OBESOGEN – yes, it’s a REAL word.

An obesogen is any chemical that inappropriately alters lipid balance and fat storage. They change metabolic set points, disrupt energy balance or modify the regulation of appetite, which can promote fat accumulation and obesity or, at the very least, weight gain.

With America’s propensity toward obesity (over 35% of us) you’d think we would be doing everything we could to avoid consuming obesogens. Wrong.

Many seemingly healthy fresh foods can deliver whopping doses of obesogens because they begin their journey to our body as pesticides and other chemical pollutants.

Pesticides are popular in the farming and food production world. They are sprayed on crops by the ton and they are difficult to avoid. In their basic form they are oily and difficult to wash off produce. They can also be absorbed into fruits and vegetables. Once inside a piece of fruit the obesogens cannot be removed.

Here is a partial listing of products that can deliver obesogens to your body;

• Fruits; pears, apples, peaches and nectarines, grapes, strawberries, blueberries
• Vegetables; potatoes, lettuce, tomatoes, celery, cucumbers, hot peppers, bell peppers, spinach, kale, collard greens, zucchini
• Animal foods can deliver obesogens because whatever they’re fed ends up passing to us. This applies to most commercial beef, chicken, and even farm-raised fish

How can we avoid obesogens? The best we can do is limit the amount we consume by eating organic and knowing where our meat/chicken/fish come from. That means eating organic whenever possible. Meat should come from farms that guarantee they grass feed the herds and fish from fresh sources. Farm raised fish is common and toxic. In fact, farm raised salmon start off grey in color and is dyed pink for our visual pleasure.

We live in a toxic world and it is our job to make sure we consume the best food we can. You may have heard that “you either pay the farmer today or the doctor tomorrow”. Even if a benevolent government pays my medical bills, I’d prefer to remain healthy instead of being treated for a disease I didn’t have to get. In addition to eating organic, remove all grains, all sugars, all artificial sweeteners, all dairy, all packaged juices, and processed foods. Use water filtered by reverse osmosis, daily sinus rinse, and daily use of probiotics.