The new skinny gene

Oh, I love it when a story starts out like this:

"Janine Geredes is the kind of person many of us love to hate. No matter how much the Northern California woman eats, she never gets fat. While the rest of us obsess over every morsel passing through our lips, convinced we’ll pack on the pounds if we let our guard down for just one moment, Geredes worries she’ll become unappealingly bony if she doesn’t eat enough.

'I’ve always had to work to keep weight on,' says Geredes, 43, who is 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighs 118 pounds. 'When I was a growing up I was teased for being so thin. But now, people are always saying, ‘I wish I could eat like you. You stay so thin. You must work out a ton.’ I don’t.'"

Heh. Heh heh.

According to the article on msnbc.com, scientists may have finally discovered the fairy tale “skinny” gene, as reported in the journal Cell Metabolism...and Geredes looks like just the kind of lady to have it.

You can visit Huffington Post to weigh in with the commentary, but also feel free to talk amongst yourselves here.

I must admit, my favorite quote of the story comes from obesity expert Dr. Louis Aronne, director of the Comprehensive Weight Control Program at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City, who had this to say about the skinny gene finding:

“This is so cool.”

Please note, I have not taken this quote out of context. For some reason, I can now only picture Dr. Arbonne as a skater dude wearing a Hollister tee shirt and rocking a faux hawk.

Comments

Hey, anything is possible. Maybe there are really fat genes and skinny genes. The trouble is, once people read about research like that, they become convinced that they're helpless and there's nothing they can do ("I'm doomed to be fat just like my parents"). I think weight is primarily affected by the choices a person makes, not by genes. Janine sounds like an exception to me.

Next thing you know, people like her will be kidnapped in the dead of night and brought to an undisclosed location, where researchers will harvest samples of her DNA to sell to pharmaceutical companies, who in turn will create a new diet pill. Hey! Kinda sounds like something out of "The X Files."

Nikki is right, this will just encourage people to believe they can do nothing about it. I believe that when whole families tend to be overweight that its due to poor eating habbits and learned habbits. I dont believe in a skinny gene and fat gene there does not seem to have been any fat cavemen. I also wonder if Janine eats a lot opf healthy choices rather than packing in the fries etc.

this is interesting, i read on another blog that scientists have discovered a fat gene. so i think it is true, just not to the extent that some people may make it seem.

I think the idea of having a fat gene or a skinny gene is possible. However, I don't think it dictates entirely if a person is skinny or fat. I think it means that some of us have to work harder than others to keep off the pounds.

I wonder if there are any adverse effects that come with this gene. Shortened lifespan, problems bearing children, anemia, etc. It seems that healthy women should have more body fat than what most women have with this gene...that must cause some concern.

I think it is very important to remember that proper eating is not just for the sake of "looking good" but more importantly for "being healthy". Remember that beauty is only skin deep but poor health goes all the way to the bone.

(Whisper-soft, office-appropriate applause for Lance J. Vance.)

Obviously there are people who lose or gain weight more easily than others. We're all different. (There are also people who drink, smoke and gamble every day of their lives and live to be 105, dying peacefully in their sleep with nary a health concern. Doesn't mean we all have to follow suit.)
Lance J. Vance puts it perfectly; the reason to take care of ourselves is to be healthy. Period.

There are also people who drink, smoke and gamble every day of their lives and live to be 105, dying peacefully in their sleep with nary a health concern. Doesn't mean we all have to follow suit.

I think there is some truth to the "fat gene" theory, but my own personal theory is that having "fat genes" is a lot more common than having a metabolism that won't quit. Historically, it's to our advantage to be able to store fat, so it's probably more of a genetic anomaly to have genes that make it very difficult to gain weight. Still, I think it's important to realize that most of us are definitely going to have to fight our "fat genes" and work out and eat right to maintain a healthy weight.