According to new research presented at the European Society of Endocrinology in Barcelona, removing our shoes when we enter the house (and swapping out the carpet for wooden floors) could help us stay trim.
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Most families use cleaning products laden with chemicals that interfere with hormones and promote the buildup of fat in the body. When we wear shoes in the house those “obesogens” stay stuck in the carpet. And that’s what researchers found; diet, house dust, and everyday products such as cleaning chemicals, kitchenware or cosmetics are the biggest sources of contaminants.1
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Based on those findings, the researchers made several recommendations to minimise the build of obesogens in the home:2
- choose fresh, organic and pesticide free food over processed products, particularly those containing a long list of ingredients on the back
- remove shoes when entering the house to avoid bringing contaminants indoors
- vacuum often to stop chemicals building up in house dust
- remove carpets at work and home and replace them with wooden floors.
- switch from plastic containers to glass or aluminum and avoid synthetic cleaning products.
Lead author Dr. Ana Catarina Sousa said:
“These are baby steps to achieve an obesogen-free lifestyle but a really good start. Essentially, watch your diet and get rid of the dust at home. Adults ingest about 50mg of dust every day, and children twice as much, so keeping the house clean is a very effective measure. And use a humid cloth to dust your furniture, rather than a cleaning product that may contain more of these chemicals.” 3
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Previous studies have shown that hormone-disrupting chemicals are found in pesticides, plastics, flame retardants, repellent coatings on kitchen utensils and clothes, and artificial sweeteners…and some of those things can end up on the bottoms of our shoes allowing us to bring them into our homes.
For their part, British experts believe more study is needed before lifestyle changes could be recommended. And that’s their prerogative. However, as for me and my home, we will be taking our shoes off.
