Scientist say that you can get fat just like getting a cold by contracting a virus.
Nikhil Dhurandhar an associate professor at The Pennington Biomedical Research Center, in Baton Rouge, La., said the virus, known as AD-36, can lead to obesity just like other virus lead to colds.
"When this virus goes to fat tissue it replicates, making more copies of itself and in the process increases the number of new fat cells, which may explain why the fat tissue expands and why people get fat when they are infected with this virus," Dhurandhar said.
New
research supports earlier theories from studies on weight gain;
evidence in tests on mice and chickens shows the bug could cause
overweight people to gain weight. The study also reveals research
claiming dieters always feel hungry because humans have a "natural body
weight" and they will always suffer hunger pangs." "People could be fat for
reasons other than viral infections, so it’s pointless for fat people
to try to avoid infection," Dhurandhar added.
According to Fox News:
"In one test, a third of
obese people had the rare and highly contagious virus compared to just
11 percent of thinner people. Weight gain can last three months until
the body has built up resistance to the bug.