Do You Have the Obesity Gene?

                
British researchers discovered that people with an FTO gene variation are 70% more likely to become obese.
That’s approximately 1 in 6 people!
People with this genetic variation have higher levels of the hunger hormone (ghrelin) in their bloodstream and their brains are also more sensitive to the hormone.
I must not have this variation since I’ve never struggled with overwhelming feelings of hunger and I’ve never been overweight. It’s easy for us skinny people to trivialize weight loss by just boiling it down to eating less and moving more. While this is essentially true, it just isn’t that easy for some people.
Now we have even more evidence that this is indeed the case. Some people are driven by internal forces to eat that I will never understand nor relate to. People could address all the emotional reasons for overeating and still be predispositioned to be obese.
This lovely girl has 5 reasons why she overeats, but I bet she has has the gene variation.
                                
I can be in every situation she describes and not overeat. It’s not that I’m disciplined, I’m just not hungry.

Ways to Beat the Hunger Gene

This new research will possibly lead to new medications that can counteract too much ghrelin production, but until then there are ways to reduce the hunger hormone’s dominance.

• Eating a high protein diet.
• Getting enough sleep.
• Increasing leptin production.
• Eating smaller meals more frequently.

If you feel like this research applies to you, the above suggestions may help some. Hopefully, this gives you a greater understanding as to why you overeat.
This research helps me to be more understanding of why people eat too much and why some people are obese. It’s such a hard road for many people and when their own body is working against thier efforts, the hill is much more steep.
Do you think you may have the obesity gene?