Even Fast Food Packaging Could Be Causing Weight Gain, According To Science

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As if all the salt, sugar, fat and calories in fast food weren’t offensive enough, we now have to worry about how the wrappers that hold it all together impact our health.

New research from the Harvard School of Public Health reveals that the perfluoroalkyl substances — the chemicals often used in fast food packaging that help it repel both water and oil — are a dieter’s nightmare due to how they difficult they can make maintaining recent weight loss. They are also linked to hormone disruption, immune dysfunction, high cholesterol and cancer. If you ask us, it sounds like coming into contact with the wrappers is even worse for us than the actual food in them.

In the recent study, more than 600 overweight and obese participants followed heart-healthy diets for two years. They, on average, lost 14 pounds within the first six months of the diet, and then they regained 6 pounds over the course of the remaining 18 months. The researchers analyzed the amount of PFAS in each participant’s blood and found that those who gained the most weight back also had the highest blood concentration of PFAS. The link was strongest in the female participants, and they even noticed lower resting metabolic rates among the high-PFAS participants.

A post shared by Sooyoung Yoon (@pine_soo) on Feb 14, 2018 at 7:04am PST

“We typically think about PFAS in terms of rare health problems like cancer, but it appears they are also playing a role in obesity, a major health problem facing millions around the globe,” study co-author Philippe Grandjean said in a statement. “The findings suggest that avoiding or reducing PFAS exposure may help people maintain a stable body weight after they successfully lose some weight, especially for women.”

Despite all of the research documenting the dangers of PFAS, they are still commonly used in food wrappers, paper and fabric coatings, and non-stick pots and pans. They also easily leach into our water sources here in the United States because of how they accumulate in our food chain. We’ve basically made it impossible to avoid contact with all PFAS, but that doesn’t mean you can’t significantly reduce your exposure by eating fresh, whole foods the majority of the time.

We occasionally crave a McDonald’s biggie fry as much as the next person, but this new info is definitely making us lose our appetites for that salty crunch with a side of gross chemicals.