Blame it on the "Thrifty Gene"

Taken from the NY Times: Diabetes and Its Awful Toll Quietly Emerge as a Crisis 1/9/06:

<quote>The nature of these groups' [Blacks, hispanics, asians] susceptibility [to diabetes] remains under study, but researchers generally blame an interplay of genetic and socioeconomic forces. Many researchers believe that higher proportions of these groups have a "thrifty gene" that enabled ancestors who farmed and hunted to stockpile fat during times of plenty so they would not starve during periods of want. In modern America, with food beckoning on every corner, the gene works perversely, causing them to accumulate unhealthy quantities of fat.</quote>

I truly believe that the thrifty gene can be overcome. The more you feed it, the greedier it gets, and there is research that proves this as well. And I think some of us, including myself, have experienced this... when i've found myself in a viscious cycle of working and eating, i get far more hungrier than i normally would if i was not sitting at my desk in front of the computer. Just eat good healthy food, smaller quantities, more often throughout the day.

Link

Tue. Jan 10, 1:52pm

next paragraph... from NY Times article...

But the velocity of new cases among all races has accelerated significantly from just a few decades ago. Genetics cannot explain this surge, because the human gene pool does not change that fast. Instead, the culprit is thought to be behavior: faulty diet and inactivity. Dr. Vinicor, of the Centers for Disease Control, likes to use this expression: "Genetics may load the cannon, but human behavior pulls the trigger."

Tuesday, January 10, 2006, 1:55 PM

faulty diet would be the key. Our diet has evolved waaaaaay faster than our genes, and half the stuff we put in our system wasn't designed to be ingested.

Inactivity will play a part, but as many people here can attest, sometimes it seems no matter how much you exercise, you don't get much thinner, and you don't get that much healthier.

You have to ditch the processed food, and the crazy chemicals.

Tuesday, January 10, 2006, 5:15 PM

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