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Does Genetics Effect Fat Loss? If you have read many of my former articles you already know that I a proponent of losing body fat, not necessarily body weight. You also know that I personally feel the scale weight and BMI are two of the absolute poorest methods of measuring health. As an expert at allexperts.com I am often asked questions with regard to whether or not someone could be fat because of their genetics. This is actually a very good question, and while our genetics does in fact have an effect on virtually everything about us including eye and hair color. For those that don’t know what genetics are, here is a quick and simplified definition. DNA is basically the blueprint of who and what you are. Genetics are basically the traits, such as blood type, hair color, eye color etc that you inherit form your parents and you pass on to your children. The question then is does genetics cause someone to be fat. While there are many that believe there is no genetic reasons for someone being overweight or even obese there are others that believe genetics plays a major role. Given that Genetics does indeed dictate a good deal of our characteristics you can’t really fault those that believe in a genetic connection. My personal opinion is that genetics does indeed have some effect, how much I am not sure. I do believe that genetics does have a tremendous effect on where the bodyfat is stored and on how a person gains or loses fat. I am sure though that through a proper lifestyle anyone can drop bodyfat and improve their health. A group of research scientists in Boston found that creating a small change on the gene ISIG2 seem to have a vital role in the producing fat. The research indicates that by changing the G-condition to a C-condition it makes the individual more prone to store more fat and therefore be overweight or obese. Most tests are administered to mice rather than men. A group of researchers in San Antonio that were studying brain injuries found that they were able to delete an important defensive protein from a lab mouse. They ended up having rodents with short stature that grew fat during their adult lives. More and more we hear about “Fat Genes” but most of these studies actually have found different genes that are more or less related not to being fat, but to some other characteristic that is indirectly related to obesity. There are of course those that believe genetics has little or nothing to do with being fat or obese. These people believe that genes have evolved to protect the individual from starvation not from an overabundance of food. It has only been within the last 100 years or so that being overweight has become a major problem. In fact during ancient times the obese were actually worshipped and admired since it was a sign of “wealth” In addition to that the lifestyle of the human race has changed drastically. The US and other western countries have become a society of convenience. When my father was born in 1900 everyone walked or rode horses and worked in the fields or factories doing manual labor. Today most work is done by machines, even farming has went from plowing with mules to tractors that can plow 10 times as much in half the time. Those that believe there is no genetic connection also cite the fact that the fastest increasing population of obese people falls into the impoverished category. They reason that those who have poor food access also have slower metabolic rates which accounts for why they are more prone to being obese, not because of genetics. You can find out considerably more about fat and how to lose it by getting my e-book “Facts on Fats” http://www.bmgfitness.com/fafl/fatloss |