#93 - The "Obesity Gene" Explained: Is Your DNA Making You Fat? (FTO Gene & Science)
Choose Hard with Cody McBroom
Cody McBroom
4.9 • 825 Ratings
🗓️ 27 January 2026
⏱️ 47 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
"I have a predisposition that no amount of willpower is going to control." When Oprah Winfrey shared those words, it sparked a global conversation about the "Obesity Gene." But is your DNA a locked door, or just a map?
In this episode of Choose Hard, Cody McBroom breaks down the science of the FTO gene, hunger hormones, and the "Thrifty Gene" theory. While biology dictates your starting line, it does not dictate your finish line. Cody dives into the landmark studies proving that while genetics "load the gun," your environment and habits "pull the trigger."
[Take The Obesity Gene Quiz—See Where Your Genetics Stand, HERE!]
In this episode, we cover:
- The Science of Fat Distribution: Why your DNA determines where you store fat (and why you can’t spot-reduce).
- The FTO Gene Deep Dive: How this specific variant affects "food noise," satiety, and your brain's reward system.
- The 30% Eraser Effect: How physical activity can effectively "mute" genetic predispositions to weight gain.
- Epigenetics & The "One-Legged" Study: A mind-blowing look at how exercise literally rewrites your internal software.
- Neutralizing the Signal: How high-protein diets, fiber, and sleep quality act as "pharmaceutical-grade" tools to quiet genetic hunger.
If you’ve ever felt like you’re fighting an uphill battle against your own biology, this episode will give you the scientific proof that you have more control than you think. Your blueprint is not your destiny.
Resources Mentioned:
- The GIANT Consortium Study on Fat Distribution
- The University College London FTO/Ghrelin Study
- The Karolinska Institutet Epigenetic Study (The "One-Legged" Cycle Study)
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | In this episode of the Choose Hard podcast, we're going to talk all about the obesity gene, which, |
| 0:06.1 | thanks to Oprah, is everybody's latest excuse once again on why they should not be losing weight. |
| 0:12.7 | But I'm going to debunk this myth, talk about the science behind the gene, and what you need to do to make sure that that gene doesn't actually take over your |
| 0:21.9 | results and you start seeing better progress from the hard work you are putting in. |
| 0:28.6 | The greatest things in life all start with a challenge. |
| 0:32.5 | You must accept that everything is hard before it gets easy. |
| 0:36.3 | Every, every, everything you want in life begins with a hard path. |
| 0:39.9 | Begins with a hard path. |
| 0:42.8 | All right. |
| 0:43.7 | So in today's episode, we are going to talk about genetics. |
| 0:48.9 | First, I'm going to start by quoting Oprah. |
| 0:52.2 | And I just want to say this first. |
| 0:55.2 | I don't have anything. |
| 0:56.4 | I have no issues with Oprah. I think she's awesome. She's very successful. She's inspiring. So there's a lot of great things to say about her. In fact, she has a lot of great quotes that I've actually used in my content or just an advice and on my Instagram story and stuff like that over the years. But I got to admit, when I started |
| 1:11.6 | seeing her comment about the obesity gene go viral, it really rubbed me wrong for a few reasons. |
| 1:17.9 | One, it is literally the polar opposite of what choose hard means. It is instead playing the victim |
| 1:23.5 | and pointing at something that is out of your control and saying that's why I can't get |
| 1:28.4 | the result that I want in life, which we're just not about at choose hard. But also because it's |
| 1:35.5 | just not rooted in true science. It is using one study and a poor definition or understanding |
| 1:42.1 | of that one study and neglecting the countless research studies |
| 1:46.1 | that actually conflict against it and say the opposite and say, yeah, the obesity gene is a thing, |
| 1:51.6 | and I'm not saying that it's not. But here's all this evidence to support the fact that you can |
... |
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