Have you ever heard of the FTO gene? The “fat mass and obesity-associated protein”, or alpha-ketoglutarate-dependent dioxygenase FTO, has been pinpointed by scientists as a primary factor in whether you’ll become overweight or obese. If you have a variant of the FTO gene, you may be genetically programmed to be overweight or obese. In fact, if you have two copies of the variant, you’ll most likely weigh about 3kg more on average and be 1.7 times more likely to be obese.
But, just because you have this variant FTO gene, you can still lose weight, according to a scientific study published in British Medical Journal. Researchers examined 9,563 people and found that there is no significant differences in terms of the outcome of weight loss between people with and without the FTO variant. It didn’t matter what type of weight loss treatment participants used, whether it was plain old diet and exercise to medication and psychological treatment – everyone was still able to lose weight. Plus their outcomes were assessed at eight weeks to three years, which means that weight loss outcomes were comparable even well after their initial loss.
So, just because being overweight runs in your family, this study proves that it’s not an excuse. You can still lose weight!