BREAKING! Canadian Study Alarmingly Finds That Commonly Used Farm Pesticide Chlorpyrifos Is Linked To Obesity Crisis In Most Countries!
Source: Environmental Toxins-Chlorpyrifos Aug 31, 2021 3 years, 2 months, 3 weeks, 2 hours, 37 minutes ago
Researchers from McMaster University-Canada have in a new study alarmingly found that a commonly-used pesticide-chlorpyrifos could be partially responsible for the global obesity epidemic.
The study team from the University’s Centre for Metabolism,
Obesity and Diabetes Research and also Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism-Department of Medicine, discovered that chlorpyrifos, which is banned for use on foods in Canada but widely sprayed on fruits and vegetables in many other parts of the world, slows down the burning of calories in the brown adipose tissue of mice. Reducing this burning of calories, a process known as diet-induced thermogenesis, causes the body to store these extra calories, promoting obesity.
The study also found that chlorpyrifos also leads to the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and insulin resistance.
Typically bbesity results from a caloric imbalance between energy intake, absorption and expenditure. In both rodents and humans, diet-induced thermogenesis contributes to energy expenditure and involves the activation of brown adipose tissue (BAT).
The study team hypothesized that environmental toxicants commonly used as food additives or pesticides might reduce BAT thermogenesis through suppression of uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) and this may contribute to the development of obesity.
Utilizing a step-wise screening approach, the team discovered that the organophosphate insecticide chlorpyrifos suppresses UCP1 and mitochondrial respiration in BAT at concentrations as low as 1 pM. In mice housed at thermoneutrality and fed a high-fat diet, chlorpyrifos impairs BAT mitochondrial function and diet-induced thermogenesis, promoting greater obesity, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and insulin resistance. This is associated with reductions in cAMP; activation of p38MAPK and AMPK; protein kinases critical for maintaining UCP1 and mitophagy, respectively in BAT.
The study findings indicate that the commonly used pesticide chlorpyrifos, suppresses diet-induced thermogenesis and the activation of BAT, suggesting its use may contribute to the obesity epidemic.
The study findings were published in the peer reviewed journal: Nature Communications.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-25384-y
The study findings could have important implications for public health.
The study team made the discovery after studying 34 commonly used pesticides and herbicides in brown fat cells and testing the effects of chlorpyrifos in mice fed high calorie diets.
Senior author Dr Gregory Steinberg, professor of medicine and co-director of the Centre for Metabolism, Obesity, and Diabetes Research, McMaster University told Thailand Medical News, “Brown fat is the metabolic furnace in our body, burning calories, unlike normal fat that is used to store them. This generates heat and prevents calories from being deposited on our bodies as normal white fat. We know brown fat is activated during cold and when we eat. Lifestyle changes around diet and exercise rarely lead to sustained weight loss. We think part of the problem m
ay be this intrinsic dialing back of the metabolic furnace by chlorpyrifos."
Dr Steinberg said chlorpyrifos would only need to inhibit energy use in brown fat by 40 calories every day to trigger obesity in adults, which would translate to an extra five lbs of weight gain per year.
Dr Steinberg warned that while several environmental toxins including chlorpyrifos have been linked to rising obesity rates in both humans and animals, most of these studies have attributed weight gain to increases in food intake and not the burning of calories.
Although the use of chlorpyrifos on foods is banned in Canada, imported produce may still be treated with it.
China, India, most South-east Asian countries and even certain states in America are still using chlorpyrifos on the farms and also in the storage of various foodstuffs despite the fact that most European countries have also banned its use due to a variety of associated health reasons.
Dr Steinberg added, "Although the findings have yet to be confirmed in humans, an important consideration, is that whenever possible consume fruits and vegetables from local Canadian sources and if consuming imported produce, make sure it is thoroughly washed."
Thailand Medical News strongly recommends readers checking all sources of vegetables, fruits and even dried grocery items like lentils, dried beans, various flours etc as even though it some cases items might be labeled as organic and pesticide free in China, India and most South-east Asian countries, often it is not the case!
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