For the longest time, we’ve been made to believe that fighting obesity is all about willpower. However, medical research proves otherwise. The truth About Obesity featured on BBC April of this year, reveal 5 surprising factors that can affect your weight.
Gut Microbes
For more than 25 years, Prof Tim Spector has been tracking the progress of two twins, Gillian and Jackie, as part of the Twins Research study in the UK. Despite being twins, one weighs 41kg more than the other.
Prof Spector believes that tiny organisms known as microbes are responsible for the huge differenc
e in weight between the twins. He adds that when eating, you’re also feeding a hundred trillion microbes.
Gillian is the thinner of the two young adults and after a stool sample, his microbes were super diverse. As such, the thinner you’re the more diverse your microbes are.
The Gene Lottery
Cambridge University Scientists believe that the genes we inherit have a 40-70% impact on our body weight. Prof Sadaf Farooqi terms it as a lottery and continues to add that a particular fault in the genes is enough to cause obesity.
Time of the Day
Dr James Brown, an obesity expert argues that the later you eat, the more likely you’ll gain weight. Contrary to what we’ve been made to believe, the weight gain result from internal body clock and not because our bodies are less active at night.
He adds that our bodies handle calories more efficiently during the daytime than during the night. Reportedly, our bodies have a hard time digesting fats and sugars during the night time.
Tricking Your Brain
The Behavioral Team Insights laments that some individuals find it hard to keep track of the amount they eat. One of the Behavioral Scientists, Hugo Harper suggests a couple of ways to subconsciously change your eating habit instead of counting. It involves removing visual temptations. For instance, replace the unhealthy snacks on the kitchen table with some fruits and healthy snacks.
Substitution behaviors can also help. So rather than eliminate the high-calorie foods altogether, you can replace them with low calories versions instead. Also, consider diet soft drinks and cut the portions of your afternoon tea or coffee with a biscuit.
Hormones
Bariatric surgery is not only successful because of the small stomach it creates but also because of its impact on the hormones. It increases the hormones that make us full and significantly cuts the number of hormones that make us hungry.
For their clinical trial, researchers at Imperial College London have created hormones to imitate gut hormones that lead to a change in the appetite after bariatric surgery.
The trial involves injecting patients with the combination of the three hormones every day for a duration of 4 weeks.
Dr Tricia Tan reports that the patients are feeling less hungry are eating less and losing between 2-8kg in just 28 days.
So, it’s clear fighting obesity is more than just the willpower. The inherited genes, time of the day, tricking your brain and hormones have a significant impact on your weight.