Australian scientists may have discovered the ‘Holy Grail’ of diet pills – a pill that tricks your body into thinking it just exercised – and it may be available for you to purchase sooner than you think.
This new ‘miracle drug’ is said to have an exercise-like effect on muscles and improves metabolic health, just as exercise does.
This drug has been tested on overweight mice. The result? No more cardiovascular disease. The drug was effective enough to reverse cardiovascular illness.
RELATED: The Fountain of Youth May Have Been Found
“Heart disease is still the biggest killer of people with diabetes and obesity, with little in the way of treatment.” This drug could be revolutionary for people who suffer from diabetes and obesity.
So how does this drug work?
“The benefits of exercise is that the body burns more lipid (fat) by turning on genes in the muscle that control fat metabolism. The scientists found one specific protein keeps these genes turned off, however, during exercise, the genes are turned on. Through tests on mice, and by genetically manipulating that specific protein, the researchers noticed that the muscles looked like they had been exercising and metabolism was increased in the muscle.”
RELATED: Want to Live to Be 100 Years Old?
Sounds pretty good. So does this mean you can hang up your running shoes for good? Not quite.
There are still many benefits of exercise that cannot be harnessed in a pill. This drug treatment will not necessarily be for those who simply do not want to exercise or are too ‘busy’ or ‘lazy’ – instead, this would be used as a treatment for cardiovascular disease, obesity, and type-2 diabetes. It could also be used as an exercise substitute for the elderly or to help wean the obese into an exercise program.
RELATED: Exercise Makes Our Muscles Work Better With Age
There is one side effect of this drug that is not-so-awesome – it makes you eat more. Even though your body is burning more fat, the total energy expenditure is much higher than normal, meaning you need more fuel.
“While they are metabolically healthy, the mice actually tended to eat a little bit more which isn’t really surprising because we know that exercise alone is not that effective at making you lose weight, which is more associated with dietary changes.”
Article Curated from:
NY Post
