Obesity is a serious condition in which there is too much body fat in the body. Obesity is not only a cosmetic issue. It is actually a very real health concern, especially in the United States, where one out of three adults is overweight or obese. In many cases, being overweight can cause a variety of serious medical problems.
The first thing you need to do is to lose excess weight. Experts agree that the best way to do this is to adopt a healthy diet and a consistent exercise regimen. When you eat too many calories, your body will store them as fat, even if they don’t make you feel particularly hungry. Excess body fat also makes it difficult for your body to burn off calories, so you will be constantly hungry, which increases your likelihood of becoming obese.
Some people are genetically predisposed to obesity. This means that they may have certain traits or genes that make it more likely for them to gain weight. For instance, if your parents or grandparents are always hungry, your chances of gaining weight increase. You may also inherit some genes from your parents or grandparents that make your body uses fat as a source of energy. Other genes, however, may affect obesity in ways that are less obvious.
If you have any of these genes, or a combination of both genes, you may be at increased risk of obesity. One example of a gene that may increase your risk is the FTP (fatty tissue factor) gene. The FTP is part of a family of genes that are associated with obesity and include the genes that make you biologically and physiologically able to gain fat easily. Someone with an increased risk of obesity has genes that make it harder for their body to break down and burn fat when it needs energy.
Other genes that are associated with obesity are related to type 2 diabetes and heart disease. People who have a higher risk of type 2 diabetes have a variation of the insulin-resistance gene called insulin-like growth factor, or IGF-1. Some researchers believe that the increase in insulin resistance that comes from having a higher level of IGF-1 may be one of the causes of obesity. It has been linked to an increased fat mass and lower muscle mass in mice and rats, and research is currently being done on humans to see how this hormone affects the body’s metabolism.
Another gene that may be a cause of obesity is called leptin. Leptin is a hormone produced by the leptin receptor on the front portion of the brain. When there is an abundance of food, the leptin receptors signal the brain that you have enough food to survive without eating. When the levels of the hormone decrease, the appetite increases, which leads to overeating and the development of type 2 diabetes.
