The “fat gene” accounts for less than 1 percent of the size differences between people.
To date, around one hundred genetic markers have been identified. bound to obesity, but when added together, they generally account for less than 3 percent of the difference in body mass index (BMI) between people. You may have heard of the “fat gene,” called FTO, abbreviation for fat mass and associated with obesity). It is the gene most strongly linked to obesity, but it explains less than 1 percent of the difference in BMI between people, just 0.34 percent.
As I analyze it in my video. The role of genes in the obesity epidemicfree trade codes for a brain protein that appears to affect our appetite. Are you one of the billion people who carry FTO susceptibility genes? It doesn’t matter because it just seems result in a difference in the intake of a few hundred extra calories a year. The energy imbalance that led to the obesity epidemic is on the order of hundreds of calories a day, and that’s the gene acquaintance so far to have the greatest effect. The chances of accurately predicting obesity risk based on FTO status are “only slightly better than flipping a coin.” In other words, no, those genes don’t make you look fat.
When it comes to obesity, the power of our genes is nothing compared to the power of our fork. Even the small influence that the FTO gene has appears be weaker among those who are physically active and can be abolished entirely in those who follow healthier diets. FTO only appears to affect those who eat diets high in saturated fats, which are predominantly found in meat, dairy, and junk food. Those who eat healthier do not appear to be at greater risk of gaining weight, even if they inherited the “fat gene” from both parents.
Physiologically, the FTO gene status does not appear affect our ability to lose weight. Psychologically, knowledge We have a higher genetic risk of obesity can motivate some people to eat and live healthier, but it can also cause Others fatalistically throw their hands up in the air and resign themselves to thinking that this runs in their family, as can be seen in the graph below and at minute 2:11 of my blog. video. Obesity tends to be hereditary, but so are bad diets.
Comparing the weight of biological children with that of adopted children can help annoy the contributions of lifestyles versus genetics. Children growing Adopted children with two overweight biological parents were 27 percent more likely to be overweight, while adopted children placed in a home with two overweight parents were 21 percent more likely to be overweight. So genetics do play a role, but this suggests it’s more the children’s environment than their DNA.
One of the most dramatic examples of the power of diet over DNA arrives of the Pima Indians of Arizona. As you can see in the graphic below and at minute 3:05 of my video, not only have among the highest rates of obesity, but also have the highest diabetes rates in the world. This has been attributed to its relatively fuel-efficient genetic makeup. Their propensity to store calories may have served them well in times of scarcity, when they lived on corn, beans, and squash, but as the area became “settled,” their water source, the Gila River, was diverted upstream. Those who survived the famine that followed had to abandon their traditional diet to live government food programs and chronic disease rates skyrocketed. Same genes, different diet, different outcome.
In fact, a natural experiment was carried out. place The Pima living across the border in Mexico come from the same genetic pool, but were able to maintain more of their traditional lifestyle, sticking to their staple foods: beans, wheat flour tortillas, and potatoes. They have the same genes, but seven times less obesity and about four times less diabetes. You can see those graphs below and at 3:58 and 4:02 in my videoGenes may load the gun, but diet pulls the trigger.
Of course, it’s not our genes! Our genes didn’t suddenly change 40 years ago. At the same time, however, in a sense, you could think that it’s all in our genes. That’s the topic of my next video. The thrifty gene theory: survival of the fattest.
This is the second in a series of 11 videos about the obesity epidemic. If you missed the first one, check it out The role of diet versus exercise in the obesity epidemic.
