Mutated Mice the Key to Human Weight Control?
Eureka! No more diet books. Cancel your gym membership. Pour out the protein shakes. We've found the diet miracle!
Get some lab rats, scramble their livers, feed them fatty foods and they won't gain a pound, even without exercise.
Experts are hopeful this can work in humans too...
In a study, published in the journal Cell Metabolism, scientists implanted a molecular shunt into the liver cells of 94 mice. The shunt contained an enzyme normally found in bacteria and plants, but not animals.
Despite feeding Mickey and Minnie a high-fat diet (mimicking fast food) the mice stayed lean and mean. Their shunted-livers were able to burn more fat, keeping it out of their blood and off their hips and butts.
Similar studies have shown shunts can normalize blood glucose levels in diabetic obese mice, but experts say more research is needed before molecular shunts can be used in people. Honestly, I want radioactive spiders first.
Now, science is great, but I get all my mouse-related weight-loss advice from one guy senor Speedy Gonzalez!
Via: HealthDay News.
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That's funny... I stay lean and mean on a high-fat diet (80% of calories). How did someone sneak a shunt into me?
Or, perhaps a high-fat diet made up of natural animal foods is probably the easiest way to control weight.
ReplyNo, the way to control weight is not eating more calories than your body needs. There's no metabolic advantage to a high fat (low carb) diet.
I stay lean and mean on a diet that is high in carbs, with moderate to low fat and moderate protein. Nothing magical. Just controlling calories.
ReplyI never claimed there was a metabolic advantage. There is, however, a satiety and nutritional advantage (if you pick pasture-fed). The nutritional advantage becomes a hormonal advantage.
If you still think in terms of calories, your diet isn't doing its job.
ReplyI am not even going there. I am not holding my breath waiting for the results of this OR how they can do this in humans. I don't even care!
Just eat better & get moving. Nobody is saying be perfect but everyone can take steps to eat less if you are eating too much & moving off the couch & putting the remote control down for an hour or two a day. Take a walk, play, anything that gets you moving.
ReplyI'm with you Jody!! There are so many reasons to eat well and be active other than just controlling weight! I know you love your weights and same here!
ReplyAs a former athlete and now a mom...I have tried so hard to exercise and eat well. The exercising part is the most difficult, but since our little guy has had severe food allergies and Eczema, we have completely changed our eating habits. I refuse to buy processed junk and will read labels on everything! I will not buy high frustose corn syrup and will spend half of our budget on fruits and vegs! Since giving our son Vidazorb probiotics he has been helped so much...we have been so excited about our answered prayer that our family now takes them! I recently learned about the link between weight management and probiotics! So...if only I could just get busy exercising. Thanks for the funny article...good laugh!
ReplyAny time you screw around with biochemical pathways, you're messing up important things in your body that can have consequences later on. Sure, you could be thin and eat whatever you want, but what if these mice with shunted livers end up dying very prematurely from some sort of unknown liver damage? Sorry, not interested.
I think you're better off just eating a natural diet based on plants, nuts, meat, eggs, etc. and avoiding processed foods. I stay thin and I eat a lot of fat as well. Of course, most of the fat I get in my diet is plant-based fat as opposed to the saturated fats found in fast food.
ReplyI love reading about the latest research and studies on all health topics. It's the fun part of my job! But I tend to avoid reviewing studies that involve a handful of mice. It may be interesting, but I figure it will be a long way off till the study may be relevant to humans.
ReplyWhy do we need to even resort to this? If it wasn't for fat people, there would be a lot of scientists, pharmaceutical, and other industries out of business. Perhaps the best way to stimulate the economy is to over eat? Somebody tell Obama.
ReplyI think this is actually really interesting and could have potential to help scores of diabetics and possibly even people with slow metabolisms in the future. But I agree with Kellie, if this discovery actually pans out and is effective in people, it would be at least a decade before anything even hits the market, and the chances of that are slim at best.
I must say that after 3 months of working out for over an hour at the gym 6 days a week, doing semi-intense cardio and weight training, eating under 2000 cal a day and only losing 10 pounds thus far (as of right now im 5'1" and just under 200 lbs) ... I wouldn't mind something that could help speed up my metabolism.
(p.s. I'm not looking for diet advice - so please keep opinions to yourself...)
Replyright on, sister
ReplyWow, interesting experience, but I hope you do notice all the other benefits from going to gym :-)
ReplyThank you Michael! :)
Reply"slow metabolisms" are a myth. A person with a so-called "slow metabolism" probably only burns about 200 fewer calories a day than someone with an average metabolism. Lots of things factor into it, but you can raise your metabolism by doing a lot of strength training to build lean muscle mass. Do that and combine it with a diet that's very rich in fruits and veggies and lean protein and you'll lose weight. Just curious...I'm wondering how you define "semi intense cardio" and "under 2000 calories a day". Lots of people overestimate how hard they work at the gym and underestimate how much they eat...maybe that's part of your "slow metabolism"?
ReplySpectra,
I do an hour on the eliptical almost everyday at a setting of 13 incline and a resistance of five. Usually I keep the number of steps per minute at 145-160 which is fast enough to keep my heart rate at around 150, and intense enough for me to drench 7 folded up paper towels with sweat :) The machine reads that I'm burning 650-700 cal each time but I'm not quite sure I believe this, I think its less because of the mechanics of the machine...it seems like it does half the work of lifting your foot for you...
My boyfriend's a special forces officer that was a master fitness trainer in the military, and I've been following the routine that he's given me for strength training. I'm definitely seeing results from this...though I'm a little distressed that my muscles are getting just about as bigger than I want them to be...so I'm going to start doing more reps with less weight.
As for keeping my diet at around 2000, I do this by keeping a diet diary - and I do try to keep the calories recorded as accurate to serving size as possible. Oftentimes I overestimate the calories a little just in case. I don't take into account how much salt I'm taking in, or how much fat is in my food for now because psychologically this is just about all I can take right now...that'll probably be my next step.
To be fair...I have an uncommonly large amount of muscle mass on my body. And thicker bones than anyone else I've ever met for my height. The circumference of my calves is 15" always has been and I don't think there's an ounce of fat on them :(. My boyfriend is always commenting on how most bodybuilders would kill for calves like mine (just what every girlfriend want to hear right? lol)
My ideal body weight is probably around 150-160 because of my freakishly large build.... It's just a little distressing to see that I can work out harder and longer than most of my slender friends and to not be seeing more drastic results from it. But enough focusing on the negative... if I don't see the results I want I just have to keep focusing and working harder and eating less.
ReplyWell, it sounds like you've got a pretty decent cardio routine going, but maybe you should mix it up more. You must have a Precor machine since you mentioned the adjustable incline. Try different inclines and resistance levels for your hour and see if that makes you work a bit more. Oh, and don't believe the calories-burned counter on the machines because they are ridiculously inaccurate. On an elliptical for an hour, you probably burn more like 500 calories for the workout you're doing.
And since you are so muscular, you're probably not going to fit the mold for BMI. I'm the same way...I'm short and muscular and right now at 5'3" and 110 lbs, I'm ridiculously ripped and actually a bit underfat, even though I'm not technically underweight. If you have a large frame, you can't go by the numbers on the scale. You have to pursue the goal that's right for you.
ReplyThank you for taking the time to respond to my comment! I was just thinking about it...and even though 200 calories less a day doesn't sound like much, it adds up to one pound gained every 15 or so days...that's 30 pounds a year of weight that would theoretically be gained if two people were eating the exact same diet.
I truly believe that many people can get away with eating 200 more calories a day and be just fine...and there are many that can't. I think there are many body weight homeostasis mechanisms yet to be understood...probably involving leptin that keep our bodies at certain set points.
This is by now means an excuse for me being fat...I'm just starting to get the feeling that to get my weight down to where I want it to be, I need to eat less than perhaps the average person would have to...and I'm just going to have to deal with that. The proof will be in the pudding.
Thank you for all the helpful advice you've been posting on this site. I always enjoy your posts.
ReplyPursue health, and look after your body.
Forget all those who say your body should be this shape, that height, this weight, that haircut, this kind of jeans, that kind of shoes.
ReplyIs that a chocolate mouse? Yum! :)
Reply