Q&A: Is Obesity a Choice? - with Giles Yeo

Ғылым және технология

Is there similar genetic components to anorexia? Have there been any controlled studies that have looked at applying one diet on a variety of genetic makeups? Giles Yeo answers audience questions following his talk.
Buy Giles' book "Gene Eating: The Story of Human Appetite" now - geni.us/jnNxw0p
Watch the talk: • Is Obesity a Choice? -...
Dr Giles Yeo is a geneticist with over 20 years’ experience dedicated to researching the genetics of obesity. He obtained his PhD from the University of Cambridge and assisted the ground-breaking research that uncovered key pathways in how the brain controls food intake.
His current research focuses on understanding how these pathways differ from person to person, and the influence of genetics in our relationship with food and eating habits. He is based at MRC Metabolic Diseases Unit, where he is Principal Research Associate, and is a fellow and graduate tutor at Wolfson College.
This talk and Q&A was filmed in the Ri on 1 November 2019.
---
A very special thank you to our Patreon supporters who help make these videos happen, especially:
Andrew McGhee, Anna-Chiara Bellini, Dave Ostler, David Lindo, David Schick, Erik Shepherd, Greg Nagel, Jan Bannister, Joe Godenzi, John C. Vesey, Kellas Lowery, Lasse T. Stendan, Lester Su, Osian Gwyn Williams, Paul Brown, Radu Tizu, Rebecca Pan, Robert Hillier, Robert Reinecke and Roger Baker.
---
The Ri is on Patreon: / theroyalinstitution
and Twitter: / ri_science
and Facebook: / royalinstitution
and Tumblr: / ri-science
Our editorial policy: www.rigb.org/home/editorial-po...
Subscribe for the latest science videos: bit.ly/RiNewsletter
Product links on this page may be affiliate links which means it won't cost you any extra but we may earn a small commission if you decide to purchase through the link.

Пікірлер: 87

  • @SlowToe
    @SlowToe4 жыл бұрын

    “An absolute masterclass in communication and engagement ”. Well said Misses

  • @DANGJOS

    @DANGJOS

    4 жыл бұрын

    Yes he's brilliant at it!

  • @gdbutcherable

    @gdbutcherable

    2 жыл бұрын

    And he's spot on with the science. Too many sources of diet info are wrong.

  • @herbieshine1312
    @herbieshine13122 жыл бұрын

    Absolutely loved the lecture and love this Q&A. What an engaging, humorous, informative and charming person Giles Yeo is!

  • @TheAdwatson
    @TheAdwatson4 жыл бұрын

    This was by far a better option than watching New Zealand's mundane Friday night TV offerings. Thank you for continuing to add to the education of people of all ages. My first experience of the RIGB was watching the first Christmas Lectures by Eric Laithwaite, unfortunately on the "missing" list, and I still find myself looking forward to the next Christmas Lectures despite being what nobody would describe as a "young person" at 67 years old.

  • @TheRoyalInstitution

    @TheRoyalInstitution

    4 жыл бұрын

    That means a lot to us, thank you. And you're in good company when enjoying the Christmas Lectures. We see it as a family show that can be enjoyed by all people of all ages.

  • @Marqan
    @Marqan3 жыл бұрын

    Good questions, and even better answers! I had some issues that I think Giles should've addressed, but at least mentioned, and he answered most of them here.

  • @hemeoncn
    @hemeoncn4 жыл бұрын

    Thanks you for a great lecture and Q&A.

  • @miloice74
    @miloice742 жыл бұрын

    Humans are the only beings that leverage on knowledge to make reasonal decisions against instincts for our benefits and goals. Thanks for the video. More can benefit from the knowledge. What we know, we can use to our advantage.

  • @funglegunk
    @funglegunk2 жыл бұрын

    Giles is fantastic, but the questions were also great. Very informative Q&A.

  • @meteoman7958
    @meteoman79584 жыл бұрын

    Giles - One of the best!

  • @wandering3ngineer
    @wandering3ngineer4 жыл бұрын

    Thanks to the Royal institution and Giles. An eye opening talk.

  • @phonzy
    @phonzy4 жыл бұрын

    Thank you Giles!

  • @kathyorourke9273
    @kathyorourke92734 жыл бұрын

    Very informative and may do much to reduce tendencies to shame obese people. I bought the book on Audible while watching.

  • @abrahamwondafrash7549
    @abrahamwondafrash7549 Жыл бұрын

    wow! such an informative talk!

  • @StuckCentrist
    @StuckCentrist4 жыл бұрын

    There needs to be similar study on what motivates people to exercise or not. The other half of the scales.

  • @markislivingdeliberately

    @markislivingdeliberately

    2 жыл бұрын

    Don’t have the technology really to understand motivations quite yet. At least that specifically. Can do mri and see what lights up, but understanding human motivations is beyond our capabilities right now. But clearly, humans value comfort over health. The last 50 years have demonstrated that quite well.

  • @zvxcvxcz

    @zvxcvxcz

    2 жыл бұрын

    There has been some work in this area. Social exercise seems to be quite motivating for many people, e.g. team sports. In part you feel more obligated because others are depending on you and expecting you to show up, it's also probably more fun. Another big part is habit, if people can do it long enough for it to become habitual, then they are much more likely to continue beyond that. Exercise is unfortunately much less effective than diet when it comes to weight loss, so I would hesitate to call it the other half in that respect. In terms of overall health though, I wouldn't be surprised if exercise is potentially even more important than weight.

  • @zvxcvxcz

    @zvxcvxcz

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@markislivingdeliberately Really? I'm not terribly convinced of that. After all, running for one's health (jogging) was a bit of a novel concept 50 years ago. I think we have become far more aware over the last 50 years that there even was some sort of health/comfort dichotomy...though I think that is a misnomer. As someone on the heavier side myself, I can tell you that it is not more comfortable, not socially and not physically, so it's sort of weird to refer to not exercising as the comfortable choice. There can also be a bit of a vicious cycle, you don't want to go running because you're heavy and it's embarrassing, you don't, and then you get heavier, so it would be even more embarrassing, etc... I think our food decisions are largely overshadowed by the moment unless we put significant effort into planning and sticking to a diet. You go to work thinking, "I'll just have a sandwich for lunch today." You have a bit of a rough morning, an unpleasant meeting and you're not making as much progress on your project as you should, lunch rolls around, you go to the cafeteria, and now you're really craving the buffet. It smells delicious and you don't want to get back to work after the 5 minutes eating a sandwich would take, you want to take 20 minutes to reset before diving back in. So ok, you slipped, but you tell yourself you'll have less at dinner, or you'll only have the sandwich for lunch tomorrow... When you're less stressed you're more likely to make better health decisions. Say you go in, you're making good progress in your work, finding some exciting results, you hardly even want to take the time to eat lunch, you do only eat the sandwich at your desk while you continue coding so you can get the next part running before you leave. Once you submit those jobs to the cluster, there isn't too much to do until they are done the next day so you leave a little early and go play basketball with a light mind. That is my anecdotal (unreliable) take on the matter. Sure, we can't fully see motivation in the brain, but there is nonetheless an extensive body of literature investigating motivation with many clever experiments. Do read them with caution though, as there are many papers that have not been reproducible.

  • @gmc___

    @gmc___

    Жыл бұрын

    i think about my enemies and how they would love to see me fail. before i had any people that disliked me i didn't exercise but now i do. it's more likely more a social cause than a biological one.

  • @Metalkatt
    @Metalkatt4 жыл бұрын

    I would love to be able to send off to determine if I have any of these genetic factors. Then again, I'd like to be able to have a fMRI going throughout my day to see how my brain works while I'm dealing with people on the phones. It'd be neat if we could know more about ourselves.

  • @Magnulus76

    @Magnulus76

    2 жыл бұрын

    70 percent of Americans are now overweight so chances are, we all have genetic propensities towards weight gain rather than weight loss.

  • @lorimiller4301

    @lorimiller4301

    Жыл бұрын

    I remember going to the states in the 70s and being stunned at how many people were huge. Not just overweight but very obese. I was horrified that there were so many people, so I didn't see it in Canadians , at least not in the 70s. It's probably changed by now. It just stood out to me as a child.

  • @debbieloring9875
    @debbieloring98752 жыл бұрын

    Brillant lecture

  • @radoslavsk8591
    @radoslavsk8591 Жыл бұрын

    I did 21 day fast with only water/coffee/tea and salt/magnesium/potassium and lemon juice in water occasionaly but nowhere around 21 day i was much hungry. I was just missing something to chew, something to have in my mouth. Many ppl can go 40+days without food. Salt helps a lot, one time daily some big crystal of salt. I was cold all the time (big sign in slowed/sparing metabolism), so wearing more clothes helped greatly, but never meassured my temperature, must try next time :)

  • @sheezy2526
    @sheezy25262 жыл бұрын

    Great talk! It made me hungry, time to grab some muncheez

  • @5pecular
    @5pecular4 жыл бұрын

    If i have a choice between broccoli and pizza I will eat both.

  • @zvxcvxcz

    @zvxcvxcz

    2 жыл бұрын

    Broccoli is nice on pizza.

  • @CleanCutt
    @CleanCutt2 жыл бұрын

    It's an addiction. Like alcoholism. They lose control ... and to fight it is really tough.

  • @klausgartenstiel4586
    @klausgartenstiel45864 жыл бұрын

    there is also the issue of a certain kind of significant others setting you up for weight gain. pretty sure it's not entirely their own fault either. probably some kind of "provider" gene.

  • @markislivingdeliberately

    @markislivingdeliberately

    2 жыл бұрын

    This. I own a gym and just today I had a lady say her husband wouldn’t allow her to go to the gym. Wtf… she said “My apparently self conscious husband won’t let me go.” Crazy sauce. I use that as a selling point often actually. “Society usually tries to get you to make poor health decision- oh common have cake it’s my birthday! Nobody ever says ‘hey it’s Friday night, let’s go crab a kale salad and some iced water!” Works every time.

  • @taichiroward5770
    @taichiroward5770 Жыл бұрын

    I went 30 days without food once going from 336 lbs down to 260. Started eating again after my body displayed signs of anemia.

  • @gmc___

    @gmc___

    Жыл бұрын

    Wow, have you journalized this somewhere? I would be very interested to know more about this!!

  • @NetAndyCz
    @NetAndyCz4 жыл бұрын

    I find it amazing that Japan has such low obesity levels, yet they have invented sumo!

  • @jabhutt1013

    @jabhutt1013

    4 жыл бұрын

    Yin Yan, they had to make up to this somehow, so they come up with the answer. To keep it balanced:D

  • @451Duke

    @451Duke

    2 жыл бұрын

    They are catching up. They became industrialized and westernized way later in history as a country and way faster than other places in the world.

  • @lucretius8050

    @lucretius8050

    2 жыл бұрын

    I feel the food industries play a huge role, you will eat what's available when you are hungry and Japanese tend to favor whole foods culturally instead of processed foods. Capitalism also has some parts to play in tweaking foods to be as addictive as they can within regulations to maximise profits which isn't as powerful in some Asian countries. Individualism (western) vs collectivism (eastern) also affect the marketing and regulations of foods and healthcare, the collective "good" of the population in a collectivistic country will culturally steer the mentality in some manner.

  • @user-fk8rb8ue5h
    @user-fk8rb8ue5h Жыл бұрын

    In the word, it comes down to appetite, but people can't say that. If you didn't want it, you wouldn't eat it.

  • @maxpowers4436
    @maxpowers44362 жыл бұрын

    Obesity is the culmination of many negative choices over years much like diabetes. Yes genetics play a part but so does education and healthy educational choices related to food.

  • @snoopyjot
    @snoopyjot4 жыл бұрын

    "It takes a month without food for us to die": actually it takes longer in some of us lucky individuals. I survived 70 days with no calories, admittedly my body was incredibly unhealthy by the end but I survived and I'm still alive thanks to my tube feeds (I'm fed directly into my jejunum) My starvation wasn't intentional, I have gastroparesis and it suddenly worsened a ton and my stomach stopped accepting any foods and very, very little water and it took me a lot of time to get someone to help. This is why I consider myself a very lucky human being, especially as I'd gone years on a very low caloric diet so I starved on an almost empty tank. I'd love to have my genes tested to see what's there in relation to my abilities to starve for longer than normal, as I'm extremely energy efficient even now (4 years after my starvation). I need far fewer calories to maintain my weight and if I get even a few more calories than I need I get fat quicker than I should do and really struggle to lose it. My diet is fixed as it comes in a bottle (thanks to the wonderful NHS) that I remove 100ml ish (depending on activity level) with a syringe so we know almost exactly how many calories I'm taking in. My drs and dietitians are a little bewildered by my caloric needs (as I'm pretty active and not at all sedentary, even though I'm disabled in other ways than my gi system issues). I'm just thankful or I don't think I would have survived the end of 2014!

  • @adjusted-bunny
    @adjusted-bunny2 жыл бұрын

    To the stress-out guy at the end: Don't get married, no kids and don't get a job!

  • @forrestfey
    @forrestfey Жыл бұрын

    Also if you are poor you live with a lot of stress. Not good if you stress eat.

  • @bridgetmonica31
    @bridgetmonica312 жыл бұрын

    sure is..i have always eaten only dinner,for 20 years ,am in my 40s and still 55kg at 5 feet five..Many people ask how are you slim,and i tell them,I only eat what I need,no more.

  • @teo88888able
    @teo88888able Жыл бұрын

    SPORTS CAR IS SMALLER IN SIZE BUT IT HAS HIGHER CAPAITY ENGINE WHICH EXPENSES MORE ENERGY WHICH IS HIGHER IN METABOLIC RATE ? ? IS THIS CONCLUSION RIGHT ? ?

  • @edwardleas4792
    @edwardleas47924 жыл бұрын

    Ifs hard for it to be a choice in murica when sugar is in everything, and organic is a selling point to make cheap growing tactics a way to make produce more expensive

  • @AQGOAT24

    @AQGOAT24

    4 жыл бұрын

    it's also the way cities are built in the USA. Most cities are far apart, driving is required and no public transit. Just living in a nyc you lose weight because you take public transit and can walk everywhere to run errands

  • @markislivingdeliberately

    @markislivingdeliberately

    2 жыл бұрын

    Sugar isn’t in chicken or beef or lettuce. Just don’t buy packaged food and cook yourself and you’re fine. I live in the same america as you do bub. Stick to the aisles and you’re fine for the most part. And I don’t buy organic. Just eat regular broccoli. You’re fine.

  • @cserpakbalazs6342
    @cserpakbalazs6342 Жыл бұрын

    Turns out, having more money is better.

  • @gmc___

    @gmc___

    Жыл бұрын

    Maybe not the direct cause, but i guess just some correlation. People with more money also have higher education on average for example.

  • @bplus2932
    @bplus29324 жыл бұрын

    just curious does this Amazon review on his book hold up? "he states there is no difference between consuming high fructose corn syrup and cane sugar. ( since both have about 50% glucose. that's it) makes you wonder what other misinformation harder to check is presented in this book."

  • @wktodd

    @wktodd

    4 жыл бұрын

    There may be no calorific difference between the sugar types, but I suspect you'll find the corn syrup used more freely in processed foods ( it's probably cheaper and thus more profitable )

  • @bplus2932

    @bplus2932

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@wktodd that makes since. do you think he might overlooked this point deliberately or did his research suggest not enough of a difference to be noted in his book?

  • @5pecular

    @5pecular

    4 жыл бұрын

    His study is on statistical population wide differences and does not include effects on metabolism.

  • @kateorman
    @kateorman4 жыл бұрын

    Brought to you by Dominos XD

  • @zipperneckfronkenstein3364
    @zipperneckfronkenstein33642 жыл бұрын

    Very interesting and engaging but still no one is talking about the people who AREN'T over eating or eating highly processed foods in large quantities and still gain weight...I'm never going to find answers....

  • @edwardmartinez1258

    @edwardmartinez1258

    2 жыл бұрын

    It depends on the definition of over eating. I could eat 20oz of popcorn and only eat about 2000 calories or I could eat 20oz of peanuts which is about 3200 calores(using large quantites just for comparison). The popcorn is will be much more in volume but only 2/3 of the calories that are in the peanuts. I think the issue is people don't realize the amount of calories in individual foods. You may not eat a lot of volume, but calories may be much higher tha you realize. It's kind of like the "whats heavier a pound of feathers or a pound of bricks" they may weigh the same, but the density is substantially different.

  • @zipperneckfronkenstein3364

    @zipperneckfronkenstein3364

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@edwardmartinez1258 Smartass replies are SUPER helpful THANKS. As in fruits, veggies, protein, whole foods 900=1200 cal a day....

  • @edwardmartinez1258

    @edwardmartinez1258

    2 жыл бұрын

    ​@@zipperneckfronkenstein3364 I don't understand how my reply a "smartass" one, could you explain? Also, I don't quite understand what you mean by "As in fruits, veggies, protein, whole foods 900=1200 cal a day...." could you clarify what you mean?

  • @zipperneckfronkenstein3364

    @zipperneckfronkenstein3364

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@edwardmartinez1258 I may have over reacted and I'm sorry for that but it's also frustrating when I say that I'm not an over eater, I'm eating whole foods not highly processed foods, generally try to make half the plate veggies and a quarter of protein and carbs and then to have someone hit me with one of the oldest health standards that not all calories have the same quality as in some have better nutrition profiles than others.

  • @edwardmartinez1258

    @edwardmartinez1258

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@zipperneckfronkenstein3364 do you weigh your food when you eat? If you're just eyballing everything you may be inadvertantly taking in more calories than you realize. Whole foods are great, but they can be deceivingly high in calores.

  • @charlesparrish2831
    @charlesparrish28312 жыл бұрын

    Obesity is largely genetic and it really doesn’t matter too much what you eat;decrease the amount you eat and eat healthier.

  • @svenmorgenstern9506

    @svenmorgenstern9506

    2 жыл бұрын

    Proof?

  • @charlesparrish2831

    @charlesparrish2831

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@svenmorgenstern9506 yes it is genetic but we all choose what we eat though.

  • @Magnulus76

    @Magnulus76

    2 жыл бұрын

    People with thrifty genes will find it harder to eat less and lose weight without killing their metabolism. A much better strategy is to eat less calorically dense foods, dropping calories by no more than 500 kcals below the basal metabolic rate.

  • @ForgottenAria

    @ForgottenAria

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@charlesparrish2831 We choose what to eat in the same way we can hold our breath. The body eventually learns our tricks and rebels. (There have been several meta studies showing that calorie deficit fails for long term weight loss in ~90% of people and causes weight gain in about 2/3.) Eating a "good diet" won't cause you to lose weight. It's still a good idea, however.

  • @DamianReloaded
    @DamianReloaded4 жыл бұрын

    Is smoking a choice? Non smokers will tell you it is.

  • @thekaxmax

    @thekaxmax

    4 жыл бұрын

    Also ex-smokers, me being one. It's a choice to start. But this is addiction biology, a very different thing.

  • @zoltanmatei424
    @zoltanmatei4244 жыл бұрын

    have all the particle accelerators switched off originator souls are able to track matter flows in various naturally occuring forms, but the unnatural ones are maybe not tracked so correctly such as particle beams wich instead collide with souls as those have a high speed, but i doubt near speed of light speed or i doubt near limitation speed this sounds strange because you are used to souls belonging to other dimension, however souls and originator souls are both in this 3 dimensions but acting on the message level so particle message speed is what those have without concerning mass but the highspeed beams of particles do hit the soul constructs because there is touch interaction in between the two (such as flow tracking flow following)

  • @thekaxmax

    @thekaxmax

    4 жыл бұрын

    woo woo. Go home, you need a rest.

  • @charlesparrish2831
    @charlesparrish28312 жыл бұрын

    Obesity is NOT A CHOICE;Obesity is an unfortunate bad genetic hand that many people are dealt unfortunately.

  • @gmc___

    @gmc___

    Жыл бұрын

    It's a bit of both genetica and your choices. Did you listen to the lecture?

  • @chetthebee1322
    @chetthebee13224 жыл бұрын

    Privilege? Really? Historically, poor people were skinny and rich people were fat.

  • @xponen

    @xponen

    4 жыл бұрын

    what I mean is; look at how we purchase food if we have cash vs if we don't; quantity over quality.

  • @xponen

    @xponen

    4 жыл бұрын

    that's what he meant when he cited UNICEF saying that poor children eat more but wasn't eating what they needed.

  • @ex-nerd

    @ex-nerd

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@NerdyNEET macaroni/rice/potatoes all turn into sugar in your blood -- much of it FASTER than actual white table sugar does.

  • @ac12484

    @ac12484

    2 жыл бұрын

    Not anymore…

  • @samuelbrice3699
    @samuelbrice36993 жыл бұрын

    In 99% of cases, yes. It is a choice.

  • @charlesparrish2831
    @charlesparrish28312 жыл бұрын

    Obesity IS NOT A CHOICE!!!Cure this disease please!!!!!Stop talking about it and TREAT and CURE THE DISEASE!!!!!!!

  • @rogueone8194
    @rogueone81944 жыл бұрын

    Is obesity a choice? Yes. Thank you for attending my lecture.

  • @juiceski30
    @juiceski304 жыл бұрын

    Yes it's 100% a choice. There is a reason the obesity rate has exploded over the last few decades and it is mostly ignorance.

  • @GglSux

    @GglSux

    4 жыл бұрын

    Let me guess You are obese, but it's Your conscious choice? Yes? Best regards.

  • @michaeldmingo1525

    @michaeldmingo1525

    4 жыл бұрын

    Living in USA will make you fat, live in Japan and you are way less likely to be fat. Why because of food culture and all the Mc Donalds in USA.

  • @5pecular

    @5pecular

    4 жыл бұрын

    Its 100% influenced by changes within the industrialised food industry.

  • @thekaxmax

    @thekaxmax

    4 жыл бұрын

    try actually watching the lecture

Келесі