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Are your genes making you fat?

Terry Andrew Dunn
3 min readFeb 19, 2021

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Is there any scientific evidence?

Photo by AllGo - An App For Plus Size People on Unsplash

Most doctors and nutritionists will tell you the reason for being overweight or obese is simple: your energy-in is greater than your energy-out. You’re eating too much and not burning it off. This is according to Dr. Andrew Jenkinson, a practicing bariatric surgeon with clients in the UK and Dubai.

It’s no surprise to me — we’ve all heard this message.

Throughout his career, he listened to his patients who were obese, had not succeeded with yo-yo dieting, were fatter than ever, and were at the end of their tether. Their obesity was causing them pain and they were looking at surgery — a rather drastic solution — to insert a gastric band or remove part of their stomach, which is what bariatric surgery is.

And they kept telling him, ‘I can’t help it doc, it’s in my genes’. Most doctors would treat that as an excuse for lack of will-power, but as Andrew says, that’s only rule #1 — they are missing rule #2. The human body’s amazing system of homeostasis, which is the ability of your body to maintain equilibrium when it becomes unbalanced. A good example of homeostasis is your home heating system. It’s controlled by a thermostat, which turns your heating on or off so your home stays at a comfortable temperature.

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Terry Andrew Dunn
Terry Andrew Dunn

Written by Terry Andrew Dunn

I'm obsessed with health and feeling good. Nutrition, sleep, exercise all play their part. But energy is fundamental to a healthy life.

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