Obesity and Genetics

[Sayonara]

The in-utero environment is being shown to be a major contributor to later developmental obesity.

Whether the fetus was given not enough, or too much, nutrition in utero is a very major factor in development of later obesity.

 

So why can't "too much nutrition in utero" be anything to do with pies and cake?

[michael]

Copy of apost i made at

http://forums.hypography.com/medical-science/6740-obesity-why-we-getting-fat-epizza-12.html?highlight=hungerwinter#post144741

n 1976, G P Ravelli, Z.A. Stein and M.W. Susser reported the results of a study of 300,000 men born to women who were pregnant during the Dutch Hungerwinter. These researchers discovered that adult men born to women malnourished during the first two trimesters of their pregnancies where more likely to be obese than were men in the general population.

 

Given that the offspring of mothers who were underfed for the entire duration of their pregnancies are known to be permanently underweight this finding is remarkable indeed.

 

Alan Jones and M. I. Friedman from Pitzer college tested this Hungerwinter on animals.

In their initial studies they fed pregnant rats 50% of their normal rations for the first 2/3ds of their pregnancies and then allowed them to eat freely for the final trimester.

These rats ultimately gave birth to pups that had body weights that were the same as those born to normally fed mothers.

 

However, weeks later, after weaning on to a high fat diet, the male-but not the female- offspring of the malnourished mothers ate more and gained more weight than did the offspring of the normally fed mothers.

(even though the offspring of the normally fed mothers were weaned onto the same high fat diet.)

 

The fat cells of the obese males were larger and there fat pads weighed two to three times the fat pads of the normal males.

FROM:

P118-119

The Dependent Gene"

Prof. David S. Moore, Times BooksNYNY 2001

(For, why this may be so? read p 119-121)

and

 

http://www.ecanadanow.com/science/he...andmother-ate/

Quote:

New research has shown that you are what your mother and grandmother ate

. . .

 

This new research from Australia was tested on mice by Sydney researchers. It has shown that food eaten during pregnancy affects at least the next two generations of offspring.

 

“It’s known that children can be affected by how healthy their mothers are - if she gets too much or too little nutrition during pregnancy, this can have long-reaching effects on their health,” said lead researcher Dr Jennifer Cropley.

 

“Recent evidence suggests that these effects can also be passed on to the grandchildren, too - but until now, nobody knew how it worked.”

 

They experimented by adding extra vitamins to the diet of pregnant lab animals.

 

Tests on offspring found that a gene that causes obesity and diabetes when turned on had been switched off.

Another interesting article:-

http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/mo...d/16016401.htm

I will try to find the original research

Quote:

The idea that we're too fat because we eat too much and exercise too little is based largely on "circumstantial evidence," according to a recent report in the "International Journal of Obesity." Investigators from the University of Alabama point to at least 10 other possible reasons why we are getting too big for our britches. Here are the top three:

 

• We don't get enough sleep. Studies on animals and humans have shown that too little sleep increases the appetite.. . .. Other studies have found that fewer hours of sleep at night are associated with being overweight.

 

• We have more air conditioning. As the temperature goes up, appetite goes down and we tend to burn more calories, sa. . In the South where it can get really hot, researchers note that the number of homes with central air conditioning rose from 37 percent to 90 percent over the last 20 years... right along with skyrocketing rates of obesity.

 

• Disrupted hormones. DDT, PCBs and other industrial chemicals can mess up our metabolism, say scientists. Maybe that's why we're too fat.

I cant' get to the original journal article but there is this:-

http://www.dmt123.com/diet-fitness/1507-dmt123-3.html

Quote:

10 Causes of Obesity

 

The researchers put forth these 10 "additional explanations" for obesity:

 

Sleep debt. Getting too little sleep can increase body weight. Today's Americans get less shut-eye than ever.

 

Pollution. Hormones control body weight. And many of today's pollutants affect our hormones.

 

Air conditioning. You have to burn calories if your environment is too hot or too cold for comfort. But more people than ever live and work in temperature-controlled homes and offices.

 

Decreased smoking. Smoking reduces weight. Americans smoke much less than they used to.

 

Medicine. Many different drugs -- including contraceptives, steroid hormones, diabetesdiabetes drugs, some antidepressants, and blood pressure drugs -- can cause weight gain. Use of these drugs is on the upswing.

 

Population age, ethnicity. Middle-aged people and Hispanic-Americans tend to be more obese than young European-Americans. Americans are getting older and more Hispanic.

 

Older moms. There's some evidence that the older a woman is when she gives birth, the higher her child's risk of obesity. American women are giving birth at older and older ages.

 

Ancestors' environment. Some influences may go back two generations. Environmental changes that made a grandparent obese may "through a fetally driven positive feedback loop" visit obesity on the grandchildren.

 

Obesity linked to fertility. There's some evidence obese people are more fertile than lean ones. If obesity has a genetic component, the percentage of obese people in the population should increase.

 

Unions of obese spouses. Obese women tend to marry obese men. If there are fewer thin people around -- and if obesity has a genetic component -- there will be still more obese people in the next generation.

On the polution thing there is a theory that the body deals with toxins by wrapping them in fat and storing them away. Clorinated Hydrocarbons seem to be especially associated with fat cells. This is why DDT etc can be excreted by females but not by males. The CH's are excreted though the fat in breast milk

 

http://www.ecanadanow.com/science/health/2006/11/15/you-are-what-your-grandmother-ate/

[Sayonara]

How come "pies and cake" is not on their list of "additional explanations"? It's not like it isn't a factor in any cases ever.

 

Interesting bit of research btw.

[mr d]

Hello

 

I recall that the human body is designed to store fat, actually conversion of excess calories into fat.

 

Why because for most of the history of humankind people did not have readily available food. The vast majority of people did not get 3 meals a day and often had to do without food on a day to day basis. This is still a factor in underdeveloped nations today.

 

So your body was designed to store whatever extra food it got away as fat, to live off your own body when food was scarce. Also as safe long term food storage was not developed till recently, people tried to eat as much as possible during times when food was more available, summer-fall harvest time, to fatten up just like other animals in preparation of winter when less food could be found.

 

But currently in most developed countries food is available at all times, but your body designed over tens of thousands of years when it was not, still carries out the fatten process in belief you will not always have food available.

 

Added to this lifestyles that require less strenuous physical activity, and food that contain high caloric numbers and you quickly develope obese people.

 

Recent studies show the British and French who use to make jest of fat Americans, are now themselves increasing in girth as they develope more American fastfood lifestyles.

 

Mr D

[michael]

Hello

 

I recall that the human body is designed to store fat, actually conversion of excess calories into fat.

 

Fat is also used, by the body, to inactivate and store pollutants that cannot be excreted any other way. Chemicals such as organochlorines accumulate in the fat of mammals.

 

It has been suggested that the body wraps organochlorines in fat and then stores them out of harm's way.

Interestingly (or unfortunately?) females can excrete organochlorines, via the fat in breast milk. I find this a little shocking.

 

It is strange that the current obesity crisis is world wide and even ocurrs in cultures where people do not have enough to eat. That must give us pause for some re-thinking about our cultural memes.

 

michael

[michael]

Not genetic, but very hard to avoid.

Obesity Secret Ignored!! Wow I Couldn't Believe This

 

By Dr. Russell Blaylock

 

I am convinced that one of the leading causes of obesity is being totally ignored by both by public officials and the media, despite the fact that there is tremendous scientific evidence confirming its role.

 

In 1969, neuroscientist Dr. John Olney discovered that feeding newborn rats MSG (monosodium glutamate) caused them to become grossly obese.

 

Each time he repeated the experiment, he saw the same thing. Subsequent studies have shown that this phenomenon occurred in most animal species, indicating that it wasn't something peculiar to the rat.

http://mgmsupplement.blogspot.com/2006/12/shaklee-distributor-obesity-secret.html