The hidden causes of obesity are a class of flavor-enhancers known as excitotoxins, the fluoride in our drinking water, and the near-ubiquitous high fructose corn syrup. These are the big ones that are hardest to avoid — and least well-known!
There are some other suspected factors, such as PET and other chemicals used in plastic packaging of food and beverages, plus the effects of stress on weight gain. I don’t have space here to consider these, which are already fairly well publicized elsewhere.
Most of the public is aware of MSG, but less familiar with its many pseudonyms and analogs. This is one reason excitotoxins like MSG are hard to avoid in our food and drink. The names of these ingredients are changed repeatedly, so it is hard for the public to know what they need to be avoiding.
What is more important is that few are aware that excitotoxins such as MSG and Aspartame also have been shown to cause obesity in many varieties of laboratory animals — even without increasing the calories being consumed!
This excitotoxin-caused obesity is not a rare occurrence, but rather a defining characteristic effect, noticed early in testing the additives for safety on animal subjects. They all got obese.
The Food Industry Has Been Very Effective in Silencing the Whistle-Blowers
This is what I mean by saying these major factors in the obesity epidemic are hidden in plain sight. We are vaguely aware of MSG, Aspartame, and other food additives having some negative effects, but causing obesity by themselves is not one the public is aware of.
So it naturally follows that what we aren’t aware of can hurt us, especially if we have no idea of how serious the threat is! More to the point is the fact that, if you don’t know what is actually causing the obesity, your efforts at correcting it will not succeed. And that is what we are seeing.
I am very sensitive to the effects of excitotoxins and high fructose corn syrup, in particular, so I have been avoiding them for years. I had no idea about the dangers of fluoride until I heard a lecture by Dr. Myron Wentz in the year 2000. Fortunately, I live in a state where fluoride is not widely added to our drinking water supplies, but avoiding it in toothpaste is still a challenge.
Most restaurant foods are now prepared and shipped frozen with a myriad of flavor-enhancing chemicals already in place, so it is very difficult to avoid these excitotoxins when eating out. About the only sure defense is to cook at home from basic ingredients.
Fluoride is a very interesting story among the hidden causes of obesity. Did you know that most of the fluoride used in the U.S. water supply comes from China, where it is an industrial waste product?
Yes, you read that right: We pay China to ship us their industrial toxic waste, which our “public health authorities” place in our water!
Even more amazing is the fact that this industrial waste is not pharmaceutical grade and is not even particularly effective in preventing cavities.
The real capper on the story of fluoride in our water is that fluoride was used for years in Europe as a prescription drug for effectively reducing thyroid function. According the Fluoride Alert Web site, and other sources deemed trustworthy, Fluoride — by reducing the thyroid gland’s regulation of our metabolism — may be a key factor among the hidden causes of obesity.
