Abstract

Obesity and metabolic disease cannot be explained completely by energy intake and physical inactivity. Experimental and epidemiological research increasingly implicates endocrine-disrupting chemicals that alter adipocyte development, appetite regulation, insulin signalling, mitochondrial function, inflammation, and epigenetic programming. These compounds, often described as environmental obesogens or metabolismdisrupting chemicals, are encountered through food packaging, plastics, pesticides, industrial products, household dust, water, and occupational settings. Ayurveda interprets progressive metabolic impairment through disturbances of Agni, the formation of Ama, abnormal Meda, and Medovaha Srotodushti. This review examines the two knowledge systems without treating their terms as biological equivalents. The comparison is most useful as a clinical and preventive framework: exposure may add to metabolic vulnerability, while impaired digestion, tissue transformation, and channel function describe a broader pattern of declining metabolic resilience. Current evidence supports exposure reduction, healthy food, physical activity, sleep, and conventional risk management. Ayurvedic measures such as Deepana, Pachana, Langhana, Shodhana, and Rasayana remain promising areas for investigation, but specific protection against obesogens has not been established clinically. Future studies should combine validated exposure assessment, metabolic phenotyping, reproducible Ayurvedic evaluation, authenticated interventions, pharmacovigilance, and long-term outcomes.