This personal hygiene habit could make you gain weight

Norwegian researchers from the University of Science and Technology claim that too much hygiene could contribute to weight gain. However this has more to do with the use of plastic than it does with anything else…

Does plastic contribute to weight gain?

According to a study published on 26 January in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, a number of chemical substances are present in the plastic products in our showers and particularly in shampoo bottles. The New York Post reports that 11 of these substances could play an integral role in weight gain by altering the metabolic process. Martin Wagner, associate professor and one of the authors of the study said:

Our experiments show that ordinary plastic products contain a mixture of substances that may be a relevant and underestimated factor in overweight and obesity.

The researchers examined 34 common products and found over 50,000 different chemical components in them. They were only able to identify 629 of which 11 were ‘metabolism-disrupting’ chemicals.

Read more:

⋙ Plastic causes high blood pressure in pregnant women, new research shows

⋙ Stool of baby has 10 times more micro-plastics than an adult, shocking study finds

⋙ How to make your period plastic-free

Endocrine disruptors

This is not the only study that pinpointed the harmful side effects of everyday packaging. Some tests have shown that these substances, which are also known as endocrine disruptors, interfere with hormones in they body and this can in some cases case miscarriages, illness, and cancer. The same is now being linked to fat cell storage. The authors of the study reiterated that:

Our study shows that everyday plastics contain potent mixtures of CBDs and may, therefore, be a relevant but underestimated environmental factor contributing to obesity.

In addition, the study showed that there could be many other unidentified chemicals in bathroom products that could also have an impact on metabolism.