Is Obesity a Genetically Induced Brain Disease?

You may have heard that a piece on the TV program called 60 Minutes recently sparked some controversy. A doctor stated that obesity is a brain disease, and the largest contributor to obesity is genetics. To quote her, "That means if you were born to parents that have obesity, you have a 50-85% likelihood of having the disease yourself even with optimal diet, exercise, sleep management, [and] stress management..." She tells us that lifestyle won't make a difference for genetically flawed people.

The 60 Minutes Program then segues into the new weight-reducing medications, stressing how effective they are, potentially leaving the audience with four takeaways: 1) Obesity is a brain disease. 2) Obesity is genetic 3) Lifestyle changes won't work for the genetically flawed. and 4) Drugs are better than lifestyle changes, especially for the genetically flawed. This post will address these issues and more.

We Have Forgotten Why We Eat and Its Killing Us

In the history of the human race, eating was regarded with the highest priority. The taste was unimportant. Today, overly tasty foods act on the brain the same way alcohol, meth, cocaine, heroin, and many other drugs do. They cause a dopamine hit that will stimulate reward-seeking behaviors that are difficult to control. Flavorful foods are hijacking our brains. Drugs and hyper-palatable/highly processed foods are precisely the same. In both cases, the immediate short-term pleasure overtakes long-term health and wellness. I will cover this unfortunate shift and what we can do about it in this post.