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22nd December 2007
Weight Loss Problems:
Genetics or Lifestyle
By Philip Edwards
When most things in life don’t work out the way we want, a scapegoat is first thing we look for. Something to blame for our mostly self-generated problems.
The theory goes like this: you are obese because your body has this gene that makes you that way and there is little you can do about it. Solace to millions, but pure unadulterated hogwash used mostly to sell copy.
There is absolutely no proof of this. Even somebody without a degree in advanced molecular biology specializing in genetics could tell you why. It’s simply impossible.
50 years ago, obesity rates were negligible. Today, more than 60% of the US population is overweight or obese. Obesity rates have jumped 70% since 1991 – no way could this happen if genetics were the problem.
Genetics is about evolution and evolution works on a much longer timeline than fifty or even hundred years – try thousands of years. There has been no Darwinian force to make us fatter.
There is no genetic benefit to being overweight – in fact, it’s just the opposite. If overweight trends continue,
obese people will eventually die out since they make less money, have fewer children, have more health problems and die sooner.
But don’t hold your breath. It won’t happen any time soon and it won’t help the overweight of today. And neither will telling them, “It’s all your genes fault.”
Are some people more predisposed to being overweight? Yes – and you know who you are. But this only means that it’s easier to
put weight on, not manifest destiny.
Experts think about 25% of the all the factors that cause obesity are linked to
genetics. So that means if you are carrying 20lbs of fat, 5lbs comes from
genetics – in the worst case – and the rest is due to lifestyle factors.
In reality, all excess weight comes from lifestyle factors – namely not exercising and eating too many calories. Doesn’t matter what kind of genes you have. That some people get fat faster than others is no excuse for being overweight.
So why would people – even respectable people – be saying such things? That’s pretty easy: Which book do you thinks sells better: “You’re Fat and It’s not Your Fault” or “How to Burn Off that Fat with Hard Work at the Gym and a Strict Diet?”
There’s also a huge supplement industry that lives off fat people. The fitness industry is no different, really, we just tell it like it is – unfortunately, people are tired of hearing that same old tune.
The pharmaceutical industry also loves obese people – they can sell billions of dollars of costly medications for “weight control” and they just swoon at all the nasty health conditions
obese people are more prone too.
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