Friday, 08 Aug, 2008 Health & Fitness

It is possible that scientists managed to create a pill that can help people suffering from obesity. The pill frees dieters from different eating rules and in addition helps slow down the process of aging.

The research was published in the journal entitled Mechanisms of Ageing and Development. It claims that the pill "locks in" the advantages of dieting and allows people to get back to normal eating having no fear of gaining extra weight.

The name of the pill is alpha-lipoic acid and scientists working at the Britain's University of Liverpool claim that it not only helps obese people but may also have a positive effect of slowing down aging.

The lead researcher of the study, Malcolm Goyns, who is also the director of Immorgene Concepts, which is a scientific research company based in Stockton-on-Tees, stated that he was certain to follow the approach himself.

"Our discovery indicates that by following a calorie restriction diet for six months and then taking alpha-lipoic acid while eating normally, the same life extension effects will be experienced," the Independent newspaper quoted Goyns as saying.

But the scientists warned that by simply adding the dietary supplement to the diet will not have any effect.

"It seems that alpha-lipoic acid fools the body into behaving as if it was still on whatever diet it was following before the supplement was added. We found there was an anti-obesity effect as well," said Goyns.

However, some scientists are still uncertain whether the finding could be used by humans, since the research was carried out on rats.

"It is an unusual and interesting finding and it needs repeating in further research. That was as far as I was prepared to go, but Malcolm wanted to apply it to humans. I said I didn't agree with his interpretation and we had to wait for further studies," mentioned Brian Merry of the School of Biological Sciences at the British University.

Source: Times of India

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