Have you ever wondered if your weight has anything to do with your genes?
You might have heard that there was a relationship between the two. But what are the details of this relationship? And how does it affect you?
To explore this, we’ll explain how genes affect your body’s ability to metabolize food, whether you’re more likely to store fat around certain parts of your body, and even if you’re predisposed to being overweight. It’s all here in one place so you can understand it better.
Keep reading for a closer look at the connection between genetics and weight!
How Genes Affect Weight Gain
Your genes impact how your body stores fat. Also referred to as adiposity, body fat is the amount of weight you carry when you’re at rest, and it’s made up of both fatty tissue and muscle.
High levels of body fat can lead to increased weight, which can lead to health problems like heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure. But the connection between genetics and weight doesn’t mean you’re doomed to gain weight!
If you are dealing with weight problems, try cutting down on the calories in your daily diet for a few weeks. As long as you eat healthy food, drinking plenty of water along with exercise can also help you get rid of excess weight.
How much do you have to eat less? Reduce your caloric intake by just 10% and you should start losing weight. Many people find that changing their exercise routine can also help them lose weight, so give it a try if you’re having trouble shedding the unwanted pounds.
If dieting and exercising don’t work for you, talk to your doctor about other weight loss options.
What Are “Fat Genes”?
“Fat genes” can impact how much fat you store in different parts of your body. There are different types of fat that play a role in this, including brown and white adipose tissue, or simply just “fat.”
You may have more brown adipose tissue than someone else, which burns more calories. This often helps protect you from obesity, which is why lean people who still eat well and exercise regularly are sometimes referred to as “fat-burning machines.”
Research has shown that genes can also play an important role in where your body stores the extra fat it does accumulate. For example, there’s a gene called FTO (fat-mass and obesity-associated gene) that makes it more likely for those who have it to hold onto more of their weight around the middle (known as central adiposity).
This is due to the way your body responds to insulin, a hormone that regulates blood sugar levels and helps convert food into energy. Those with FTO tend to show a reduced response to insulin, meaning that their bodies are less efficient at using it. In turn, this can lead to the storage of more fat in the midsection and a higher risk for obesity.
Are you predisposed to being overweight? Find out here!
How Genes Affect Weight Loss
When talking about how your genes can affect your weight loss efforts, there are two main areas to focus on: energy expenditure and food metabolism.
Genes impact your body’s ability to metabolize food, which can make losing weight harder than it is for other people. This happens because the process of breaking down food into nutrients affects how many calories you burn while digesting that meal. It also helps determine how many calories you store in your body and which foods cause an increased risk for obesity.
Each person’s metabolism works differently, depending on things like their age, gender, and the amount of lean muscle mass they have.
For example, men tend to burn more calories than women during exercise because they generally have higher levels of muscle mass compared to females of the same weight. Your gender also plays a role in how many calories you burn at rest, which is where your body uses energy just to stay alive and awake. For women of similar age, the average resting calorie rate is 5% lower than for men.
But genes can play a role in your resting metabolic rate as well. A mutation in a gene called “thyroid-stimulating hormone receptor,” or TSHR, can cause your body to burn about 20% fewer calories than the average person.
This type of mutation is rare, but you can still learn more here.
What Can I Do to Control My Weight?
The best thing you can do if you want to lose weight is to change your DNA diet and lifestyle. Some people find that a combination of healthy eating and drinking plenty of water helps them shed the pounds faster.
There are also weight loss supplements, which may help decrease your appetite or boost metabolism a bit to make those pounds come off more easily. However, if you’re using supplements and they don’t seem to be helping, talk with your doctor about other ways to lose weight.
Also, keep in mind that making small changes like limiting your portions and not skipping meals can make a big difference over time. You can also try upping your physical activity. It’s important not to overlook the benefits of exercise, which can help you lose weight and also provide other benefits.
Just remember that it’s not all about the number on the scale—when it comes to losing weight, research has shown that if your BMI is high enough to be “obese,” exercise alone isn’t enough to keep off the extra pounds over time.
Finally, if you have a family history of being overweight, the best thing to do is talk with your doctor to create an effective weight loss plan. You can also check out this article for more ways that genetics and metabolism can affect your weight and lifestyle choices.
Learning More About Genetics and Weight
This article should have given you a basic understanding of the relationship between genetics and weight. Genetics can impact both your resting metabolic rate and the way your body responds to insulin, but there are a number of other factors that play a role in obesity as well.
To learn more about this topic and how it relates to you, a good place to start is with this article about how genes impact your risk for cardiovascular disease.
For more helpful tips like these, check out the rest of our articles!
