Research in the July 2010 edition of Genetics discloses that, in fact some people seem to eat anything they want and never gain a pound, while others seem to gain weight just by looking at fattening foods! This is because genes interacting with diet, rather than diet alone, are the main cause of variation in metabolic traits. This helps explain why some diets work better for some people than others, and suggests that future diets should be tailored to an individuals genes. What works for me, may not work for you.
"There is no one-size-fits all solution to the diseases of obesity and type-2 diabetes," said Laura K. Reed, Ph.D, a researcher from the Department of Genetics at North Carolina State University, the lead investigator in the work. "Each person has a unique set of genetic and environmental factors contributing to his or her metabolic health, and as a society, we should stop looking for a panacea and start accepting that this is a complex problem that may have a different solution for each individual." (Emphasis mine and something I have been saying all my adult life.)
In short, the study with 146 genetic lines of fruit flies and 4 different diets (nutritionally balanced, low calorie, high sugar, and high fat) showed that diet alone made small metabolic changes, including iweight, while genotype and genotype interactions with diet made very large changes. "This study strongly suggests that some individuals can achieve benefits from altering their dietary habits, while the same changes for others will have virtually no effect."
So, for my little nieces and others - hang on, science is coming and may just have more answers to the puzzle to make your life with food easier than mine has been!
3 comments:
My husband and I just had a conversation along these lines today, but without the science to back us up. He is one of 8 siblings. Three are quite slender and never seemingly have had any weight issues. The others all struggle and are varying degrees of overweight. His oldest brother, thin, thinks weight is all about discipline. But hubby and I think he got the skinny genes and he might feel differently if he had not.
thanks for sharing this article - I'm going to read it and probably blog about it in the future, this is a pet topic of mine too!
I totally believe that we do not all handle weight in the same way. I think some of us burn calories easier than others, and some of us are great at getting every.last.little.calorie out of food that just races through other people. I'm certain that my Russian peasant ancestors had the genetics to survive a famine & stock the heck out of the calories they encountered, but that's not such a useful trait in today's world of plenty...
I just read a short blurb/article in Time titled "The Legacy of Pregnancy Pounds" about how scientists are researching a connection between how much weight a mother gains during pregnancy and tendencies towards obesity in the resulting child.
Based on the preliminary numbers, the pregnant women who gained more weight (gaining 50 lbs rather than ~30) produced heavier babies, and high birth weight is associated with later obesity. Some studies suggest that excess gestational weight can change hormone development in the fetus that affect fat development. The jury is still out, but it was an interesting article!
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