You’ve heard that diet and exercise are key to living a healthy life, right?
Well, they are.
But researchers are convinced that there is a way around diet and exercise. Mostly, people simply do not want to change their lifestyles and so researchers are trying to help them do that.
They say that there is an overactive enzyme that promotes weight gain. Some people have the genetic code to make this enzyme overactive while others simply do not.
So they decided to investigate this enzyme a bit by injecting a group of mice with an inhibitor that blocks the enzyme and then feeding them a high-fat diet. They compared this group of mice to another group that was not given the inhibitor but was fed the same high-fat diet.
As you might expect, the group that received the inhibitor had a 40% decrease in weight gain compared to the control group.
Even though nothing quite beats a clean diet and moderate exercise, that still is sometimes just not enough. (Not all of us can be Gisele Bundchen.) The theory goes that if people make an effort to improve their lifestyles while also taking the enzyme inhibitor, then perhaps we can fight obesity more effectively.
So why the big push to combat obesity?
Obesity is a major health epidemic in almost all parts of the world, but especially in the US and Australia. Not only that, but obesity is linked to heart disease, cognitive issues, and, of course, diabetes.
The hopes for this medication is that by reducing obesity, we will then also reduce the rates of heart disease, cognitive disorders, and diabetes.
Research is still ongoing and will take some time before being approved for public use. So in the meantime, continue chowing down on fruits and vegetables and go for your evening walks!
[expand title=”References“]
Science Daily. URL Link. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
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