AObese people do not always “eat too much”, and the difficulty of fighting overweight is not always a lack of willpower. Cecilia Lindgren, director of the Big Data Institute at the University of Oxford, explains who says this. In an interview with the Spanish newspaper El Pas, His team identified multiple genetic variations associated with a greater risk of fat accumulation in different parts of the body. According to the professor, an excess of 100 calories (Kcal) per day will result in an increase of about 4.5 kg (Kg) per year.

“Genetic studies tell us that obesity is controlled by feelings of satisfaction and hunger. We live in an environment with extra calories. If you are very hungry and you are not satisfied with what you eat, you can eat more at any time,” he explains.

“There is a misconception [obesos] They are people who just sit and fill themselves. There are always pictures of very fat people eating five McDonald’s hamburgers, but the truth is, it’s enough to eat 100 extra calories a day, about 10 pounds a year. It may not seem like much, but if you do it every year, the wood will grow faster. So I do not think this is an option. ”

According to the professor and researcher, there are about 3,000 known genetic variants associated with obesity. Stephen Orahilli of the University of Cambridge researched diseases caused by one or two serious mutations in a gene, which Cecilia Lindgren describes as “diseases in which patients cannot stop eating”.

“It is important to note that we are not victims of our DNA, but that we were born with a precaution. It is important for these people to know why we have to work so hard to maintain a healthy weight,” he stressed.

“People with a strong predisposition to obesity, with all the genetic variants, weigh 20 pounds more than another person of the same age, gender and height. But there are other people in this lottery who are lucky and not overweight: have a precaution against starvation.”

“When there is food everywhere, always,” the researcher explains what an overweight environment is and how it affects food.

“This is junk food, it’s always on hand, which means you’ve eat more if you’ve been hungry. In the 1960s, there was alcohol and tobacco on the bedroom tables. , More fruit and mineral water. People are beginning to realize that you do not need food everywhere, all the time. ” .

To the question of whether eating 500 calories of banana is equivalent to eating 500 calories of ice cream, Cecilia Lindgren explains.

“If you put 500 calories of bananas in one plate and 500 calories of ice cream in another plate, the bananas will weigh five times as much as ice cream. They measure not only the calories but also the amount of food you eat. Eat all the bananas, you will be more satisfied, if you eat 500 calorie ice cream, you will feel hungry again after an hour, it is rich in calories but it does not fill you up. Dietary conditions, weight, fiber content and consistency are very important, ”he says.

However, the professor argues that “it is important to consider obesity as a disease, so people take it seriously.”

Also read: From risk factors to diagnosis. Here are the things you need to know about obesity