A pill that promises the benefits of a workout, minus the effort
July 23, 2013 – 11:42AM
Gretchen Reynolds
New York: Two newly published studies investigate the enticing possibility that we might one day be able to gain the benefits of exercise by downing a pill, rather than by actually sweating. But while some of the research holds out promise for an effective workout pill, there remains the question of whether such a move is wise.
The more encouraging of the new studies, which appears this week in Nature Medicine, expands on a major study published last year in Nature. In that study, a team at the Scripps Research Institute in Jupiter, Florida, reported that a compound they had created and injected into obese mice increased activation of a protein called REV-ERB, which is known to partially control animals’ circadian rhythms and internal biological clocks. The injected animals lost weight, even on a high-fat diet, and improved their cholesterol profiles.
Unexpectedly, the treated mice also began using more oxygen through the day and expending about 5 per cent more energy than untreated mice, even though they were not moving about more than the other animals. In fact, in most cases, they were more physically lazy and inactive than they had been before the injections. The drug, it seemed, was providing them with a workout, minus the effort.
Read more:
http://www.theage.com.au/lifestyle/diet-and-fitness/a-pill-that-promises-the-benefits-of-a-workout-minus-the-effort-20130723-2qfrm.html#ixzz2ZrjRDLgr