Plastic might make you fat

Before skipping all the fat and fromage of your diet, consider a complete plastic ban! Ridiculous and far-fetched as it sounds, plastic apparently has a link with obesity.

I feel a bit like a plastic police, trying to find as much evidence as possible to proof the guilt of plastic. On a recent investigation on the internet I stumbled upon some rather surprising offenses by Bisphenol A. This material also known as BPA, is a synthetic chemical agent that is used in plastic food and beverage containers such as baby bottles.

The research reports include complex formulas and complicated information for a chemistry amateur as myself. But their conclusion is crystal clear: BPA makes you fat!

Let’s further investigate! First of all, what is BPA? You’ll mainly meet Mr. BPA accompanied by another mysterious member of the synthetic chemical club: phosgene. The chemical connection between Mr. BPA and Ms. Phosgene, gives birth to polycarbonate. And this is one of the most notorious names in the plastic family. Polycarbonatd is that hard, transparent plastic used to make unbreakable bottles for babies, table cutlery, microwave containers and many more things.

The problem is, Mr. BPA isn’t very loyal to Mrs. Phosgene. When it gets too hot under his feet, he takes of. Back to reality: warming up your meal, in one of those microwave containers, is that bad scenario what the research reports present. Traces of BPA will leak into your delicious diner.

Once in your body, Mr. BPA continues it’s bad behaviour. This is what happens according to Environmental Health Perspective: BPA disrupts pancreatic beta-cell function. These beta-cells basically manage the insulin in the body. But when Mr. BPA appears, it’s trouble. The beta-cells get off track, panic and produce too much insulin. In other words: Long term exposure to a low dose of BPA causes a rise of insulin production. And too much insulin is a risk factor for obesity.

Find out more details next week from my investigation on this subject. I’ll share with you some facts from the lab that proof the guilt of Mr. BPA. In case you decide on a diet this week: try to avoid products from plastic containers and microwave meals. And keep on enjoying nuts, yoghurt and other friendly fats instead 🙂