“If you’re fat, it’s because you want to be.” Perhaps if they gave a euro to every overweight person who has ever heard this phrase, they could buy themselves an island away from people who comment on other people’s weight. Unfortunately, this is not possible. And weight loss doesn’t happen with the amazing ease that all these experts talk about. And while, generally speaking, to lose weight you need to burn more calories than you consume, there are many other Factors affecting weight.
Diet is important, as is exercise, but each person’s genetics play an important role. We already know this, but we don’t realize how much of an impact it has. And, according to a study recently conducted by scientists from University of VirginiaGenetics influences weight even more than diet.
It is true that they conducted the study on mice, so more studies in humans will be needed to confirm the results. However, they have enough evidence to silence those people who claim that “if you are fat, it’s because you want it.” In fact, no training is required, just a little education is enough.
The irreplaceable role of genetics
To conduct a study of factors affecting weight, the scientists took four groups of mice with different genetic backgrounds. Everyone followed a different diet, which could be vegetarian, vegan, Mediterranean or typical American. The latter, as we well know, is most often associated with excess weight and health problems.
Mice were weighed before being transferred to each diet. In addition, the levels lipids and blood sugar. Then, when the study time was over, the same measurements were taken.
Thus, it was seen that animals kept on the same diet had very noticeable differences in weight-related parameters. They were directly related to their genetic origin, so it had a much greater impact on weight than diet.
Other factors affecting weight
There are many other factors that affect weight that have nothing to do with diet or exercise. Not even with genetics.
These include, but are not limited to, the use of certain medications, anxiety, lack of sleep, or certain medical conditions. In the first case we find, for example, certain antidepressants, beta blockers, corticosteroids, or diabetes medications. Anxiety is associated with increased levels cortisol This hormone, known as the stress hormone, is one of the consequences of a person’s fight or flight mechanisms. These are very ancient evolutionary mechanisms that help us prepare our body to face or escape a threat. This was very helpful when we had to run from a lion in the past, but not so much when our body interpreted that the important work was the lion. Or when anxiety It becomes chronic and we see lions everywhere.
Fight-or-flight mechanisms prepare us for threat through effects such as increased breathing and heart rate, muscle tension, or dilated pupils. All of these are symptoms associated with anxiety. Moreover, we need a lot of energy to fight this threat, real or imagined. This is where cortisol comes into play as it promotes the storage of fats which act as power reserve. It also increases cravings high energy foodssuch as sugary snacks or high-fat foods. All this makes us gain weight. Therefore, no matter how much we exercise and watch our diet, stress can prevent us from losing weight.
On the other hand, it was noticed that lack of sleep stimulates release ghrelin and suppresses leptin The first is a hormone that increases appetite, and the second is a hormone that reduces it. This indicates that less sleep makes us eat more because we then have more energy to cope with the lack of sleep. Unfortunately, this also causes us to gain weight. As do certain diseases such as hypothyroidism or polycystic ovary syndrome.
In short, when we see that a person has gained weight, it can be for many reasons. Don’t say, “How do you know you’re happy by how much weight you’ve gained?” Eating a lot is not always a sign of abundance and happiness. Excess weight can be due to illness, depression, anxiety or terrible stress that prevents us from sleeping. It may also be a gift of our genetics. Let’s not express opinions about other people’s bodies because we don’t know what’s behind their changes. Neither when they gain weight, nor when they lose weight.
Source: Hiper Textual
