during periods of undernutrition and
increase our ability to reproduce—
genetic survival.”
Today, the thinking goes, this inabil-
ity to lose weight is our body defending
against periods of undernutrition, even
though those are now much rarer.
But not all researchers agree with
this so-called “thrifty gene” hypoth-
esis. As epigeneticist John Speakman
wrote in a 2013 Annual Review of Nutri-
tion analysis, one issue with the hypoth-
esis is that not everybody in modern
society is overweight.
And, Rosenbaum added, “The evo-
lution of our genetic predisposition
to store fat is complex. It involves a
frequently changing environment,
interactions of specific genes with that
environment, and even interactions
between genes.” This interplay of fac-
tors is still a mystery.8
A SLOWER METABOLISM
DOESN’T MEAN KEEPING
WEIGHT OFF IS FUTILE.
In trials, “15 per cent of people, on aver-
age, manage to lose 10 per cent of their
weight or more and keep it off,” Rosen-
baum said. So weight loss is possible.
For any would-be weight loser,
Rosenbaum said the key is findinglifestyle changes you can stick to over
a long period of time.
He pointed to the National Weight
Control Registry, a study that has
parsed the traits, habits and behaviours
of adults who have lost at least 13 kilo-
grams and kept it off for a minimum of
one year—as an example of how they
do that. The registry currently has more
than 10,000 members enrolled in the
study, and these folks respond to annual
questionnaires about how they’ve man-
aged to keep their weight down.
The people who have had success in
losing weight have a few things in com-
mon: They weigh themselves at least
once a week. They exercise regularly at
varying degrees of intensity, with the
most common exercise being walking.
They restrict their calorie intake, stay
away from high-fat foods and watch
their portion sizes. They also tend to
eat breakfast.
But there’s a tonne of diversity as to
what makes up their meals. (So there
is no “best” diet or fad diet that did the
trick.) And they count calories.
“They made huge changes to their
diet and exercise plans to keep it off,”
Rosenbaum says. “It’s hard.”© 2018, JULIA BELLUZ. FROM VOX (SEPTEMBER 4, 2018),
VOX.COMThe Rest Is History
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