‘Exercise drug’ will deliver the benefits of working out minus the work
Medical scientists have moved a step closer to a new exercise drug that gives you the benefits of working out without sweating it out. Danish researchers have reportedly come up with a pill that duplicates the benefits of exercising.
The drug flushes out toxins from the body and strengthens the heart. They conducted a study on rats and claimed that the drug showed promising results, Earth.com reported.
Researchers say that the drug delivered results that were equal to the health benefits one would get after running 10 km at high speeds. Dr Thomas Poulsen, a chemist at Aarhus University, led the study and acknowledges that several people find it hard to run that much and follow a diet.
“For people with physical ailments, such as a weak heart or general weakness, a nutritional supplement can be the key to better recovery,” he said.
Exercising makes the body enter an inflammation state where lactate and ketone levels increase. The body then releases hunger-suppressing chemicals, clearing out the fatty acids in the blood responsible for health conditions like diabetes, cancer, and dementia.
The study claims that the new exercise drug can “artificially control the amounts of lactate and ketones safely”.
“When lactate and ketone levels in the blood increase, the production of an appetite-suppressing hormone increases, and the level of free fatty acids in the blood decreases,” Poulsen explained.
Human trials of the drug named LaKe will soon begin to test whether it is safe after which its effects on humans will be evaluated.
Once the trials are done and everything comes out to be working well, it will be turned into a supplement. However, all this is still only in the pipeline and it would likely be years before the drug is released.
“We’ve developed a molecule that can mimic the body’s natural metabolic response to strenuous exercise and fasting,” Dr. Poulsen said.
“In practice, the molecule brings the body into a metabolic state corresponding to running 10 kilometers at high speed on an empty stomach.”
While the social implications of the drug are still up for debate, experts say that it can greatly help those with disabilities, elderly populations, and those recovering from severe illnesses improve their quality of life.
Anamica Singh
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