Have you ever wondered why your family is bane with excess kilos when everyone in your friend’s family appears to be thin? Or maybe you’ve heard a colleague from work complaining that she is overweight in her genes – after all, her parents and grandparents suffered from it? Is there such a thing as obesity in DNA at all, or is it just an extremely popular myth? Read on to find out the answer to this question!
Obesity in genes?
As you probably know, information about who we are and what we look like is contained in genes, and the language of their writing is a strand of DNA. The answer to the question why your hair is brown and your eyes green give us not only complicated gene reading processes carried out in laboratories – we can also find them by looking at our relatives, i.e. parents, grandparents or siblings. Surely you have heard more than once that you have your nose from your mother, and you definitely inherited your eyes from your grandfather – the sum of our ancestors’ genes gives a unique result, which is our external appearance, as well as numerous features that are not visible at first glance, such as blood type.
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At this point, the question probably arises in your head – since body weight is one of the features of our appearance, and it often occurs in many people in one family, it is certainly written in our genes and determines how much we weigh. in adulthood, right? The answer, however, is not as simple as it might seem …
The problem of gene-encoded obesity is something scientists have been studying for many years, trying hard to find out whether DNA is to blame for its presence in the population. So far, they have managed to discover as many as a dozen candidates for the genetic “villain” – these are genes that determine, for example, how quickly we get hungry and how long after a meal we manage to maintain a feeling of satiety. Unfortunately, none of the genes discovered so far seems to be the definitive cause of the accumulation of adipose tissue.
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However, how some of them work seems to depend on … our diet! In practice, this means that if you have a version of the gene that predisposes you to overweight, but you eat healthy – you eat low-fat products, and additionally try to be physically active, you will be safe. As has been proven, diet and lifestyle play a much more important role in the accumulation of excess kilograms. Genetic factors are one of the less significant causes of overweight and obesity in the world.
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Why is overweight often “familial”?
Since genetic factors play such a minor role in how much we weigh, why is the problem of excess weight usually a family problem? The answer to this question is quite complex.
Firstly, the diet, including our culinary preferences or recipes for individual dishes, are usually passed down from generation to generation. This means that if in our home the pork chop was fried in lard, and it was coated in two layers of breadcrumbs, it is very likely that in adulthood we will also prepare it in this way. And thus we will contribute to the consumption of more calories by our loved ones. If, on the other hand, our parents told us to try as many vegetables and fruits as possible, this behavior is likely to become a habit. Moreover, it is very possible that we will pass it on to our own children as well!
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Certain medical conditions are another possible explanation for a familial occurrence of overweight and obesity. An example is Hashimoto’s disease, which attacks the thyroid gland and slows down our body’s metabolism. Certain genes are likely to affect the risk of developing it, so it may be higher in some families. If we add to it the lack of diagnosis, incorrect treatment and no changes in lifestyle, we have a ready recipe for accumulating excess kilos by more than one family member.
However, it is worth remembering that we are once again returning to the heart of the problem of excessive body weight – improper, maladjusted to the needs of our body diet. This means that even in the presence of a disease that increases the risk of being overweight, you are not helpless, and excess body weight is not a judgment made on you by your genes!
Another interesting example of linking obesity with genes and lifestyle is the so-called Barker hypothesis, proposed by the English scientist David Barker. He found that the children of women whose eating behavior during pregnancy were not fully correct are at a greater risk of overweight and excessive appetite. This means that if we do not provide our baby with adequate amounts of nutrients during pregnancy (or if we get too much of them!), His genes will be altered to over-consume food in adulthood.
Genes are not a sentence
As you can see, while genes have some influence in increasing the risk of overweight and obesity, a much more important cause of it is our own dietary and lifestyle choices. This is quite comforting information – it means that we are not doomed to fail in the pursuit of the dream body weight. Keep this in mind the next time you feel frustrated with excess pounds – it’s up to us the most. And with the help of a competent nutritionist, you can achieve your goals, no matter what genes nature has endowed you with!
Clinical dietitian. PhD student at the Warsaw University of Life Sciences.
My diet helped over 9 people achieve their dream figure. This year my pupils lost 610 kg. Find out more: https://centrumrespo.pl
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