The Checkup: Your Genes May Decide If You’re Lazy, Study Says

• At the risk of giving you a(nother) excuse not to exercise, there’s this: a new study from the University of Missouri, which found that a person’s genes may help decide whether he or she is a fitness fiend or couch potato. The study hinges on lab tests that used rats, which were selectively bred to be either extremely active or extremely lazy. Showing? “It is possible to be genetically predisposed to being lazy,” study author and MU College of Veterinary Medicine prof Frank Booth said in a press release. He and coauthor Michael Roberts say they identified 36 genes that may play a role in predisposing someone to love (or hate) physical activity. Understanding the genetic underpinnings of laziness, they argue, could help in deciphering causes of—and solutions for—obesity in humans.

• I’m as puzzled as NPR blogger Eliza Barclay about people who find eating a nuisance. Whaaaa? She writes in her piece about meal-replacement drinks:

Strange as it may seem to those of us who adore food, there is a veritable subculture of otherwise healthy people who find eating to be a nuisance. When I did an informal poll of my colleagues and friends, a few said they could relate to Rhinehart and his interest in an alternative to food. (For the record, they were all young men.)

• The Daily Mail asks whether jewelry made from breast milk, apparently a new Etsy trend (????!?!), is adorable or gross. My answer: gross. What’s yours?

Photo: Shutterstock