Genetic determinism states that our physical & behavioral characteristics are determined by our genes. Under this view, what we are today is a product of our genes. If we carry fat gene (A allele of FTO gene), you are going to be obese. However on the other hand if we have R allele of ACTN3 gene, we are going to be super champ athlete. Such claims are just false & utter nonsense. If a person has two A Allele in obesity gene- it is linked to increase appetite, high cravings for food & 70% more likely exposed to obesity risk. However, it does not mean that your body composition is restrained by your DNA sequence. The issue with genetic determinism is that it equates all human beings with their social, moral & behavioral complexity with their genes. However, in practice we are much more than genes. Here is why:
We are impacted by environment & culture: You would have probably noticed that tall folks would have either one of them or both parents as tall. Your height is highly impacted by genetic components. However, you cannot give the entire credit to genes. Besides genes, diet also plays a major role. So even if you are the child of Tennis player Maria Sharapova, you would not grow as tall if you follow a poor diet. Environment factors such as diet & nutrition have a major role to play in determining your physical characteristics. The same logic applies for body weight & composition. Even if you have double AA in its obesity gene, it is not necessary that you will be obese or overweight. Your intensity of workout is encoded by your genetic code. So does that mean that healthy body weight is the outcome of your genetic code only? Not really, it is actually a combination of both your genes, your environment & lifestyle that shall influence your body weight.
A single gene does not determine our body weight: It is highly unlikely that a single gene can have a massive impact on physical traits. Complex activities such as athletic ability, capacity to build muscle & tendency of being overweight are determined by multiple genes. As a matter of fact your body weight is impacted by a lot of interacting factors such as metabolism, appetite, circadian rhythm- all of these are influenced by lot of different genes. Therefore, you cannot evaluate one gene-FTO gene & determine that you are destined to be fat. However, knowing that you have a fat gene answers a lot of questions about your diet & gives insights about the intelligent choices you can adopt to maintain a healthy weight.
Increased risk for obesity does not mean higher penetration of Obesity gene: Genes which increases the risk of being overweight cannot be completely penetrated. With the exception of rate obesity syndrome, most obesity related genes have low to moderate penetration. It essentially means, people who have high genetic risk to obese does not have to face life long struggle with the extra bulge. To be put in simple words, those who have obesity genes- weight is not entirely not their fault but there is something they can do. Therefore a DNA test can provide insights about genetic risk to obesity as well as provide intelligent nutrition & exercise performance choices that help them to maintain a healthy lifestyle. This is what Passion for Fitness is trying to achieve by blending life-science & fitness.
Passion for Fitness hasblended life science with digital fitness to offer genomics based personalized fitness solution for time-pressed folks. With a vision of helping 100 million people adopt a healthy lifestyle, the company is bringing a revolution in fitness arena which has been historically dominated by gyms and me too online fitness models. By differentiating fitness goals from aesthetic goals, the company is bringing a paradigm shift in the lifestyle discipline of people globally.
Sushant Kumar (Founder & CEO, Passion for Fitness) also believes that Fitness is never a function of supplements and artificial pills, rather fitness is all about combination of genetic composition and environment which includes sleep, diet & general lifestyle. The basic building blocks of fitness have been fabricated by so called fitness experts and have been projected as fulfillment of short-lived aesthetic goals. To sign up for their fitness program, you can go to www.thesushantkumar.com/online-fitness-coaching
About Company:
Passion for Fitness is a global fitness company that offers genomics based online fitness coaching solution for folks who do not have time to take care of their health. They offer a curated nutrition & workout plan based on genetic code of their customers & help them adopt a healthy lifestyle to aid with their fitness goals. They are serving customers from across the globe.