The Obesogen Effect: Why We Eat Less and Exercise More but Still Struggle to Lose Weight

Description

What if everything you knew about the biology of body weight is wrong? According to compelling, leading-edge science, being overweight isn't just the result of too many cheeseburgers and not enough cardio. Another silent factor is contributing mightily to our obesity epidemic: "obesogens." These toxins--which are everywhere, from our food containers to furniture--sabotage our efforts to lose weight by disrupting our endocrine system, altering how we metabolize fat and permanently changing our fat cells, despite our efforts to count calories, exercise, and lose weight. Even scarier: lab tests have proven that these chemicals can irreversibly re-program the expression of our genes, which means that obesity can become an inherited trait. The chemicals we're exposed to will not just meaningfully affect our health, but our children's health, and future generations as well. Sound like science fiction? Dr. Blumberg was the first to coin the term "obesogens" in 2006 when the irrefutable data was staring him in the face. His research spawned a whole new area of study that has triggered a fascination among top scientists worldwide to understand obesogens-how they work, where they are hidden, and what it means for our health and that of future generations. In THE OBESOGEN EFFECT, Dr. Blumberg is ready to reveal his landmark research to show how hidden chemicals might be the root cause of our 21st century obesity epidemic. With a rich blend of storytelling, anecdotes, a synthesis of his research, and a three-step action plan to prevent and minimize the effects of obesogens, THE OBESOGEN EFFECT will transform your life and the lives of future generations.

Bruce Blumberg, PhD (Author) Dr. Bruce Blumberg has been conducting pioneering research in the field of human biology for more than thirty years. In 2012, the was elected as a fellow of the prestigious American Association for the Advancement of Science. Today he is Professor in the Departments of Developmental and Cell Biology, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Biomedical Engineering at the University of California, Irvine (UCI). At UCI, his laboratory studies the biology of nuclear hormone receptors in development, physiology, and disease with a particular emphasis on how these are affected by hormonally active compounds in the diet and environment.

Every wonder why it is so easy to gain weight and hard to lose it? This simple to read, scientifically factual book can change your life-it is a must read.--Jerry Heindel, Commonweal If you think obesity is about couch potatoes and gluttony, or calories in vs. calories out, you must think again. Or better yet, read this book. It tells a complex scientific story with vivid, accessible clarity about the role that obesogens-chemical contaminants that can alter our metabolism, appetite and more-play into making us fat. The bad news is that obesogens are all too common and hard to avoid if you aren't paying attention. The book's good news is that there are many simple, practical steps you can take that will protect you and your family. --John Peterson Myers, PhD, Chief Scientist, Carnegie Mellon University Why do we get hungry, feel tired, and gain weight? A likely culprit is our fat cells. THE OBESOGEN EFFECT, written by the researcher who literally defined this new field, explains how our diet and other exposures can program the body for weight gain-beyond calories in, calories out-and what you can do about it!--David Ludwig, MD, PhD, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Always Hungry? You probably agree that cigarettes cause cancer, even knowing that not everyone who gets cancer smokes cigarettes and not everyone who smokes cigarettes gets cancer. Bruce Blumberg makes the case clearly that industrial chemicals cause obesity in a similar way. Bruce is an eminent researcher who, through his discoveries, has changed the way we think about body weight regulation-both in a fundamental way, as well as by providing insight into the role of industrial chemicals. This readable book, with its solid scientific base, will change the way you think about the obesity epidemic-and what we can do about it.--R. Thomas Zoeller, PhD, Professor of Biology