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| We are absolutely not made to handle the toppings bar at FroZenYo. |
FroZenYo, a self-serve frozen yogurt Mecca of yumminess, opened in my neighborhood last month. You walk in, pick up an oversized cup, fill it with fro yo, add toppings, and then weigh the monstrosity to pay per the ounce. After you pay, “free” hot fudge beckons from beyond the register. With all of those options, it’s pretty hard to limit yogurt flavors and toppings. The sheer quantity of hard-to-resist treats leads me to make some pretty interesting flavor combinations. Coconut and pistachio yogurt with berries, wet nuts, Oreo pieces, and hot fudge, anyone? Oh well, guess I’ll blame my inability to resist all of these sweet, crunchy, gooey delights on my genes.
Since FTO and similar genes make food more attractive and lower a person’s ability to resist yummy, sweet, and fatty foods, these genes definitely make living in our society harder. It wasn’t always so. Hundreds of years ago, this genetic predisposition to eat large quantities of fattening foods would have helped us survive. Throughout history, humans ate when the harvest came in or when someone from the village killed a large animal. There were periods of feast and famine. The drive to chow down kept us alive through the harsh winter. Now we power through the cold weather with venti hot chocolates, big bowls of meaty chili con queso, and non-stop streaming Netflix.
Technology has created the perfect obesity storm by making food-like substances easier and cheaper to produce. Food (or something that closely resembles it) is always around us. (Ever walked past Chipotle at 3:00 in the afternoon? There’s a long line. What meal is that exactly? Linner? Or maybe dunch? Who knows, but I need that 1,100-calorie burrito the size of my head!) Technology also enables us to stay perfectly still for long periods of time, save for pressing buttons on the remote control, smart phone, computer, etc.
These changes in our society have happened really fast, and, as a society, we’ve gained weight really fast…
… and evolution happens slowly. So, on the nature vs. nurture debate, I’m going to have to side with nurture.
Genes don’t directly affect our weight; they affect how we interact with our environment. Simply, our bodies aren’t made to live in our current society and we are going to keep getting fatter unless our environment and culture change. I’m fully aware that I’m not going to solve the obesity epidemic with this blog post, but this is how I think we can set ourselves up for success in this sedentary, food-crazed culture:
Step 1: Boycott buffets and all-you-can-eat situations. FTO and similar genes don’t allow most of us to handle them. Hey, 18% of noncarriers lost control when confronted with a Chinese buffet too. Buffets are bad news. Willpower is a myth and, unless famine is imminent, stay far away.
Step 2: More importantly, cut back on eating out all together. If we’re going to change the obesity epidemic in one generation as Mrs. Obama has promised, there needs to be a return to healthy home cooking.
Step 3: Vote for policies/politicians that work to make healthier foods cheaper and more available than junk food. To make it work, healthier foods, like farmer’s market produce, would have to be subsidized and unhealthy foods, like soda, would have to be taxed. Current government policies are setting us up for fatness.* I’m personally working to create a generation of conspiracy theorists at the college where I teach health. The truth is out there. Trust no one.
Step 4: Don’t keep crappy food in your house. Just skip the chip aisle. You know you can’t avoid it if it’s in the house. Blame it on FTO.
Step 5: Exercise for at least an hour a day. FTO carriers who exercise weigh less than those who don’t exercise (Mitchell, 2010). Duh.
Step 6: Breastfeed. Some new research shows that being breastfed for at least a month may lessen the effect of FTO in childhood (Dedoussis, 2011).
How else could we change our food environment and culture? Comment!
Sources
Dedoussis, G.V., et al. (2011). Does a short breastfeeding period protect from FTO-induced adiposity in children. International Journal of Pediatric Obesity. 6(2-2):e326-335.
Mitchell, J.A., et al. (2010). FTO genotype and the weight loss benefits of moderate intensity exercise. Obesity (Silver Spring). 18(3):641-643.
*To be described in a future post.
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