It has been long known that a higher body fat above 40% will dramatically increase the risk for cardiovascular disease. However, a recent study published in the journal Nature Genetics revealed that even if you are low body fat, you could still have high risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

IRS1 is called ‘lean gene” because this gene is linked to lower body fat. But people with this slim gene could be still at higher risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Scientist found that even though IRS1 – the lean gene – can relatively lower body fat, but this gene can also cause accumulation of glucose and cholesterol in some dangerous places. It collects fats around organs instead of under skin, so the people with IRS1 gene would appear slim but the fat is accumulated around organs which increase the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease.