Diet Wars: Genetics May Be The Missing Link

You’d have to live in another galaxy to be unaware of the obesity epidemic and its health implications. Quite frankly with all the diets and weight loss products on the market, you’d think we’d all be in tip top shape. Last week I talked about the importance of your genes (coded instructions that determine our appearance and and how we function inside and outside our bodies) and new scientific links between weight, health and diet. I provided links to studies showing that for some people eating lower amounts of fat increase risk for heart disease,Weight Loss: It’s Not Just Your Jeans You Need To Worry About: valeriegoldstein.wordpress.com/. Today, I’ll focus on diet.
Diet success or failure can be based on a person’s genetics and how one responds to different nutrients (fats, proteins, carbs). While I think the concept is interesting, we may have to wait a little while longer for a more fine tuned understanding of the science of nutrigenomics before someone wins the Nobel Prize.
Recently scientists found specific genes that were determined to be involved in:
1. Storing fat
2. Burning fat
3. An individual’s response to exercise
These genes may influence a persons risk for gaining weight and may help determine which type of diet (low carb, low fat or somewhere in the middle) works best for each person. If you want a more in depth description, Mark Young, markyoungtrainingsystems.com/tag/inherent-health/, gives a good description of the specific study that was featured on the Dr. Oz show.
Will this recent discovery linking genes to how well one responds to a particular diet put an end to the obesity epidemic or will the diet wars go on forever? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. I do not believe rushing into anything is good for anyone. However if the science proves itself worthy, it may be smart to leave the diet and exercise decisions up to your genetics to determine how many carbs and how much fat you eat and just how intense your work out should be. Now how’s that for an individualized lifestyle plan?