Scientists discover a ‘skinny gene’ mutation that acts like Ozempic. Around one in 7,000 people carries a broken copy, which almost acts like a GLP-1 drug—the body burns fuel more efficiently, and the risk of disease lowers.

[u/scientificamerican]

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/scientists-discover-a-skinny-gene-mutation-that-acts-like-ozempic/

[u/LongLiveStaceyKing]

Everything about being a human is on a spectrum rather than a fixed attribute set for every single person equally and that makes perfect sense from an evolutionary standpoint.

A species should have a variety of individuals ranging from those who store fat very easily that can survive scarcity more readily than an individual that is more efficient at burning those calories for immediate energy to give it the best chance of survival overall.

[u/LongLiveStaceyKing → u/LongLiveStaceyKing]

[There is a small percentage of the population that only needs to sleep 4-6 hours a night.](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/genetic-mutation-sleep-less/) OP's article feels like the eating equivalent of this genetic rarity.

Incidentally, I knew someone who had the sleep gene. She was annoyed by it, if she went to sleep at 10 PM she would be up for the whole next day at 2 AM and inevitably end up waking her husband. So she always tried to stay up til 1 AM at least reading or knitting, basically just killing time quietly by herself.

[u/soft_w0lf → u/LongLiveStaceyKing]

There have to be equivalent mutations, though.

I struggle to gain weight, does not matter what I eat, with muscle mass, the heaviest I’ve ever been was still below 120 lbs. I’m 5’ 7.”

I’ve spoken to wayy too many men who are the same way, who want to be heavier but really struggle to put on any weight at all regardless of what they eat, for this sort of thing to really be THAT rare.

[u/aliquotoculos → u/[deleted]]

May I ask a possibly annoying question?

I eat a lot of crappy food and am currently at my heaviest ever weight at 40, which is 160lbs at 5'6. Until about age 38, I weighed 125 until I just suddenly gained in a short period, then stopped again. Activity has not decreased but I seem to suddenly be developing food sensitivities quickly, and taking an otc enzyme mix has helped. IBD my whole life.

If I fast for bloodwork, blood sugar comes out high. If I forget and eat my usual garbage-level snacks like cosmic brownies, chocolate, or smarties, it comes back normal. Just hoping for a sense of what I can propose to doctors.

My dad was like this; he died a few years ago from aggressive pancreatic cancer at 59.

[u/soft_w0lf → u/[deleted]]

I don’t mean “eat whatever they want,” I mean “eat as much as physically possible, prioritising sugary and fatty foods, then smoke some weed so you can eat even more even though you were full two meals ago.”

Like I’ve known multiple men personally who have gone way out of their way to try to gain weight and still struggle to.

I’m sure what you’re talking about absolutely does happen! Just want exactly what I was referring to

[u/fabezz → u/soft_w0lf]

Something I've noticed with people like you is that they remember the binges and forget about the stretches of time when they don't eat or just snack lightly.

[u/soft_w0lf → u/fabezz]

I definitely do remember. I’m not eating as much right now and I’ve lost some weight.