Will This Become The Magic Anti-Fat Pill?

A drug designed to specifically hit a protein linked to the life-extending benefits of a meager diet can essentially trick the body into believing food is scarce even when it isn't, suggests a new report in the November Cell Metabolism.

The drug called SRT1720, which acts through the protein SIRT1, enhances running endurance in exercised mice and protects the animals against weight gain and insulin resistance even when they eat a high-fat diet, the researchers report. The drug works by shifting the metabolism to a fat-burning mode that normally takes over only when energy levels are low.

...The researchers found that a low dose of SRT1720 partially protected mice from gaining weight on a high-fat diet after 10 weeks of treatment. At higher doses, the drug completely prevented weight gain in the animals. SRT1720 also improved blood sugar tolerance and insulin sensitivity and endowed the animals with greater athletic ability.

--from "Drug Mimics Low-cal Diet To Ward Off Weight Gain, Boost Running Endurance" at Science Daily

I gotta say, I sure hope so. I hope it really doesn't have wacky side effects. I have a certain natural skepticism about "magic pills," but that doesn't mean I can't hope for one.

Still, while I wait to see what happens with this, I plan to be drinking more grape juice and wine this season--and to more faithfully take my resveratrol supplement. Heh. Why not?

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