Toxicology Letters. 2) Avoid buying fatty foods like meats that are packaged in plastic wrap because EDCs are stored in fatty tissue. The plastic wrap used at the supermarket is mostly PVC, whereas the plastic wrap you buy to wrap things at home is increasingly made from polyethylene. 3) Cut down on canned goods by choosing tuna in a pouch over canned tuna. And get any canned and jarred foods from Eden Organic, one of the only companies that doesn’t have BPA in its cans.

Leanness Law No. 3: Go Lean
Always choose pasture-raised meats, which, studies show, have less fat than their confined, grain-fed counterparts and none of the weight-promoting hormones. Plus, grass-fed beef contains 60 percent more omega-3s, 200 percent more vitamin E and two to three times more conjugated linoleic acid (CLA, a near-magic nutrient that helps ward off heart disease, cancer and diabetes, and can help you lose weight, according to a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition) than conventional beef. If you must choose a conventional cut of beef, choose lean cuts top sirloin, 95 percent lean ground beef, bottom round roast, eye round roast, top round roast or sirloin tip steak. Bison burgers and veggie burgers are also great substitutes when grass-fed beef isn’t available. And select sustainable lean fish with low toxic loads (meaning low levels of toxins like mercury and PCBs). A study in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine found that even though the pesticide DDT was banned in 1973, the chemical and its breakdown product DDE can still be found today in fatty fish. Bigger fish eat smaller fish, and so carry a much higher toxic load.

Avoid ahi or bigeye tuna, tilefish, swordfish, shark, king mackerel, marlin and orange roughy — and focus on smaller fish like anchovies, Atlantic herring and mackerel, and wild-caught Alaskan salmon. Choose farmed rainbow trout, farmed mussels, anchovies, scallops (bay, farmed), Pacific cod, Pacific Halibut, Tuna (canned light) and mahimahi. Also, when you cook the fish, broil, poach, grill, boil or bake instead of pan-frying — this will allow contaminants from the fatty portions of fish to drain out.

Leanness Law No. 4: Filter Your Water
The best way to eliminate EDCs from your tap water is an activated carbon water filter. Available for faucets and pitchers, and as under-the-sink units, these filters remove most pesticides and industrial pollutants. Check the label to make sure the filter meets the NSF/American National Standards Institute’s standard 53, indicating that it treats water for both health and aesthetic concerns. Try The Brita Aqualux ($28, brita.com), Pur Horizontal faucet filter ($49, purwaterfilter.com) and Kenmore’s under-sink system ($60, kenmore.com). However, if you have perchlorate (a component of rocket fuel!) in your water (you can find out by asking your municipal water supplier for a copy of its most recent water-quality report) you’ll need a reverse osmosis filter. But for every five gallons of treated water they create per day, they discharge 40 to 90 gallons of wastewater, so make sure it’s necessary before purchasing one.

[musclemilf]

They’re natural and synthetic compounds, and many of these chemicals work by mimicking estrogen — the very hormone that doctors DON’T want women taking anymore (as a large clinical trial linked hormone therapy to increased risk of heart disease, breast cancer, stroke, blood clots and abnormal mammograms).

The above statement from the article is false and misleading. Mimicking estrogens such as those environmental estrogens caused by polutants, have chemical similarities with endogenous estrogens, but they are NOT the same. Also, estradiol used in HRT or BHRT therapy "may" increase breast cancer, stroke, etc (so does birth control - which incidently contains FAR higher amounts of estrogens). There are 30 years of studies, however many other factors come into play, lifestyle, genetic predisposition and environment. I don't want women who read this blurb who may be considering some form of HRT to get the wrong impression.

[Swede]

reduce calories or increase cardio.

fucking unnecessary overanalyzing shit.

[TooPowerful4u]

Wow Dave, way to tricking us into reading this lol. You see a title like that by Dave Palumbo and figure its probably something juicy towards contest prep lol.......

[sassy69]

They’re natural and synthetic compounds, and many of these chemicals work by mimicking estrogen — the very hormone that doctors DON’T want women taking anymore (as a large clinical trial linked hormone therapy to increased risk of heart disease, breast cancer, stroke, blood clots and abnormal mammograms).

The above statement from the article is false and misleading. Mimicking estrogens such as those environmental estrogens caused by polutants, have chemical similarities with endogenous estrogens, but they are NOT the same. Also, estradiol used in HRT or BHRT therapy "may" increase breast cancer, stroke, etc (so does birth control - which incidently contains FAR higher amounts of estrogens). There are 30 years of studies, however many other factors come into play, lifestyle, genetic predisposition and environment. I don't want women who read this blurb who may be considering some form of HRT to get the wrong impression.

Quoting to re-highlight.

And to Swede's point.. spot on.

I'm sure there are things in our environment that make many of our best efforts less than optimal but you can't be fat piece of shit sitting on the couch pounding Fat-Free potato chips and a case of low-carb beer while watching The Biggest Loser and blame "obesogens' on why you can't lose weight.

[fitmomma3]

This is so CAPTAIN OBVIOUS stupid, its ridiculous!!!

So it starts by talking about our OBESITY CRISIS and why Americas FAT, but its titled "Why You Can't Lose Those Last 10 Pounds"... I'm sorry but if you're down to your last 10 pounds to lose you are neither fat nor obese. And if most Americans only had that last 10 pounds to lose we'd be in great shape comparatively!

No, America’s obesity crisis can’t entirely be blamed on too much fast food and too little exercise.
Oh really? This is the stupidest thing ever... so who says its entirely? But lets just for shits and giggles start with cutting out all fast food (that we know for a fact is not good for us) and exercising 4-5 times a week regularly (that we know for a fact IS good for us) and see where that takes us? Can guarantee in the right DIRECTION!

See, an apple a day may have kept the doctor away 250 years ago when Benjamin Franklin included the phrase in his almanac. But if that apple comes loaded with obesity-promoting chemicals — nine of the ten most commonly used pesticides are obesogens, and apples are one of the most pesticide-laden foods out there — then Ben’s advice is way out of date.
REALLY??? So their saying apples are whats making AMERICA FAT? APPLES?!?! Why don't we test that out. Let give someone chicken and an apple 5 meals a day all the pesticides in the world and have them exercise, and see HOW FAT they get.

The obesogen effect is the reason why traditional diet advice — choose chicken over beef, eat more fish, load up on fruits and vegetables — may not work anymore. This is why we’re calling for a New American Diet.
There’s no reason why all of our favorite foods — from steak to burgers, from pasta to ice cream — can’t be part of a reasonable weight-loss program.
On what planet would processed, high fat, and sugary foods be considered THE BETTER AMERICAN DIET? So diabetes, heart disease, cholesterol... now that we're pesticide free, those all miraculously go away?


It does seem so simple to us, but to someone just trying to learn the basics STUPID SHIT like this can easily confuse the HELL OUT of them!! And for those who want to reach for a reason they're fat, other than because they eat bad and do not exercise they EAT this type of study up, because it allows them to place the blame on magical chemicals. Its ALL THEIR FAULT it has NOTHING to do with their daily lifestyle choices.

[data]

Obviously caloric intake and energy expenditure is the biggest factor. Fat people wouldn't be fat if they ate fewer calories in a day than they burned that day. The article also appears to be hyped probably for attention.

With that said, its likely that insulin resistance and fat storage has genetic roots so its possible a class of chemicals could activate receptors and express fat genes. "Endocrine disruptive chemicals", such as Bisphenol A, have shown to have reproductive side effects at very small concentrations. In a handful of experiments mice have problems with their reproductive systems and have been fatter than other mice not exposed to these chemicals. These chemicals are not a reason for obesity but perhaps contributing to the problem.

[doubleogordo]

the stupidest quote in the article is "Solving the Problem of Childhood Obesity Within a Generation." impossible.

[ArabMuscle]

reduce calories or increase cardio.

fucking unnecessary overanalyzing shit.

Quoted for the ultimate truth and "sane" reply to the above.
It seems people are coming up with excuses to blame their failed attempts to rid themselves of obesity.

[JohnBoy]

I liked the article. If any of this is spot on, it can help with your diet. Moderation is key and most of the things in the article can be added to the already fine tuned scale that is your diet, on or off season imo.

[lomox]

Its excuse laden. Thats what people like. Relieves them of the responsibility. Its not that its not true, its the way its presented. Processed convenience food is the true culprit of obesity. Its very difficult for the average american to resist and its too easy. If people actually had to cook they'd eat less, eat better and not as often. Sadly it affects kids the most. Hmmm should I make the kids some meat and veggies or nuke some pizza rolls with a side of Goldfish? Makes me sick! I get so mad when I see parents in the supermarket buying TV dinners made for kids! I get it if you dont care about your own health, but how can you treat your kids that way? Its beyond me and IMHO tantamount to child abuse.

[Jason Newman]

this is not geared toward us at the forum in thought i hope, its geared towards the fat asses of america that cant stick to a diet, whos to say they only need to lose those "last 10 lbs" those are goals not a definite number of what youll look best at why are people wasting their time fooling around guessing what weight they want to be at to look or feel good, society pushes "weight" on us, HOW IS IT THAT WE NEVER DISCUSS HEALTHY BODYFAT LEVELS

and Swede you are correct sir, if you cant beat those last lil bit of fat on you, drop your calories some more and increase your caloric expenditure!!! SIMPLE