If it’s not something you do often, exercise can occasionally feel like a burden, a boring necessity of life. So what if there was a way to move it from one need full of equipment and time for something busted in the mouth? What if a person could theoretically consume exercise? A new study from Stanford University has brought the world one step closer to that reality.
Publishing their results in the journal Nature, researchers from the USA have discovered the molecule behind the link between exercise and hunger.
His original intentions were to find out why exercise makes someone hungry.
During the course of their research, they discovered that the molecule, known as Lac-Phe, is produced during exercise.
It is this molecule that contributes to reducing obesity and food intake.
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Speaking about his research, Professor Young Xu said: “If we can understand the mechanism by which exercise triggers these benefits, then we will be closer to helping many people improve their health.”
Meanwhile, it was co-author Jonathan Long who said that these benefits were communicated through pills.
Long said the pill could help extend life: “We wanted to understand how exercise works at the molecular level so we could capture some of its benefits.
“For example, elderly or frail people who can’t get enough exercise may one day benefit from taking a drug that can help slow osteoporosis, heart disease or other conditions.”
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Professor Xu added: “Our next steps include finding out more details about how Lac-Phe mediates its effects in the body, including the brain.
“Our goal is to learn how to modulate this exercise pathway for therapeutic interventions.”
Although more research is needed to understand how to control and package this molecule, it marks a notable step towards an ‘exercise pill’.
While this would be a substantial scientific achievement, there are reasons other than physical fitness for people to continue to exercise in the current form.
In addition to helping people lose weight and improve their physical health, exercise also has psychological health benefits.
Exercise releases a number of hormones in the brain such as serotonin.
These hormones improve mood and well-being.
While the future may be akin to Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, the old ways may still be, at least to some, the best.
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