Genetics and Weight Loss: Do These Genes Make Me Look Fat?

Don’t you just hate it when you go on a calorie reduced weight loss plan and despite your best compliance everyone is losing weight except for you? It looks like scientists are getting closer and closer to finding an answer to this perplexing situation. Our genes may have something to do with it. Not our favorite pair of Lucky jeans, but our genetic makeup.

A recent study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, identified a variation of the gene known as perilipin. The variation of this gene appears to cause some people to become resistant to weight loss from low calorie diets.

The study followed 48 obese men and women who all followed a low calorie diet for a year. The participants who had the more common strain of perilipin lost an average of 20 pounds during the year and the participants who carried the variation of the gene did not experience significant weight changes despite excellent compliance. The researchers say that somehow the connection between calorie intake and body weight is interrupted leaving this population unable to lose weight with calorie restriction alone.

Interestingly enough, a previous study showed that this specific variation of perilipin was linked with a lower risk of obesity but in this study it was associated with weight loss resistance. Researchers think this gene may actually protect against initial weight gain specifically with lean women but once you gain the weight it actually prevents weight loss. So in short the good news is if you have this gene you may have a difficult time gaining weight but the down side is if you already have gained the weight it might be more difficult to get it down.

Does this mean there’s no hope? Absolutely not- this is very early research and there is still so much more to find out about how our genetics tie into weight issues. These research studies still need to be reproduced in other populations before we know for certain what is happening. The other important thing to note is the fact that this study only looked at the relationship between low calorie diets and weight loss which just shows us again that “one size fits all diets” do not work for everyone. Calories are just one piece of the puzzle. Make sure your weight loss program deals with all the issues around weight, with an individualized approach, and not just one piece.