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Fat? Maybe you can’t blame your genes after all
Canada Free Press ^ | 05/02/16 | Patrick Hahn

Posted on 05/02/2016 9:14:49 AM PDT by Sean_Anthony

An impressive array of brainpower

—“Fat? Blame your genes, say doctors” —“Overweight? Maybe you really can blame your genes” —“Blame your genes for obesity”

Headlines such as these have become a staple of science and health journalism. Are they right? Are obese people really helpless victims of their genes?

Let us begin by distinguishing between “monogenic” obesity and what scientists call “common” obesity. Monogenic obesity, as the name implies, is caused by a mutation in a single gene, which is inherited in a Mendelian fashion, just as conditions such as sickle-cell anemia and cystic fibrosis are. In the case of monogenic obesity, the mutation derails the body’s ability to turn off hunger signals after an individual has eaten. This type of obesity usually is characterized by insatiable hunger and severe, early-childhood-onset obesity. Monogenic obesity in turn is divided into two subcategories: syndromic and non-syndromic.

Syndromic obesity is associated with specific genetic syndromes, which usually include mental retardation. The best known of these syndromes is Prader-Willi Syndrome, which is associated with low IQ, reduced muscle mass, and hyperphagia, or uncontrollable eating. Moreover, the reduced muscle mass of people with PWS means that their caloric requirements, per kilogram of body mass, are only about 60% of those of normal individuals. Notably, even individuals with PWS can have a normal weight if someone else controls their caloric intake; the fat does not magically appear on their bodies.


TOPICS: Health/Medicine; Science; Society
KEYWORDS: agriculture; animalhusbandry; dietandcuisine; fat; genetics; godsgravesglyphs; helixmakemineadouble; huntergatherers; obese; obesity; paleodiet; soyispoison
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1 posted on 05/02/2016 9:14:49 AM PDT by Sean_Anthony
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To: Sean_Anthony

Bad carbs, low fat diet and constant eating 6 or more times per day in the form of sodas, latte’s and other snacks without giving the digestive system a rest is probably the biggest reason many of us are fat. I think genes predispose people to storing more or less fat too but the carbs are the biggie.


2 posted on 05/02/2016 9:24:45 AM PDT by bigtoona (The media, GOPe, dems, commie Pope, hate Trump. He is the destroyer we've been waiting for!)
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To: bigtoona
Saw an interesting report today that was rather startling. The NIH measured metabolism of Biggest Loser candidates SIX YEARS after their weight loss. Regardless of what they had done in the meantime (e.g. maintained weight, gained all weight back, exercised, didn't) they suffered a persistent slowing of metabolism; for one his actual metabolism was 800 calories less PER DAY than expected for his size and fitness level.

Now, to put this in context, this means that he would gain a pound every three days (you don't gain a pound of fat when you gain weight, you gain muscle and connective tissue as well so let's forget the 3000 calories equal a pound gained nonsense) if he were eating the recommended number of calories. In a year this would represent a gain of about one hundred and twenty pounds. So in addition to genetics, and diet, and exercise (a minor factor; you can't exercise enough to make a big difference and it stimulates appetite), there is also the body's homeostasis and its drive to preserve the status quo. Earlier studies of bushmen and others found similar surprises; given their extreme activity level you would expect them to require a very large number of calories per day to maintain weight, but they maintained weight on about half of that. Anyway, point being it is not just eating too much. And no, I'm not overweight.

3 posted on 05/02/2016 9:38:45 AM PDT by LambSlave
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To: LambSlave
Your post was a good summary of that NYTimes article. The article itself glossed over the fact that The Biggest Loser grossly overemphasizes the role of exercise in weight loss. Exercise is NOT the key to losing and keeping off weight for four reasons: in real life, no one can do six-to-eight hours of strenuous exercise a day (which is what the contestants on TBL do); you can gain much more weight quickly by overeating than you can lose quickly by exercising; strenuous exercise increases your appetite; and regular, strenuous exercise makes your body more efficient at using calories, meaning it can function by burning less fat.
4 posted on 05/02/2016 9:56:50 AM PDT by utahagen
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To: Sean_Anthony

More than likely lack of exercise and taking in far more calories than the body burns is the leading cause of obesity.


5 posted on 05/02/2016 10:16:31 AM PDT by Parmy (II don't know how to past the images.)
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To: Parmy; redleghunter; Springfield Reformer; kinsman redeemer; BlueDragon; metmom; boatbums; ...
Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness! (Ecclesiastes 10:17)

Advice:

1. Pray to God as one in Christ (see tag) to be healthy and not be fat, loose needed weight, etc.

2. Eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness, meaning as a rule we only eat when we become too weak to do what we need to do, and only what we need (small amounts) to regain our strength, and normally do not eat much of foods that are heavy in fat calories, regardless of what the clock says, or bcz you we simply want the pleasure of eating. If you eat too much, do not eat again until you are getting weak from lack of food.

3. Thank God for good health and weight, but do not be self-satisfied or glory in yourself, but rejoice in the Lord and give Him thanks and glory as unworthy but beloved and blessed (in Christ) servants.

6 posted on 05/02/2016 11:20:26 AM PDT by daniel1212 ( Turn to the Lord Jesus as a damned and destitute sinner+ trust Him to save you, then follow Him!)
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To: LambSlave

Right on, its a very complicated hormonal process.. Gary Taubes video ‘why we get fat’ opened my eyes.


7 posted on 05/02/2016 1:50:19 PM PDT by bigtoona (The media, GOPe, dems, commie Pope, hate Trump. He is the destroyer we've been waiting for!)
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To: Sean_Anthony
normal weight if someone else controls their caloric intake

Garbage IN, Garbage Out. It's all about how much and what you eat.

8 posted on 05/02/2016 1:52:41 PM PDT by 1Old Pro
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To: 1Old Pro

Or what you’re born with...

https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=body+types&FORM=HDRSC2


9 posted on 05/03/2016 5:01:05 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; decimon; 1010RD; 21twelve; 24Karet; 2ndDivisionVet; ...

I still blame my Levis, they shrank in the wash, honest.

10 posted on 05/03/2016 8:38:32 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Here's to the day the forensics people scrape what's left of Putin off the ceiling of his limo.)
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To: SunkenCiv

By the same token, I love it when they grow in the wash! ;o]


11 posted on 05/03/2016 9:14:21 AM PDT by Monkey Face (English can be weird: It can be understood through tough thorough thought, though.)
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To: Sean_Anthony

Eat less than you burn, you lose weight. Simple.

Not easy, but simple.

If you’re fat you have no one to blame but yourself.


12 posted on 05/03/2016 9:43:54 AM PDT by RedStateRocker (Better questions that can't be answered than answers that can't be questioned.)
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To: SunkenCiv

Heck! I have clothes that shrink just hanging in my closet!


13 posted on 05/03/2016 9:53:01 AM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
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To: afraidfortherepublic

;’)


14 posted on 05/03/2016 10:39:36 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Here's to the day the forensics people scrape what's left of Putin off the ceiling of his limo.)
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To: Monkey Face

;’)


15 posted on 05/03/2016 10:39:39 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Here's to the day the forensics people scrape what's left of Putin off the ceiling of his limo.)
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To: afraidfortherepublic

Mine; too!

Time for a class action suit and the manufacturers of hangers!!


16 posted on 05/03/2016 10:52:49 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: afraidfortherepublic

Mine; too!

Time for a class action suit against the manufacturers of hangers!!


17 posted on 05/03/2016 10:53:02 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: LambSlave

“you can’t exercise enough to make a big difference”

I know one way you can.


18 posted on 05/03/2016 11:02:27 AM PDT by dsc (Any attempt to move a government to the left is a crime against humanity.)
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To: RedStateRocker

“If you’re fat you have no one to blame but yourself.”

If’s a religion with some people, and they are incapable—intellectually and emotionally—of accepting that obesity might be a matter of lipid regulation rather than moral turpitude.

The Church of the Immoral Fatso incessantly keens like a grieving banshee that every fat deposit is punishment for the loathsome perversion of over-eating, than which no sin is greater. Every fatso is guilty! Every fatso must be punished! All scientific findings to the contrary must be treated like leftists treat liberty!

It’s really not that hard to see the problem with the “calories in/calories out” nonsense. If not for the bigotry of the Church of the Immoral Fatso, science would be free to acknowledge the truth.

If normal people maintain a normal weight on a normal diet, and the vast majority did until recent decades, then why do some people become obese on a normal diet? The Church of the Immoral Fatso, of course, insists that all such reports are lies, and that the immoral fatsos were secretly over-eating. All scientific evidence to the contrary—and there’s a bunch—is simply denied.

For people who can maintain a normal weight with a reasonable amount of exercise and a reasonable diet, it is very flattering to believe that anyone could do the same if only they tried. This belief places them in a position of moral superiority vis a vis those who cannot (or, in your view, are too weak to) maintain a normal weight. If there are actual metabolic issues, then you are not morally superior, but only fortunate. Quite a demotion.


19 posted on 05/03/2016 11:19:34 AM PDT by dsc (Any attempt to move a government to the left is a crime against humanity.)
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To: Sean_Anthony

I’m fat and I blame my jeans for pointing that out to me every time I try to put them on.


20 posted on 05/03/2016 12:05:05 PM PDT by Grimmy (equivocation is but the first step along the road to capitulation)
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