Episode 8: The Fat Gene

So it’s March and I’m still carrying the winter layers, if you know what I mean? You know what I got for Christmas? Half a stone fatter. I need to return those gifts; it hasn’t rained in approximately 5 whole days in this wonderful land and the temperature has risen by 2^oC so that means it’s spring by our standards.

The birds are singing and the flowers are sprouting, I have been taken by Sunspiration (the desire to be healthier because it’s sunny) and like a spring clean for the body its Detox time!

I attempted a diet only once before in my whole life, by midday on the first day my housemates found me in the kitchen binging on Angel Slices (they are exceedingly good) and a Snickers bar. So I have dealt with my diet phobia by going down another route; detoxification.

1.       Let’s look at some scientific facts that led my decisions;
 

Energy cannot be destroyed; if you ingest more chemical energy than you expend physically it will be stored as potential energy until such a date as it can be converted. You may know this as the layer of insulation around your belly. Fat.

Energy also cannot be created. Fat cannot mysteriously appear unless you ATE IT in the first place.

I love fat food. I love sugar and sweets and the evil refined carbohydrates. Love love love. When I eat those, I get fat and that is my fault. It really isn’t such a big deal to ask myself to put the crème egg down if it’s the 3^rd one that day. Obesity is a disease and I will inflict it upon myself if I don’t keep control, it’s a slippery slope! My mummy has Type I Diabetes and Coeliac disease. She can’t eat anything nice at all, her immune system pretty much rebelled against her. So I can’t bear to hear myself or other people complain about dieting. Boo hoo if I have friends that can eat twice as much as me and be half the weight. Tough. I’m hardly going to die. Although it feels like it as I set the crème egg down...

2.       The Plan;

Above are pictured the main “Trials of Hercules” encountered on my journey, the fiancé always brings me treats, the delights of a crème egg hot chocolate and, of course, ice cream. All ice cream.

Below are a few of the weapons I waged battle with;

The whole idea of a detox ‘diet’ is not necessarily for weight loss but rather this is a happy side effect of following the programme. You cleanse yourself by cutting out sugars, caffeine, alcohol and anything processed. This is supposed to purify your digestive system and thereby improves your general health. Quite like a relaxing spa weekend for your small intestine. As it is quite extreme, you only do it a few times a year.

It generally takes 72 hours to curb cravings once cutting things out of your diet so this is the perfect length of time to trial it out. Once you have gotten over any cravings, it can jump start you into generally following a healthier diet.

Hypothesis – 3 days of eating only natural produce will remove any bloating, digestive issues or sluggishness as well as improving my skin, weight and energy levels.

3.       The Results;

Successful. Or to be scientifically correct, hypothesis accepted.
I don’t weigh myself as that is very counterproductive to body image but after just 3 days of lots of snoozing and grazing on as much fresh fruit, yoghurts, nuts and wholegrain rice as I wanted, I fitted into a dress I couldn’t zip up 3 days before. Winner winner chicken dinner! Which is exactly what I had the day after.

 

Finally, what about that Fat gene?

There is no gene that single-handedly makes you obese. Sorry. You can have genes which give you a slightly slower metabolism or maybe don’t tell your brain as quickly to stop eating. You still have a choice, these genes can be countered 100% by the food you chose to eat and the lifestyle you pursue. In other words, your DNA can contain some potential for over-eating but the environment dictates the outcome. I know, it’s unfair, but it could be worse really.

 “Genes load the gun, the environment pulls the trigger.”

~ Scott Kahan, MD

Although genetic deficiencies are rare, here is a particular protein that can be attributed to a tendency toward weight gain;

BDNF – Mice in which the BDNF gene was deleted in two of the primary appetite-regulating regions of the brain ate more and became significantly heavier than their control counterparts with fully functional BDNF genes. BDNF acts as a satiety signal to the brain, ie, it sends a message to the brain saying ‘we’re full now, stop eating’. However, when their food access was limited to only be able to eat the same amount as the ‘normal’ mice, their weight became equivalent to them. This demonstrates that although the BDNF signalling pathway affects how much you may choose to eat it has no direct effect on how the calories were processed.  

(See Research here or for something a bit more recent have a look here.)

Generally though, our human ‘hunter-gatherer’ style of diet has led us to have a genetic make-up disposed toward storage of fat which would mean better survival during famine or times of hardship, the problem is that now those saturated fats which are so rare in nature are now readily available to us in massive quantities.

Obviously there are multitudes of other issues surrounding obesity (hypothyroidism etc), I’m just telling you, it’s not the responsibility of your DNA.

 Well, the best thing about completing this detox wasn’t just losing some weight but that I did my bit for a bit of disease prevention on behalf of my own body!

Next hypothesis – A crème egg a day keeps the doctor away.

Maybe I won’t test that one. Probably would be counterproductive to the 3 days I just put myself through. But if it’s in the name of science...*sigh*... All I can say is thank the Lord they are only available 6 months a year or I’d have to be cut out of my own sofa.