drtbear1967
Musclechemistry Board Certified Member
Here’s why you have no right to talk down to people just because they are overweight. Like it or not, there are two things that control everything that you have become: your genes and their interaction with your environment. Scientists can analyze the DNA of obese vs non-obese people to see what types of genes pop up WITHOUT BIAS.
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Turns out that the genes that matter most for total body fatness control our BRAIN (1, 2). These genes may make us all experience the urge for various foods differently, and we also experience the pleasurable taste of various foods differently. Genes also influence 40% of our personality (3), including motivation, discipline and tendency to seek out food.
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Furthermore, one can look at how often people with similar genes both share body weight (called “concordance”) (4):
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- Siblings share 50% of their DNA and weight the same 25% of the time (age adjusted)
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- Non-identical twins show 32% concordance
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- Identical twins show 70% concordance
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See a pattern? The more similar the genes, the more likely that the individuals weigh the same. It is estimated that 40-70% of all obesity today is linked to genetics. A few years ago we had identified 3% of these genes. Today we have identified 10%!
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These genes were able to keep us in shape a few hundred years ago but aren't able to confront modern day environmental exposure to junk food. You should therefore be humble when assuming that someone else can do what you have done; you do not have the same prerequisites!
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While there undoubtedly are people who haven’t taken all the steps they can take to get into shape, the above should make you more humble. If you see someone boast that all overweight people simply “don’t want it bad enough” or that “if they can do it so can you”, send them here.
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THE EVIDENCE
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1. Yeo. Nat Neurosci 2012
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2. Yengo. Hum Mol Genet 2018
.
3. Vukasović. Psychol Bull 2015
.
4. Maes. Behav Genet 1997
.
Turns out that the genes that matter most for total body fatness control our BRAIN (1, 2). These genes may make us all experience the urge for various foods differently, and we also experience the pleasurable taste of various foods differently. Genes also influence 40% of our personality (3), including motivation, discipline and tendency to seek out food.
.
Furthermore, one can look at how often people with similar genes both share body weight (called “concordance”) (4):
.
- Siblings share 50% of their DNA and weight the same 25% of the time (age adjusted)
.
- Non-identical twins show 32% concordance
.
- Identical twins show 70% concordance
.
See a pattern? The more similar the genes, the more likely that the individuals weigh the same. It is estimated that 40-70% of all obesity today is linked to genetics. A few years ago we had identified 3% of these genes. Today we have identified 10%!
.
These genes were able to keep us in shape a few hundred years ago but aren't able to confront modern day environmental exposure to junk food. You should therefore be humble when assuming that someone else can do what you have done; you do not have the same prerequisites!
.
While there undoubtedly are people who haven’t taken all the steps they can take to get into shape, the above should make you more humble. If you see someone boast that all overweight people simply “don’t want it bad enough” or that “if they can do it so can you”, send them here.
.
.
THE EVIDENCE
.
1. Yeo. Nat Neurosci 2012
.
2. Yengo. Hum Mol Genet 2018
.
3. Vukasović. Psychol Bull 2015
.
4. Maes. Behav Genet 1997
