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The #Bodypositivity Annals: Oprah Vs. ‘Obesity Genes’

Alyssa Pointer /Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP

Intelligence dossiers on the heifers’ and their comrades’ heavy-handed Social Justice™ jihad against fatphobia. 

The absolute state of the human-whale hybrid’s BMI is never their fault, you must understand. And you mustn’t ever claim otherwise, which is to reveal to the world your own deep-seated fatphobia, and likely anti-BIPOC racism too — unforgivable moral failings.

Such is Social Justice™ law, and it is ironclad.

Related: Southwest Airlines Caves to Fat Mob, Gives Away Free Seats to Obese Passengers

Fat people, unlike normal-sized humans, you see, are not gifted with the normal human trait of agency; it’s all about the genetics, which are conveniently out of their control.

Then along comes a pharmaceutical pimp to whisper sweet nothings in their plus-sized ears.  

Then come the sponsorship dollars in exchange for disseminating industry talking points to the rubes on cable television.

Then comes, if one is properly connected as the godlike diva Oprah Winfrey is in spades, a guest spot on The View to dispense the good news:

“All these years, I thought I was overeating. I was standing there with all the food noise — what I ate, what I should eat, how many calories was that, how long was it going to take — I thought that that was because of me and my fault. Now I understand that if you carry the obesity gene, if that is what you have, that is what makes you overeat. You don’t overeat and become obese; obesity causes you to overeat. Obesity causes you to have all of that food noise. And what the GLP-1s have done for me, and I know a number of other people, is to quiet that noise.”

Related: Social Engineers: White Men's Sexual Interest in Big Butts Is Now Racist

Now, notwithstanding the unscientific and liberal use of the term “food noise,” I must admit that, in setting out to debunk the “obesity gene” talking point, it appears that there is at least some theoretical clinical backing to the existence of such a thing as an “obesity gene,” according to human and rodent studies.

Via Trends in Genetics (emphasis added):

In 2007, an association of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the fat mass and obesity-associated (FTO) gene region with body mass index (BMI) and risk of obesity was identified in multiple populations, making FTO the first locus unequivocally associated with adiposity. At the time, FTO was a gene of unknown function and it was not known whether these SNPs exerted their effect on adiposity by affecting FTO or neighboring genes. Therefore, this breakthrough association inspired a wealth of in silico, in vitro, and in vivo analyses in model organisms and humans to improve knowledge of FTO function. These studies suggested that FTO plays a role in controlling feeding behavior and energy expenditure. Here, we review the approaches taken that provide a blueprint for the study of other obesity-associated genes in the hope that this strategy will result in increased understanding of the biological mechanisms underlying body weight regulation…

Multiple processes could plausibly contribute to the risk of obesity, including neurological circuits governing appetite and whole-body energy expenditure, as well as peripheral pathways involved in energy expenditure. Loss-of-Fto function appears to reduce fat mass in mice, at least in part, through increased energy expenditure but not decreased energy intake. However, the study of intermediate phenotypes in humans showed that FTO SNPs are associated with appetite and food intake but not energy expenditure (Table 1). Interestingly, data from rodents suggested that Fto might affect neuropeptide Y expression in the hypothalamus, which in turn is known to impact feeding behavior.

So, although the historical virtual non-existence of morbidly obese people outside of overfed, sedentary royalty up until very recently in history belies the claim that “fat genes” determine the physical specs of the individual, it seems that, in fact, there might be a genetic component to the condition after all. 

The real question is, however, how much influence do genes exert on body fat percentage, and is that influence significant enough to offset any personal responsibility on the part of the human-whale hybrid, leaving expensive medication as the only treatment option? 

Oprah and her friends in the Ozempic marketing department would certainly say so; there’s simply too much money to be made not to. 

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