Bone Hormone Linked to Obesity and Diabetes

grrlscientist writes "New research has shown that the skeletal system may be an important player in preventing obesity and type-2 diabetes in animals. This may also be true for humans, and thus represents an important development for the treatment of these health conditions. From the article: 'Not only do bones produce a protein hormone, osteocalcin (pictured), that regulates bone formation, but this hormone also protects against obesity and glucose intolerance by increasing proliferation of pancreatic beta cells and their subsequent secretion of insulin. Osteocalcin was also found to increase the body's sensitivity to insulin and as well as reducing its fat stores ... "The skeleton used to be thought of as just a structural support system. This opens the door to a new way of seeing the bones," said Dr. Gerard Karsenty, chairman of the department of genetics and development at Columbia University Medical Center in NYC, who headed the team that made the discovery.'"

Still have to eat well.

[CannonballHead]

It still seems that not eating massive amounts of sugar (as most Americans do) might help prevent diabetes, too.

"YAY! It's not my fault! I KNEW it!"

[Anonymous Coward]

That's what millions of lazy, overeating fat people around the world are saying right now!

Re:Still have to eat well.

[Anonymous Coward]

Really? It seems that the US really isn't as high [illovosugar.com] as what you'd expect.
 
Stop being a fucking troll and blaming Americans for everything.

Re:Still have to eat well.

[Anonymous Coward]

The OP had a point though.

No matter what your bones are doing, if you eat correctly, you will not be obese
No matter what your metabolism is doing, if you eat correctly, you will not be obese
No matter what your hormones are doing, if you eat correctly, you will not be obese
No matter what your genetics are doing, if you eat correctly, you will not be obese.

People need to realise that their body ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS takes energy just to maintain it at a certain size. If you want to weigh less, you simply consume less energy than it takes to maintain your body, no matter what your activity level.

Eat correctly, you will not be obese, simple as that.

Studies like this one are just giving fatties an excuse to validate their obese existence by blaming it on something out of their control, instead of just PUTTING DOWN THE FORK OR TAKING THEIR HAND OUT OF THE BAG.

Ultra Mega Diet

[Citizen of Earth]

may be an important player in preventing obesity and type-2 diabetes in animals.

Y'know what else prevents obesity and type-2 diabetes? Eating less!

Re:Still have to eat well.

[shawb]

I notice a distinct lack of high fructose corn syrup in that data. It simply measures cane and beet sugar. Also such extremely inexpensive calorie laden ingredients such as "partially hydrogenated vegetable oil" are missing as well.

Endocrine Function

[LightPhoenix7]

Firstly, this isn't Digg, can we please not link to blogs? The original paper from Cell is here: http://download.cell.com/pdfs/0092-8674/PIIS009286 7407007015.pdf [cell.com].

Secondly, this is exciting news, but not exactly surprising. The differentiation of cells starts in the bone marrow, and there are biochemical signals that start that process. It's not surprising that some of these would be in bone marrow.

Finally, must these articles always make a point to imply that obesity is cause by some random genetic/biochemical "magic bullet," instead of eating poorly and not exercising? I understand that they need funding, and implying you may be able to "cure" obesity is a great way to get it. Even so, I think there's something rather disingenious about it.

I thought the going theory

[msimm]

was corn-based byproducts (corn syrup?). Most cookies, like most snacks (in box listed portions of course) are around 180 calories. I run about 1 mile at a 10% grade for just over 10 minutes to burn that. My treadmill has on of those digital counters. Changes the way I think about having a beer or buying that bag of potato chips. But I wouldn't call 1 mile insane, just a bit of a disincentive.

Re:Still have to eat well.

[dfghjk]

"If you want to weigh less, you simply consume less energy than it takes to maintain your body, no matter what your activity level."

Bullshit spoken by a know-nothing asshole who likely never has had to deal with weight issues in his life.

"Eat correctly, you will not be obese, simple as that."

Yes, but you couldn't define "eat correctly" to save your life. It isn't just "eat less".

"Studies like this one are just giving fatties an excuse to validate their obese existence by blaming it on something out of their control, instead of just PUTTING DOWN THE FORK OR TAKING THEIR HAND OUT OF THE BAG."

You obviously don't know a thing about the subject.

Re:Still have to eat well.

[Anonymous Coward]

"If you want to weigh less, you simply consume less energy than it takes to maintain your body, no matter what your activity level."

Bullshit spoken by a know-nothing asshole who likely never has had to deal with weight issues in his life.

Ahh. So you know a way to eat less energy than the body takes to maintain itself, and NOT have the body use up energy from its own reserves?

Some kind of magical energy comes out of nowhere?

It didn't work for Steorn, and it's not going to work for fatties who can't face up to the fact that their weight problem is caused by overeating and overlazing.

Re:Still have to eat well.

[afidel]

Actually you are WRONG. People who are on only a below needed calorie diet will eventually plateau. The reason is that a bunch of your involuntary calorie usage such as slow muscle twitching and non-instructed nervous actions will cease as your body adjusts to what it considers to be the equivalent of a famine. That is why you must balance a complete, body type appropriate meal plan with the correct amount of cardio exercise. Even then is very difficult for most people to lose and keep off a significant percentage of body fat because evolution has setup all of our bodies systems to maintain body fat as we historically have not had enough calories in our diet.

Re:May Partially Explain Why Exercise Helps

[Graff]

I've repeatedly heard it said that you would have to run for an insane amount of time to burn off the extra calories from just one cookie, so it isn't in that fashion that exercise helps with weight problems.

The amount of calories burned during exercise is only the tip of the iceberg.

Exercising burns up glucose and puts a demand on your body to change how it processes foods. As a result of these changes your body's metabolism increases not only the rate at which it burns calories during exercise but it will also be elevated for a good amount of time afterwards. This means that you burn calories for the actual exercise done but you will also burn more after you have finished exercising, taken your shower, and sat down at your desk to do some work. Here is an article [about.com] on this phenomenon.

In addition, by exercising you are telling your body that changes need to be made. Part of exercise is the microscopic tearing of muscle fibers, stress on capillaries and other transport systems within your body, and the release of various hormones related to your exertion. Your body's overall response is to rebuild and bolster these systems. You grow more muscle tissue, your capillaries increase their ability to carry more blood, various organs and cellular structures configure themselves for the next bought of exercise. All of these actions take energy and they put food to a better use than simply turning into fat around your waist.

Finally, now you have more muscle mass, better circulation, and so on. This generally results in an overall higher metabolic rate because your body has prepared itself to provide you with more energy at all times. The higher metabolic rate burns more calories even when you aren't exercising and allows you to exert yourself even more the next time you do exercise.

So there's a lot more going on than the simple "1 Calorie will lift 155 pounds to 20 feet in the air". You body changes with exercise and that is where the real weight loss begins.

Re:Still have to eat well.

[iamacat]

So are you saying that there are no health conditions that cause obesity and require medical treatment in addition to lifestyle changes? Even if that's a tiny minority of obese, millions of people in US are affected.

Let me guess, you're a 'healthy' 250 pounds?

[Dan B.]

Dude, it is a simple as that. Eat what you need, not what you want.

The parent to your comment is more right than wrong. Fat people need to stop passing the blame for their 'condition'. Hell, most of the time just being overweight is the lead cause of degrading health - e.g. Diabetes.

"You obviously don't know a thing about the subject."
You obviously don't like being told it is your fault.

Re:You're correct.

[Anonymous Coward]

While I agree that overloading on the carbs is pretty bad I feel I should say that you're not quite right to be quite so anti-carb. Carbohydrates are "quick release" energy while fats are slower. This means that if you have lots of carbs *and* you eat fats the carbohydrates will be used for energy and the fats will get stored, making you fatter. As in most things, a healthy balance between fats and carbohydrates is the best way to go so that you get that "quick release" energy that the body actually needs as well as some of the slower burning stuff fat, which as you quite rightly pointed out, can be good for you...in moderation.

People have a terrible habit of over doing things. You *need* sugars and salts in your diet, you *need* fats and carbohydrates and lots of other stuff, but it doesn't mean that you should overload on any of them OR cut any of them out. Have a healthy balanced diet and you will rarely go wrong.

Re:Still have to eat well.

[mh1997]

It still seems that not eating massive amounts of sugar (as most Americans do) might help prevent diabetes, too.

I am sick and tired of people suggesting that I have some sort of responsibility and accountability for my actions. We Americans can do, say, and act any way we like without consequences. And if someone does try to hold me accountable, I will sue the hell out of them and whine to my congressman about the need for the government to take care of victims like me.

Re:Still have to eat well.

[syousef]

Yes, 90% of fat people just need to lay off McDonald and other heavily processed food and throw away TVs.

Spoken like person who's never had to deal with a weight problem.

Re:Let me guess, you've skinny and 18?

[dfghjk]

There is absolutely no doubt that we live in a society that refuses to take basic responsibility. That I would never dispute. Furthermore, there are many overweight and obese people who refuse to help themselves.

However, just because that is so is not proof that obesity is caused by simple laziness. There is overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

The fact of the matter is that, regardless of cause, some people are predisposed to not gain weight. The claim is that it's genetic and it may be so, but it could also be fundamentally behavioral. I have a friend that in his mid-60's and isn't a pound overweight nor has ever been. He's the rudest, most insulting person towards the overweight that you will ever know yet he's never worked out, never had an active lifestyle, and eats total crap. He believes that his weight is a function of superior willpower, yet he's never been able to kick that two pack a day smoking habit. He's an asshole.

That's how it is with those who don't have weight problems. They believe their experience is the experience of all people. Some people fall victim to the pervasive bad diets in our society and struggle with their weight. They are not inferior to those who don't have such problems.

Anyone who claims that weight gain is a simple function of eating too much has never experienced the problems of the obese. They are wrong and have no basis to appreciate the real facts of the condition. It turns out that obese people aren't so because they gorge themselves; they gorge themselves because they are obese and it is a runaway train. I've posted this link several times already but I'll post it again. It explains things far better than I can:

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/healthreport/stories/2007 /1969924.htm [abc.net.au]

In summary, research shows that an overabundance of fructose in the diet overloads the liver and, over time, causes the area of the brain responsible for controlling appetite to fail to detect that the body is sufficiently fat by interfering with leptin. As a result, the body thinks it is starving and triggers runaway hunger and lethargy. Anyone who thinks they can simply will themselves to overcome that doesn't appreciate the scope of the problem. People in that condition suffer.

Remember, obesity is a growing health concern and casting blame on the weak character of the obese will do nothing to solve it. Eventually we will all pay for the consequences of an aging, fat population.

Re:Nope, get rid of ice cream/potato chips...

[iamacat]

I have never seen anyone does an hour of vigorous exercise per day and is severely obese. Muscles burn energy even when at rest. Exercise suppresses hunger and makes you not want to eat a heavy meal. Staying outdoors for long periods distracts you from desire to eat junk snacks and restricts access to the fridge. Physical activity alleviates depression, making you want to take better care of yourself.