8 ms·

Skinny genes the 'secret to staying slim'

20 points by sjcsjc 8y ago

antirez 8y ago
Weak scientific result put in the media as a new truth. It does not take a genius to see any picture of Europe in '70s where there are people, to see that with very rare exceptions everybody was slim. The same happened in France, Italy, Germany, ... and now despite that we are genetically the same people are fat. Maybe there are people genetically more inclined to stay lean despite the terrible lifestyle, but that would be another story and another message: you still have control on your weight most of the times.
- manjana 8y ago
  My thoughts as well.. Changes in genes very certainly are epigenetic to some degree.
- adrianmonk 8y ago
  Same thing in the US. Although I'm old enough to remember the 1970s firsthand and to remember that most people were pretty thin. Other things I remember from that time include: people not having microwave ovens, people eating at home for the most part, trips to fast food restaurants being only an occasional thing, regular restaurants having much smaller portions, and a lack of social acceptance of being overweight.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- flycaliguy 8y ago
  I often hear people grumbling about the rise of people in motor scooters in a judgemental way. I always try to remind them that perhaps those people couldn’t really get around before scooters became available and perhaps the amount of people with that need hasn’t changed. I’m not suggesting that obesity rates are unchanged, but I will say that there are a lot of different factors which influence people’s ability to be out and about and in a photo. There might even be a lot of photos from the past, when photography was a lot more work, where overweight people were deliberately excluded from the scene.
newfriend 8y ago
Eating too much food the 'secret to becoming fat' The secret to staying slim is to not eat more calories than your body uses. Excuses like this will only make obesity even more common and accepted than it is today.
- spacesuitman2 8y ago
  >The secret to staying slim is to not eat more calories than your body uses This. There are too many people who do not understand that conservation of mass applies to the human body too. Nobody gains 1 kg by eating a single peanut, yet some people claim it's all genes.
  - zepolen 8y ago
    The genes affect their 'cant stop after eating that first peanut' syndrome. Just like the will to live affects your 'cant hold breath forever' incapability. I mean sure it's technically possible to hold your breath until you pass out, but it would take a crazy amount of will power.
- Wh1zz 8y ago
  Sure, but some might be genetically predisposed to make more efficient use of calories (burn easier rather than store as fat). Which could make a massive difference.
  - black-tea 8y ago
    Actually the person who makes more efficient use of calories is more likely to become fat because they don't need as much. There's also a lot of evidence that burning through loads of energy will reduce your life span. Eating less is always better than trying to burn more.
    - Tepix 8y ago
      > Actually the person who makes more efficient use of calories is more likely to become fat because they don't need as much. Only if they eat as much as someone who uses calories less efficiently. Which is not a given.
black-tea 8y ago
I've been obese. Then I stopped eating too much and haven't been obese for ten years. The secret is not eating too much.
lsc 8y ago
so, obviously, calories in and calories out are what controls your weight. But that doesn't conflict with the idea that your success at managing your weight in a world where calories in are increasingly cheap and calories out are increasingly expensive is largely genetic. I think I can speak to this a little bit; I've taken four points off my BMI in the last year or year and a half or so, all through counting calories in and calories out... and I'd rate the experience as slightly easier than trying to breathe a little less. The most annoying part was that everyone... fat people and skinny people would give me a hard time for actually tracking everything I ate. "Just eat less," they'd say, along with some advice about how they have a friend who lost weight on some fad diet that restricts not how much you can eat but what you can eat. I had a doctor who told me to take the sides I'd normally eat and cut them in half, you know, like I planned my meals or something. For me? writing down what I ate was key; Obviously, (and this is likely the genetic part) some people have something that causes them to be not hungry anymore after they've eaten enough food. Whatever that is, it's obviously not working properly in me, or else I never would have gotten fat in the first place, so I need some external tracker to figure out if I've eaten enough. (The other thing that seemed to be different about my experience than about most people's was that if I went a lot below my maintenance caloric intake, say, significantly more than 40% below for several days in a row, my work performance would collapse. If I tracked my caloric intake and kept it around 25% below what I burned, i was okay, though it was still difficult.)
- benj111 8y ago
  I think the hunger thing is habit? If I'm in a job where I get a regular lunch break at the same time every day. If for some reason I'm late my stomach starts rumbling really loudly, conversely if I eat early I have problems eating because I'm not hungry. Now this can be as little as 30 minutes difference either way. I don't have the same issue at weekends though.
  - lsc 8y ago
    If you eat 25% fewer calories than you burn every day, and you do this for a week, unless our physiology is dramatically different, you will feel hunger that is not related to habit. Interestingly, for me? If I cut down to the point where my performance falls (closer to 40% for a few days) my hunger kind of goes away. Of course, I can't really work in that state (I'm aware some others can) so it's not really useful to me. If I want to lose weight while still working, it seems I need to experience that hunger. One of the annoying things for me is that because this hunger is such a big part of my experience, I want to talk about it, and this... annoys almost everyone. Aside from people on the internet who want to insult you for not following their favorite fad diet, it's worse in person, because almost everyone I've talked to about it in person seems to think I'm telling them that they need to lose weight.
benj111 8y ago
"Prof Tom Sanders, emeritus professor of nutrition and dietetics, at King's College London, said: "This is an important and well conducted study confirming that precocious severe obesity is often genetically determined" No. It says that thinness is genetically determined. Yes one is the flip side of the other, I don't think that allows the 'severe' though. Professors should surely be choosing their words more wisely.
- tonyedgecombe 8y ago
  I was watching an interview with the scientist who conducted the study this morning and she indicated it was both.
gaius 8y ago
The thing is, for the vast majority of human history, the ability to quickly pack on fat was a crucial survival trait, and those with “skinny genes” wouldn’t last over a hard winter. It is only in soft modern society that it is viable to live without onboard energy reserves.
- collyw 8y ago
  Kind of depends on the part of the world you come from, no? Nepali porters seems to be pretty slim and run up and down mountains for a living. Inuit seem to be a bit rounder in general which makes sense given their environment.
  - gaius 8y ago
    Well, sure, manual labourers/athletes are likely to be lean in any culture but what about the general population?
a_imho 8y ago
BBC spam
teekert 8y ago
I'm very skinny and often get comments that I can and do eat anything, but I think I have some traits that make it easy for me: I hate ice cream (that fatty feeling in your mouth, ugh, I do love me some butter though!), in fact I don't like most desserts at all. I always prefer savory stuff (like a sandwich or olives for snacking) over sweet things (like cookies or candy). And I never get hungry anymore at night after a good dinner. My wife can each crisps 2 hours after dinner, I don't know how she does it. Or even how people can eat a piece of pie after a fulfilling meal, it just doesn't fit anymore. This could be genetic.
- terryf 8y ago
  It is probably traits - I'm one of those people that can eat almost endlessly (and yes, am not skinny). The problem is that I don't really feel full, no matter what or how much I eat. If I just continue, then I do get the uncomfortable feeling of my stomach being overly filled even to the point it actually hurts, but still, I don't feel "fulfilled" and have the desire to keep eating. I'm trying to control it of course, but my life is basically spent almost continuously with the feeling that I could eat some more right now. It's not always hunger as such, although that comes by quite easily as well. It's a continuous drain emotionally.
  - notus 8y ago
    Do you use any drugs by any chance? and if so do you approach consumption of said drugs with the same gusto. This seems more like a eating to be happy thing rather than eating to be full.
    - terryf 8y ago
      Not any more and the hungryness doesn't seem to be related to moods too much.
mdekkers 8y ago
I need to invest in a CRISPR home kit...
calebm 8y ago
Anyone know the SNPs involved?

20 points by sjcsjc 8y ago

Weak scientific result put in the media as a new truth. It does not take a genius to see any picture of Europe in '70s where there are people, to see that with very rare exceptions everybody was slim. The same happened in France, Italy, Germany, ... and now despite that we are genetically the same people are fat. Maybe there are people genetically more inclined to stay lean despite the terrible lifestyle, but that would be another story and another message: you still have control on your weight most of the times.

manjana 8y ago
My thoughts as well.. Changes in genes very certainly are epigenetic to some degree.
adrianmonk 8y ago
Same thing in the US. Although I'm old enough to remember the 1970s firsthand and to remember that most people were pretty thin. Other things I remember from that time include: people not having microwave ovens, people eating at home for the most part, trips to fast food restaurants being only an occasional thing, regular restaurants having much smaller portions, and a lack of social acceptance of being overweight.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
flycaliguy 8y ago
I often hear people grumbling about the rise of people in motor scooters in a judgemental way. I always try to remind them that perhaps those people couldn’t really get around before scooters became available and perhaps the amount of people with that need hasn’t changed. I’m not suggesting that obesity rates are unchanged, but I will say that there are a lot of different factors which influence people’s ability to be out and about and in a photo. There might even be a lot of photos from the past, when photography was a lot more work, where overweight people were deliberately excluded from the scene.

newfriend 8y ago

Eating too much food the 'secret to becoming fat' The secret to staying slim is to not eat more calories than your body uses. Excuses like this will only make obesity even more common and accepted than it is today.

spacesuitman2 8y ago
>The secret to staying slim is to not eat more calories than your body uses This. There are too many people who do not understand that conservation of mass applies to the human body too. Nobody gains 1 kg by eating a single peanut, yet some people claim it's all genes.
- zepolen 8y ago
  The genes affect their 'cant stop after eating that first peanut' syndrome. Just like the will to live affects your 'cant hold breath forever' incapability. I mean sure it's technically possible to hold your breath until you pass out, but it would take a crazy amount of will power.
Wh1zz 8y ago
Sure, but some might be genetically predisposed to make more efficient use of calories (burn easier rather than store as fat). Which could make a massive difference.
- black-tea 8y ago
  Actually the person who makes more efficient use of calories is more likely to become fat because they don't need as much. There's also a lot of evidence that burning through loads of energy will reduce your life span. Eating less is always better than trying to burn more.
  - Tepix 8y ago
    > Actually the person who makes more efficient use of calories is more likely to become fat because they don't need as much. Only if they eat as much as someone who uses calories less efficiently. Which is not a given.

black-tea 8y ago

I've been obese. Then I stopped eating too much and haven't been obese for ten years. The secret is not eating too much.

lsc 8y ago

so, obviously, calories in and calories out are what controls your weight. But that doesn't conflict with the idea that your success at managing your weight in a world where calories in are increasingly cheap and calories out are increasingly expensive is largely genetic. I think I can speak to this a little bit; I've taken four points off my BMI in the last year or year and a half or so, all through counting calories in and calories out... and I'd rate the experience as slightly easier than trying to breathe a little less. The most annoying part was that everyone... fat people and skinny people would give me a hard time for actually tracking everything I ate. "Just eat less," they'd say, along with some advice about how they have a friend who lost weight on some fad diet that restricts not how much you can eat but what you can eat. I had a doctor who told me to take the sides I'd normally eat and cut them in half, you know, like I planned my meals or something. For me? writing down what I ate was key; Obviously, (and this is likely the genetic part) some people have something that causes them to be not hungry anymore after they've eaten enough food. Whatever that is, it's obviously not working properly in me, or else I never would have gotten fat in the first place, so I need some external tracker to figure out if I've eaten enough. (The other thing that seemed to be different about my experience than about most people's was that if I went a lot below my maintenance caloric intake, say, significantly more than 40% below for several days in a row, my work performance would collapse. If I tracked my caloric intake and kept it around 25% below what I burned, i was okay, though it was still difficult.)

benj111 8y ago
I think the hunger thing is habit? If I'm in a job where I get a regular lunch break at the same time every day. If for some reason I'm late my stomach starts rumbling really loudly, conversely if I eat early I have problems eating because I'm not hungry. Now this can be as little as 30 minutes difference either way. I don't have the same issue at weekends though.
- lsc 8y ago
  If you eat 25% fewer calories than you burn every day, and you do this for a week, unless our physiology is dramatically different, you will feel hunger that is not related to habit. Interestingly, for me? If I cut down to the point where my performance falls (closer to 40% for a few days) my hunger kind of goes away. Of course, I can't really work in that state (I'm aware some others can) so it's not really useful to me. If I want to lose weight while still working, it seems I need to experience that hunger. One of the annoying things for me is that because this hunger is such a big part of my experience, I want to talk about it, and this... annoys almost everyone. Aside from people on the internet who want to insult you for not following their favorite fad diet, it's worse in person, because almost everyone I've talked to about it in person seems to think I'm telling them that they need to lose weight.

benj111 8y ago

"Prof Tom Sanders, emeritus professor of nutrition and dietetics, at King's College London, said: "This is an important and well conducted study confirming that precocious severe obesity is often genetically determined" No. It says that thinness is genetically determined. Yes one is the flip side of the other, I don't think that allows the 'severe' though. Professors should surely be choosing their words more wisely.

tonyedgecombe 8y ago
I was watching an interview with the scientist who conducted the study this morning and she indicated it was both.

gaius 8y ago

The thing is, for the vast majority of human history, the ability to quickly pack on fat was a crucial survival trait, and those with “skinny genes” wouldn’t last over a hard winter. It is only in soft modern society that it is viable to live without onboard energy reserves.

collyw 8y ago
Kind of depends on the part of the world you come from, no? Nepali porters seems to be pretty slim and run up and down mountains for a living. Inuit seem to be a bit rounder in general which makes sense given their environment.
- gaius 8y ago
  Well, sure, manual labourers/athletes are likely to be lean in any culture but what about the general population?

a_imho 8y ago

BBC spam

teekert 8y ago

I'm very skinny and often get comments that I can and do eat anything, but I think I have some traits that make it easy for me: I hate ice cream (that fatty feeling in your mouth, ugh, I do love me some butter though!), in fact I don't like most desserts at all. I always prefer savory stuff (like a sandwich or olives for snacking) over sweet things (like cookies or candy). And I never get hungry anymore at night after a good dinner. My wife can each crisps 2 hours after dinner, I don't know how she does it. Or even how people can eat a piece of pie after a fulfilling meal, it just doesn't fit anymore. This could be genetic.

terryf 8y ago
It is probably traits - I'm one of those people that can eat almost endlessly (and yes, am not skinny). The problem is that I don't really feel full, no matter what or how much I eat. If I just continue, then I do get the uncomfortable feeling of my stomach being overly filled even to the point it actually hurts, but still, I don't feel "fulfilled" and have the desire to keep eating. I'm trying to control it of course, but my life is basically spent almost continuously with the feeling that I could eat some more right now. It's not always hunger as such, although that comes by quite easily as well. It's a continuous drain emotionally.
- notus 8y ago
  Do you use any drugs by any chance? and if so do you approach consumption of said drugs with the same gusto. This seems more like a eating to be happy thing rather than eating to be full.
  - terryf 8y ago
    Not any more and the hungryness doesn't seem to be related to moods too much.

mdekkers 8y ago

I need to invest in a CRISPR home kit...

calebm 8y ago

Anyone know the SNPs involved?