All of us know at least one of these evil people who can chow down on pizza and beer (or whatever else they want) and still fit into their skinny jeans, all without so much as taking a walk. It doesn’t seem as if it should be possible, and it sure isn’t fair, and, so how is it even possible?
“It’s easy to rush to judgement and criticize people for their weight, but the science shows that things are far more complex. We have far less control over our weight than we might wish to think.”, Professor Sadaf Farooqi said.
Well, you’ll be interested in this new study’s results, which claims to have the answers…though they’re probably not going to make you feel any better.
Your body type basically depends on the genes you were born with more than on any diet or exercise routine you employ as an adult.
The aim of the new research was to pinpoint the genetic architecture of skinniness and severe obesity, and their findings. The research published in PLOS Genetics, could help explain why some people find staying thin easy while others have the opposite experience.
That is not to say that environmental factors like sedentary lifestyles or high-calorie diets don’t play any role, but as many people have realized, obesity is more complex than eating too much fast food.
Professor Sadaf Farooqi, the study leader, issued this statement:
“This research shows for the first time that healthy thin people are generally thin because they have a lower burden of genes that increase a person’s chances of being overweight and not because they are morally superior, as some people like to suggest. It’s easy to rush to judgement and criticize people for their weight, but the science shows that things are far more complex. We have far less control over our weight than we might wish to think.”
No one tell the billion-dollar diet industry that they’re bunk.
Or wait. Maybe we should.
The new study also included the DNA of around 14,000 people – 1622 thin people, 1985 obese people, and 10433 people with average body mass, and identified the genes linked to slimmer people. Adds researcher Dr. Ines Barroso,
“As anticipated, we found that obese people had a higher genetic risk score than normal weight people, which contributes to their risk of being overweight. The genetic dice are loaded against them.”
The research also supports previous studies, which have suggested that though a number of variables dictate weight gain (or loss), your natural metabolism has a lot to do with how you look.
These researchers realized obesity posing a huge health risk, particularly in Western countries like the US and the UK, and they hope their findings will help doctors and laypeople alike gain a more attenuated understanding of what causes it – and how we can adjust our weight-loss strategies accordingly.
The study might also lead to different approaches in the future, as our science continues to advance.
“If we can find the genes that prevent them from putting on weight, we may be able to target those genes to find new weight loss strategies and help people who do not have this advantage.”, Professor Farooqi suggests.
Which is to say, you might be able to find a diet and exercise routine that compliment your genetic makeup, therefore not applying unrealistic standards and goals in each specific case.
We can dream, anyway.
Source: IFLS, Didyouknowfacts
