If you think that dieting can help you stay fit, think again, for a new study says that it may raise your risk of developing cancer, diabetes and other fatal diseases by releasing toxins into the body.
An international team, led by researchers from the US, Norway and South Korea, has found that weight loss allows harmful pollutants, normally stored in body fat, to circulate in the bloodstream.
“Weight loss could be harmful if it leads to the release of toxins from fat tissue and increases the concentration of persistent organic pollutants. It means they can reach critical organs through the circulation,” Dr Duk-Hee Lee of Kyungpook National University in South Korea, who led the team, was quoted by the Sunday Express as saying.
For the study, the researchers analysed 1,099 people over 40, tracking their weight for 10 years, with frequent blood tests for seven of the most dangerous pollutants.
These included DDE, a pesticide linked with breast cancer, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, and PCB169, a toxin linked with damage to the brain and nervous system. They found higher blood levels of these chemicals in people who had lost weight. The study, published in the International Journal of Obesity calls for urgent further research into POPs, man-made chemicals that can be absorbed into the body over many years.