How could something as bad for us as insulin resistance become
so common? Diabetes researchers have proposed several theories
about the role of insulin resistance in the eating patterns of
several cultures. A 1962 article in the American Journal of
Human Genetics kicked off the debate with the hypothesis about a
certain gene. The author, genetics professor James Neel,
proposed that people with type 2 diabetes have a "thrifty" gene
(actually a set of genes) to cope with cycles of feast and
famine. This thrifty gene makes as much use as possible of the
minimal amount of food available. In this way it protects the
body from starvation by storing fat during times when food is
scarce. But during prolonged periods of ample food intake, like
today in the United States, the body ends up storing too much
fat. An example of a group of people who seem to carry this
thrifty gene is the Pima Indians, who live in Arizona. In a 1998
article in the New Yorker magazine, the author states that the
Pima are the most obese peopl