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It really is genetic



When scientists first discovered it in certain chubby mice, they called it simply the fatso gene. Years later, when they scoured the human genome for markers that increased vulnerability to type 2 diabetes, the fatso gene (now more politely called FTO) showed up there too. Turns out, people with two copies of the gene were 40 percent more likely to have diabetes and 60 percent more likely to be obese than those without it. Those with only one copy of the gene weighed more too. Here are 10 science-backed reasons for how exercising regularly can help diabetes.

Scientists now suspect that there are lots of fat genes. “There could be as many as 100 of them,” says Claude Bouchard, PhD, executive director of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center at Louisiana State University System, “each adding a couple of pounds here and a pound or two there. That’s a noticeable difference when it comes to how much more fat we need to burn off.”

As much as 16 percent of the population has two copies of the FTO gene, and half of us have one copy. So far, scientists suspect that the other possible obesity-promoting genes have a small effect compared with FTO. The good news? “A genetic predisposition isn’t necessarily a life sentence,” says Bouchard. Also, even though FTO gene carriers are more likely to be obese, the gene doesn’t prevent you from losing weight, according to a 2016 study from Newcastle University. “Our study shows that improving your diet and being more physically active will help you lose weight, regardless of your genetic makeup,” said lead researcher John Mathers.