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 youll
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, its 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, its 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 dont 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 Mens Exercise, as well as on hundreds
of websites worldwide.
Click
Here To Return To
Articles By Tom Venuto
|
|