Nov 19 - Is Plastic Packaging Making Us Fat?

According to a local CBS station, a Sacramento women is claiming to have gone from a size 20 to a size 4 after combining diet and exercise with a personal ban on plastic food and beverage packaging.

Last year, Laura Newman reportedly joined a weight loss program and began walking, and then running, regularly. She lost 80 pounds before she plateaued and stopped seeing results.

Newman, who had been tracking her dietary habits under the weight loss program, noticed that many items in her diet were packaged in plastic. She told CBS that she lost another 40 pounds after cutting out that plastic component.

Scientists are currently investigating into whether or not plastics are linked to obesity rates.

Studies have shown that pregnant mice exposed to plastics containing the chemical BPA, or Bisphenol A, have offspring that are susceptible to obesity. BPA is found in plastic food containers, inside the lining of canned goods, and even on store receipts.

BPA is an obesogen, falling into a class of industrial chemicals and pollutants already being studied that may leech into food and slow metabolism rates. Experts say that BPA has been shown to leech out of water bottles even when holding cold liquids.

There are additional concerns about BPA as a synthetic estrogen. In California, Assembly Bill 1319 was passed during the last legislative session, banning BPA from all food and beverage containers for children under the age of three, including infant formula cans, baby food jars, sippy cups, and baby bottles.