Already have an account?
Get back to the
Health

The Dust in Your Home Could Be Causing You to Gain Weight

Yes, you read that right. If you’re bummed about your unexpected weight gain, don’t be! According to a new study, dust could be the real culprit — not you.

Duke University conducted a study and learned that dust creates a chemical that alters your hormones and tells your body to start building-up fat. Their researchers found that even the tiniest amounts of dust can trigger your weight gain. So though you might dust your home religiously, tiny unseen particles can still be ingested, inhaled, and absorbed through the skin, meaning there are plenty of opportunities for dust to enter the body.

MUST-SEE: A Diet Pill for Menopausal Women Is on the Way, Scientists Say

Considering the study detected this change in weight even though they used much smaller amounts of dust than would be found normally, we can only imagine how much havoc the dust in our homes has wreaked on our bodies.

Per Dr. Heather Stapleton, the average amount of dust a child is exposed to is 50 milligrams. The study tested exposure to children at six percent of that average amount, so it’s crazy to see the changes that such a small amount of dust created in the patients’ metabolic rates.

According to the study, which was published in Environmental Science and Technology, endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), which can be natural or synthetic, mess with the body’s ability to copy and create hormones.

In the past, EDCs have caused concern among parents and the scientific community for potentially causing learning disabilities and cognitive problems. Research also indicated that exposure to EDCs at a young age increases the likelihood of weight gain later in life.

“We were most surprised by how low the concentrations were that we saw having an effect,” Dr. Christopher Kassotis, the lead researcher, said.

“Amounts of dust as low as 3 micrograms – well below the mass of dust that children are exposed to daily – caused measurable effects,” Stapleton said.

Yikes! Please excuse us while we furiously dust our entire house.

h/t Marie Claire UK

Watch Roseanne Barr’s waistline shrink!

More from Woman’s World

How to Lose Belly Fat With 7 Easy Tricks

Unexpected News About Being Overweight Has Everyone Cheering

If You See This Common Word on Food Packaging, Do NOT Buy It If You Want to Lose Weight

Use left and right arrow keys to navigate between menu items. Use right arrow key to move into submenus. Use escape to exit the menu. Use up and down arrow keys to explore. Use left arrow key to move back to the parent list.