Study after study has shown that there is a link between genetics and people’s problems with weight gain. Of course, the food we eat has a little something to do with it as well. Either way, even if you are genetically predisposed to gaining weight, it’s not an excuse to just throw your arms up and surrender.
That’s because you have a very important trump card: exercise! That’s right, if you take part in vigorous activity on a regular basis, it cancels out the dreaded genetic booby trap.
Researchers took an unconventional route to finding this out. It was a study among a group of Amish people. They found that those who had an obesity-related gene called FTO, but were very physically active, weighed about the same as others who did not carry the gene.
People with two copies of the FTO gene on average weigh nearly seven pounds more and are about 70 percent more likely to be obese than those who do not have the gene.