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Did
You Inherit Fat Genes? The Truth About Biology And Body Fat
By Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS
"Battle
Your Biology? Fat Chance," proclaimed a headline recently in the
health section of the New York Post newspaper.
Quoting
new research and citing psychologists, dietitians and physicians, the
article says that more and more evidence proves that your weight is
genetically determined, and if you're fat, "it's not your fault."
"We've known for a while that genes - more than environment and
behavior - explain obesity" argues Dr. James Rosen, an eating disorder
specialist and professor at the University of Vermont.
While
genetics are definitely a factor, believing you are destined to be overweight
for life because you've inherited "fat genes" is the most
disempowering and self-defeating attitude you could ever adopt. The
only way you’ll lose weight permanently is to accept total responsibility
for yourself and acknowledge the fact that you have the power to change,
regardless what mother nature has given you to work with.
There's
no denying that heredity plays a major role in how difficult it will
be for you to lose fat.
You
inherited a body type, a predetermined number of fat cells, a metabolic
rate and body chemistry just as you inherited your eye color and hair
color. In the 1930's, Harvard psychologist Dr. William H. Sheldon developed
a classification system for these different body types called "somatotyping."
While there are no absolutes, Sheldon identified three basic somatotypes:
ectomorphs, mesomorphs and endomorphs.
Ectomorphs
are the lean, lanky types. They are usually very thin and bony, with
fast metabolisms and extremely low body fat. An ectomorph can eat like
a horse without gaining an ounce. Mesomorphs are the "genetically
gifted." They are lean, muscular and naturally athletic. Mesomorphs
lose fat and gain muscle with ease. Endomorphs are the "fat retainers."
Characterized by round features, excess body fat and large joints ("big
bones"), endomorphs usually have great difficulty in losing body
fat. They have slow metabolisms, they are often carbohydrate sensitive,
they gain fat quickly if they eat poorly or don't exercise, and they
lose fat slowly - even on a healthy diet.
The
tendency of endomorphs to store fat easily can be partly attributed
to metabolic problems.
For
example, endomorphs often metabolize carbohydrates inefficiently. Normal
people can eat lots of carbohydrates - up to 60% of their total calories
- and they still stay lean. Endomorphs produce too much insulin when
they eat carbohydrates and this leads to increased fat storage and difficulty
in losing existing fat. This condition is known as "insulin resistance"
or "Syndrome X."
Scientists
claim that the tendency to gain weight easily may also be due to chemical
imbalances in the brain that cause people to overeat. Researchers at
Johns Hopkins recently announced the discovery a compound called C75
that blocks an appetite-regulating hormone in the hypothalamus. In mice
injected with the substance, 30 percent more weight was lost because
the drug caused the mice to eat less. More research is planned to develop
a similar appetite-suppressing drug for humans. Unlike Xenical, which
blocks fat absorption in the intestine, this new drug would affect the
brain's chemistry so that people feel full sooner.
Many
physicians and health professionals consider these metabolic disorders
and chemical imbalances as genetically transmitted "diseases"
that require medical treatment. "Obesity is a disease and should
be treated like one" says Jackie Newgent, spokesperson for the
American Dietetic Association . This idea should be viewed with a great
deal of suspicion however, because weight loss is potentially the biggest
market in the world for drug sales.
According
to Justin Gillis, a staff writer for the Washington Post, more than
45 companies worldwide are trying to develop new obesity drugs, and
the stakes couldn't be higher. Gillis writes, "In world where a
blockbuster drug is worth $1 billion a year in sales, analysts give
$5 billion as the low estimate for sales of an important obesity drug.
If a company developed a truly safe, effective weight loss drug, and
sold it for $3 a day to one quarter of the 97 million American adults
estimated to be overweight, sales would exceed $26 billion a year in
this country alone."
Basically,
what the medical community is trying to tell you is that if you are
overweight, it's not your fault; you were born fat, so don't feel guilty
- and don't worry, we have a drug that can "cure" you. Sounds
like there's an ulterior motive at work here, wouldn't you agree? Before
you run to get a prescription for the next "miracle" drug,
you'd better wonder whose interests are being served; yours or the pharmaceutical
giants.
Besides,
drugs can never be the solution if they treat the symptoms and not the
cause. Drugs should be considered a last resort for the morbidly obese
who have already tried everything else without success and who will
face serious health consequences if they don't lose weight. The editors
of obesity.com said it best: "Weight loss drugs do not take the
place of diet, exercise, patience, and perseverance."
"Dieting
can be an uphill battle against your genes." says Post writer Joyce
Cohen.
Unfortunately,
if you're an endomorph, Cohen is right. Losing weight is definitely
easier for some people than for others and that doesn't seem fair. But
that's the way life is. Life isn't fair. Let's be honest; not everyone
is going to become an Olympic Gold medallist, a Mr. America or a fitness
model. But don't despair - you are not doomed to live a life of fatness
if you don't have "athletic genes."
Obesity
is the result of many influences. Genetics is only one of them. Like
it or not, the primary cause of obesity is your own behavior. Most of
the factors that affect body composition are entirely under your control.
These factors include how much you eat, what you eat, when you eat,
what type of exercise you do, how frequently you exercise, how long
you exercise and how hard you exercise.
If
you have the genetic predisposition towards obesity, you can lose fat
like everyone else, you're just going to have to work harder and longer
at it than other people. "There is a genetic component to weight,"
Says Dr. Thomas Wadden, a psychologist from Syracuse University, "but
no one is destined to be obese. If weight has been a major problem in
your family, you may not be able to become as thin as you'd like, but
you can lose weight."
If
you find losing weight to be a slow and difficult process, the empowering
thing to do is to look at it as asset, because overcoming this obstacle
will force you to develop discipline, determination and persistence.
These traits will carry over to other areas of your life and make you
a stronger person all around. Arnold Schwarzennegger said, "Strength
does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strength. When
you overcome hardships, that is strength."
The
first thing you must do if you want to lose weight or succeed in any
area of your life, is to accept complete responsibility for your situation.
In a short but powerful little book called "As Man Thinketh,"
the author James Allen wrote, "circumstances do not make a man,
they reveal him." What he meant was that we are not products of
our environment or our heredity (our "circumstances"), instead,
we products of our own thinking and belief systems.
We
create our own circumstances through positive thinking and positive
action and we create negative circumstances through negative thinking
and lack of action or wrong actions. In other words, we are responsible
for where we are, what we have and how our bodies look.
Some
people get very angry with me when I tell them this: They say, "Wait
a minute. Are you trying to tell me that when bad things happen to me,
it’s my own fault? That I brought unemployment, financial hardships,
failed relationships, weight gain or even health problems onto myself?
Because if that's what you're saying, that's totally unfair!"
Well,
my friend, with very few exceptions, (some things really are out of
your control) that is exactly what I am saying.
If
you refuse to accept the fact that you are 100% responsible for your
weight, you will never be successful.
When
people find themselves in undesirable situations or they aren't getting
the results they want, it’s all too easy to make excuses: It's
my genetics, I have big bones, I have a slow metabolism, I don't have
enough time to exercise, etc. etc., etc. Making excuses is relinquishing
control. It is conceding that you a victim of circumstances instead
of the creator of your circumstances. Stop blaming and start taking
responsibility for your life. Take action! Start working out. Eat better.
Do something - do anything - but don't just sit there on the couch and
curse your chromosomes.
So,
are you a frustrated "endomorph?" Do you feel like dieting
is an uphill battle against your genes? If your answer is "yes,"
please don’t just quit and chalk in up to "bad genetics,"
and don't believe that drugs are the answer either - they're not. Your
genetics will largely dictate your athletic ability and how easily you
will lose weight. That doesn't mean you can't get lean; it only means
that you're going to have to adjust your diet and training to fit your
body type and you may have to work harder and be more persistent than
the "genetically lucky" ones.
Maybe
obesity really should be classified as a genetically inherited "disease."
But frankly, if you have a "disease" that forces you to learn
more about exercise and nutrition, to eat nutritious foods, to adopt
a healthier lifestyle, to develop a strong work ethic and to become
a more persistent person, that sounds like a blessing in disguise to
me.
About
the Author:
|
Tom Venuto
is a lifetime natural bodybuilder, an NSCA-certified personal
trainer (CPT), certified strength & conditioning specialist
(CSCS), and author of the #1 best-selling e-book, "Burn
the Fat, Feed The Muscle.” Tom has written hundreds of
articles and has been featured in print magazines such as IRONMAN,
Australian IRONMAN, Natural Bodybuilding, Muscular Development,
Exercise for Men and Men’s Exercise, as well as on hundreds
of websites worldwide. For information on Tom's Fat Loss program,
click
here.
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