tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6685528445185226708.post6839792023324080440..comments2023-08-06T04:39:26.904-05:00Comments on Sharing Air: A Gut Feeling about PollutionMartha McLaughlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06436156507579131043noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6685528445185226708.post-23385191254733493502013-10-06T04:05:00.776-05:002013-10-06T04:05:00.776-05:00Interesting article! Made me think, "oh duh ...Interesting article! Made me think, "oh duh me! Why didn't that dawn on me before?" Thanks for bringing this to our attention.Zonanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6685528445185226708.post-80497279896076391382013-10-03T09:35:12.967-05:002013-10-03T09:35:12.967-05:00I completely agree that people are more likely to ...I completely agree that people are more likely to start paying attention to the chemical toxicity issue when they start associating it with problems they personally struggle with, including weight. I hope to write a post on the weight/chemical issue one of these days. There's certainly plenty of information out there to use. Chemicals that affect weight even have their own name: "obesogens." I've read more about weight and hormone disrupting chemicals than about those that affect intestinal bacterial balance, but I'm sure the info is out there, and it doesn't take much to connect the dots anyway, given what we already know. As I mentioned in the post, I think one of the biggest obstacles we who care about the toxicity issue need to overcome is that people tend to associate toxins with a very limited range of possible effects. We'll start making real progress when people start understanding that anything foreign that enters our body has the possibility to affect our physical and emotional health (which can also affect our spiritual health) in a huge number of ways.<br />Martha McLaughlinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06436156507579131043noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6685528445185226708.post-28225079298293986142013-10-02T09:39:50.058-05:002013-10-02T09:39:50.058-05:00I've said it before, the MCS community will be...I've said it before, the MCS community will be taken more seriously when it connects the dots from environmental toxins to obesity. Everyone fears that bugbear (the social stigma is horrible) and as the percentage of obese people rises, more are realizing it's not as simple as fat people being lazy gluttons. Moreover, no safe drugs are available to manage obesity as they are for asthma, etc. <br /><br />The chemically induced alterations in gut flora you speak of above may be contributing to obesity in some people. Moreover chemical exposure is likely triggering the epigenetic expression of obesity in other people.<br /><br />Instead of seeing obesity as the cause of problems, we need to recognize that it is a symptom (as is MCS) of a sick, sick environment on many levels. Since 1960 we have seen a dramatic change in the prevalence and severity of obesity (as well as MCS). At the same time we have seen an outbreak of pesticides, food additives, livestock hormones, BPA, triclosan (which you have written on before), MSG, transfats, drug effluent entering our drinking water (especially birth control) and on and on. <br /><br />But it is somehow more comforting to think we are not experiencing consequences from these changes (which temporarily make our lives easier or more fulfilling) and to hold earnest, hapless people responsible for their own suffering. Woof.<br /><br />The one and only great thing about obesity is that it's visible. People with MCS are not, sadly. Another thing people with MCS and obesity share in common (in addition to living in the modern chemically-saturated world): ignorant people (translation: most people) think that both issues can be controlled effectively and permanently by the sufferer if we want it badly enough, pray hard enough, behave rightly. Would that it were so simple.DebraSYhttp://www.justmaintaining.comnoreply@blogger.com