Isn’t there anything I could just eat or drink and lose weight? Well, now there is and it is all thanks to Nestle. Nestle has claimed that it is working on ‘exercise in a bottle’ where it is hopeful of coming up with a drink or pill that will enable burning of fat similar to how it burns after a workout.
The firm has its headquarters at Geneva where the team of scientists has stated that they have identified how to simulate the enzyme responsible for regulating metabolism via a compound they called C13. The findings of the research have been published in Chemistry & Biology, a Science journal, and will prove to be the foundation for discovering means to simulate the fat-burning effect imparted by exercising.
According to Kei Sakamoto, the scientist who is overseeing the research on diabetes and circadian rhythms at Nestle, the aim is to mimic the effect of exercise via a pill or a drink. The intended users are people with limited mobility owing to their old age, obesity or diabetes. He explained, “AMPK is a key protein in every single cell in your body and is naturally activated by exercise. It monitors your energy status, like a fuel gauge in a car, and tells you to fill up when your energy is low. Our research has revealed new knowledge about this master switch. In some conditions, such as diabetes, the body doesn’t respond properly to insulin and muscle cells reject the message about their need to take up glucose. However, even under such medical conditions, AMPK can find an alternative way and take up glucose in muscle. Ideally, we’ll be able to develop products that will help promote and augment the effects of exercise.”
While this approach sounds too cool, he still pointed that no product will ever be able to replace exercise because exercise gives a plethora of effects which can’t be mimicked in a single product.
Ed Baetge, Head of the Nestlé Institute of Health Sciences, stated, “The next stage is to identify natural substances that can influence this molecular mechanism. This could lead to the development of new dietary approaches with targeted effects on the body that, like exercise, could help in addressing metabolic problems and maintaining a healthy energy balance.”
