Is obesity hereditary or is it more about diet? Body fat is essential for electricity, heat insulation, and other functions of the body. But getting too much can lead to severe issues with your health. The more body fat you have, the higher your risk of diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, and other issues can crop up. You are more likely to develop health issues if the extra weight is mostly around your centre (apple shape) than if the weight is around your shoulders (pear shape). The greater the size of your waist, the greater the risk to your wellbeing. Taking care of fitness is essential in this day and age.
Obesity is one of the world’s greatest health issues. Several similar disorders are associated with it, collectively known as metabolic diseases such as high blood pressure, high blood sugar and a low lipid profile in the blood. There is a much greater risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes for people with metabolic syndrome than for someone whose weight is in the normal range. Be aware of this if you want to change your bad eating habits.
1. Is obesity hereditary? Let’s look at age first
Chances are when you grow older, you’ve learned of or undergone a minor weight gain. Some assume this to the slowing down of their metabolism, and it turns out they are not incorrect. Muscle continues to be replaced with fat as we age. This results in a slower metabolism that causes the pounds to start packing on as many people do not understand the change and continue to consume as they always have been. Often, this leads to weight gain.
In short, as we get older, we will find that not only are we more likely to gain weight, but it also affects the distribution of fat we consume. There’s no need to worry as it’s natural. As you age, simply be mindful of your body and behaviours, and adapt as you see fit.
Women have a drastic drop in estrogen levels, especially around menopause. In metabolism, estradiol, a special form of estrogen, plays an important role. It affects the ratio of estrogen to testosterone in the body as it decreases. This hormone ratio change will lead to a change in the distribution of fat, allowing more fat to build up in the region of the abdomen relative to the hips and thighs.
2. Genetics
There is a significant genetic dimension to obesity. Children of obese parents are far more likely to become obese. The vulnerability to putting on weight is affected by genetic components. This is also well illustrated by research on identical twins, which does not mean that obesity is predetermined. What you eat may have a huge impact on which genes are being expressed and which are not.
3. Engineered Junk Foods
Heavily processed foods, combined with additives, are mostly nothing more than refined ingredients. These items are engineered to be affordable, last long on the shelf, and taste so amazingly good that they are difficult to avoid. Food producers are seeking to boost profits by making food as delicious as possible. Yet they support overeating as well. Today, most processed foods do not at all resemble whole foods. These are highly engineered products, intended to get people hooked.
4. Food Addiction
The reward centres in your brain activate several sugar-sweetened, high-fat junk foods. These foods are, in fact, frequently compared with widely abused substances such as alcohol, cocaine, nicotine and cannabis. Junk foods can cause addiction to susceptible consumers.
These individuals lose control over their eating habits, comparable to the loss of control over their drinking behaviour by individuals dealing with alcohol abuse. Addiction is a daunting problem that can be very hard to solve. You lose your freedom of choice when you become addicted to something and the biochemistry in your brain begins calling the shots for you.
5. Not Getting Enough Sleep
People who do not sleep enough, studies indicate, are more likely to be obese. By producing the hunger-stimulating hormone ghrelin, sleep deprivation increases the appetite. You’re thus likely to eat more calories than you need.
6. Sitting Too Much
No matter how much you work out, the more time you spend sitting, the more likely you are to be obese. And it’s not just that when you’re sitting that you burn fewer calories: studies show that your metabolism can be impaired by long periods of stagnation.
7. Medications
Medicines that trigger weight gain can be a difficult subject, particularly because everyone responds to them differently. Remember that everybody’s body is different before we get into it. Consult your doctor if you have gained an excessive amount of weight since you started taking your medicine.
Carb cravings (from antidepressants) or water retention and bloat may be triggered by certain drugs. Usually, this depends on the individual and their reaction to the drugs. Many drugs can also actually make it harder to lose weight. And you’ve got to be even more patient and consistent. Antidepressants, birth control pills, and hormones are some of these medications that have been known to have these side effects.
8. Feeling Stressed All the Time
High levels of tension, studies show, are related to larger waist sizes. The fat-storing hormone cortisol is released by stress and can cause cravings for sweet and fatty foods. Many people are clueless that it has a sneaky impact on weight as if the stress was not pesky enough. “Our cortisol (stress hormone) increases when our stress levels are high. This lowers insulin sensitivity and can contribute to the storage of weight around our midsection.
The body’s glucocorticoid levels naturally rise and fall over 24 hours. However, glucocorticoid levels are constantly elevated if the body is in a constant state of stress both during the day and night. “It causes a higher conversion rate of fat cells than usual, as opposed to the usual rise and fall.” It is important to remember that further research be done on this particular reaction.
