Heredity has always been suspected of playing a role in
weight gain. When weight studies were performed among
families, they showed a suspicious trend of obesity,
especially during middle age. About a decade ago, a gene
was discovered that plays an important part in regulating
weight.
The good news is that even though a gene may be responsible
for excess weight gain, it can be controlled and even
overridden by proper nutrition.
Extensive studies have all but proven that obesity is a
biological trait passed on among family members. Many of
the research involved families, twins, and siblings adopted
or placed into different households. This created a wide
diversity of subjects in order to discount the possibility
of environmental factors playing a role in weight gain.
Each set of results pointed directly to a probable genetic
link.
While working in Dr. Besharse's laboratory over ten years,
Dr. Green discovered a gene named Nocturnin. It was linked
to the sleep cycle and metabolism. Work was then began in
order to isolate and study the effects of this gene when
altered in mice. Interestingly enough, in a study performed
by Dr. Besharse, it was found that when the gene was
removed from otherwise healthy mice, they failed to gain
weight, even when fed double the calories of the control
group.
These revolutionary studies show a strong link between
genetics and weight. The amazing gene/weight finding will
lead to studies of even more importance such as development
of metabolic disease treatments. Until this happens, we
need to continue to eat in a way to keep the gene in check,
thus leading to losing excess weight - or better yet,
avoiding weight gain to begin with.
Ironically, two hormones are also linked to obesity and
sleep. When sleep is deprived, the hormones Grehlin and
Leptin are adversely affected. Grehlin triggers the body to
eat and Leptin tells the body it is full. When someone
doesn't get enough sleep, these hormones become out of
whack and affects the body's metabolism. Right now it is
also being studied to see if there is a heredity link to
these off balance hormones, but there are no results as of
yet.
Certain ways we eat affect how our genes react to catalysts
such as food and stress. If we reverse our learned way of
eating, we can assist our genes and hormones in fighting
the gaining of excess pounds and retrain our bodies how to
process foods. When we eat correctly, we also get better
sleep. Proper nutrition can help lose the pounds put on by
all of these biological factors, and improve your overall
health.
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