How to: Fitness 14 | The Genetics of Body Weight, DNA Testing, and the Future of Health with Dr. Giles Yeo
We had the amazing opportunity to speak with an incredible guest, respected Cambridge university lecturer Dr. Giles Yeo.
Dr. Yeo is a professor of molecular neuroendocrinology whose research focuses on food intake, genetics, and obesity, and our conversation was nothing short of amazing.
1:57 We talk about Giles’ recent “midlife crisis” that manifest in the form of an amazing cycling adventure across the UK.
7:33 What is obesity? There is an oversimplified yet strong-held belief that body size correlates with health, and Dr. Yeo talks us through the impact genetics play on our body size. The ability a individual’s body has to carry body fat without negative health implications is impacted by our genes.
12:14 How much fat we can store safely (without disease) is largely genetic, though there are always environmental factors at play as well. Where we hold our body fat is also entirely purely genetic
14:38 Twin studies help us understand what portion of our health is genetic versus environmental. Dr. Yeo shares a fantastic example of heritable traits using hair color (compared to fat carrying capacity, body shape) and freckles (compared to what foods we like to eat, how much food we eat).
17:17 Mail in DNA tests (ex: 23 and Me) and can show us some accurate traits, while others are a stretch. There are both predictable traits that these tests can show us (like response to lactose and alcohol), and less predictable or more complicated traits (aerobic capacity, which diet would be best for us).
23:17 How do these DNA tests provide inaccurate information? Predictable traits that involve just one compound are far more likely to be true and there is legitimate information we can learn.
27:24 Dr. Yeo was recently on the Diary of A CEO podcast, where parts of his interview were utilized for soundbites that circulated around the fitness community while taken out of context. There was a lot of backlash around his comments surrounding calories, as well as his physical experience vs. his expertise.
30:38 Calories tell you the amount you’re eating and the energy content, but nothing of the nutritional content of a food.
35:15 With advancements in how we understand the genetics of bodyweight, we’re getting closer to understanding how to use genetics to tailor our intake to our individual needs. As we figure out how to mass monitor food intake, our potential to understand individualized needs grows in incredible ways.
39:12 Is there a future of individual calorie-counting devices that give us a more accurate view of our intake?
43:23 We talk through the challenging topic of balancing body positivity/neutrality and health. We don’t do ourselves justice when we focus on weight; we need to focus on health.
49:45 Dr. Yeo has worked in this industry for 25 years, and his messaging and beliefs have changed over his time. Policymakers, doctors, and individuals with more authority are often part of the problem in perpetuating weight stigma.
53:00 Dr. Yeo’s ideal future of health promotion is to solve poverty, making healthiest options als
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🟡 Michael Ulloa
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