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.
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.
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.
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