Pesticides in vegetables and fruit can make you obese and undernourished, study finds

Are pesticides in vegetables harmful? What are the side effects of pesticides on health? We all know how the use of pesticides in the common vegetables and fruits we eat wreaks havoc on our overall health. From diarrhea to digestive complications, eating fruits and vegetables that contain pesticides can affect you in a number of ways. In a recent study, it was proven that a commonly used pesticide could be partly responsible for the global obesity epidemic. Chlorpyrifos – widely sprayed on fruits and vegetables in many parts of the world – slows the burning of calories in the brown fatty tissue of mice.

Are you wondering how this is going? According to experts, this pesticide can reduce the body’s calorie burning process, a process known as diet-induced thermogenesis, which forces the body to store these extra calories and promotes obesity. According to the study results, the researchers made the discovery after studying 34 pesticides and herbicides commonly used in brown fat cells and testing the effects of chlorpyrifos in mice fed high-calorie diets.

Brown Fats – Here’s What You Need To Know

Speaking to the media about the study and the results, Gregory Steinberg, professor of medicine at McMaster, said: “Brown fat is our body’s metabolic oven, burning calories, unlike normal fat which is used to store them. This generates heat and prevents calories from being deposited on our body in the form of normal white fat. We know that brown fat is activated during the cold and when we eat. He added: “Lifestyle changes related to diet and exercise rarely result in lasting weight loss. We believe part of the problem may be this intrinsic boost to the metabolic furnace by chlorpyrifos.”

The study authors also said that although several environmental toxins, including chlorpyrifos, have been linked to increased obesity rates in humans and animals, most of these studies attributed weight gain to increased food intake and not to calorie burning. According to data, obesity is responsible for 4.7 million premature deaths each year. The disease is also known to be a risk factor for several of the leading causes of death around the world, including heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and various types of cancer.

(With contributions from the Agencies)