Exercise in a bottle? Too good to be true, say health experts–but now a food and beverage giant is challenging that claim.
According to a recent report by ABC News, the Swiss company Nestle is now developing a so-called “exercise in a bottle,” something which the company hopes can help people with diabetes or clinical obesity reap a healthier lifestyle.
Of course, most people are interested in it as a way to lose weight.
“Ideally, we’ll be able to develop products that will help promote and augment the effects of exercise,” says Kei Sakamoto, head of the diabetes and circadian rhythms department at the Nestle Institute of Health Sciences in Switzerland. “The goal is to develop a nutritional product that mimics or enhances the effect of exercise for people with limited mobility due to old age, diabetes or obesity. The enzyme can help people who can’t tolerate or continue rigorous exercise.”
Reporting in the journal Chemistry & Biology, researchers studied a compound called C13, something which they believe may promote fat burning similar to exercise. To test out their theory, they used mice in a laboratory setting and gave them the compound, keeping tabs on how it affected their bodies.
Luckily, the experiment confirmed their suspicions–mice fed C13 did not produce fat, thanks to how the compound affects a type of enzyme called AMPK. This enzyme, though not familiar to most consumers, stops the liver from producing fat when manipulated, making this an important find for researchers.
Theoretically, researchers also believe in humans the same compound will prevent the body from producing fat, acting as an alternative to exercise–something which speeds up the fat-burning process.
Other scientists remain skeptical, however.
“Although I am very happy that new specific compounds with selective AMPK are coming to the forefront, I can say I have guarded optimism,” says Silvana Obici, an endocrinologist from the University of Cincinnati at Ohio. “As a doctor, I want to point out that any drug that we have at our disposal for weight reduction and obesity [does] not work unless you are implementing lifestyle changes.”
Even Sakamoto, who was involved the study, shares the same sentiments. Although the compound may mimic the effects of exercise, the drink alone can’t replicate all of the benefits of regular exercise–instead, it’s a last ditch effort for people who cannot physically exercise, like the morbidly obese.
Still, Sakamoto remains optimistic.
“Nestle will never be able to mimic all those effects in a single product,” says Sakamoto.
What This Means For You
It sounds too good to be true–and perhaps it is. Though Nestle’s new research may reveal an alternative to exercise, other scientists say there truly isn’t a way to avoid it. Your best bet? Find a way to make exercise for you–chances are you won’t get your hands on this exercise in a bottle anytime soon.
Readers: Would you use this drink to avoid exercising?
Sources:
The Skinny on Nestle’s New Exercise in a Bottle Project – ABCNews.go.com
Exercise in a Bottle is Next Food Frontier for Nestle – Bloomberg.com
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