New Drug Said to Trick Body Into Burning Fat Regardless of Diet
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}French researchers said they have discovered a drug that “tricks the body into burning off fat,” regardless of the body’s diet, BBC News reported.
A team at the University of Louis Pasteur successfully tested the drug, called SRT1720, on mice, according to a report in this month’s journal Cell Metabolism.
The drug is a chemical cousin of resveratrol, the red wine extract that combats aging and promotes heart health.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}According to the journal’s article, the drug works by shifting the metabolism to a fat-burning mode that normally takes over only when energy levels are low.
Scientists found that a low dose of the drug protected mice on a high-fat diet from gaining weight over the course of 10 weeks.
When they gave the mice higher doses, mice did not gain any weight whatsoever.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Scientists said the mice did not show any adverse reactions to the drugs, but further studies will need to be done before the drug can be tested on humans.