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Exercise molecule burns away hunger

A metabolite called Lac-Phe is associated with exercise-induced ‘muscle burn’. This molecule has now been shown to reduce food intake after exercise in mice, racehorses and humans, and to trigger weight loss in obese mice.
  1. Tahnbee Kim

    1. Tahnbee Kim is at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, USA.

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  2. Scott M. Sternson

    1. Scott M. Sternson is at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, USA.

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Long bouts of exercise can promote weight loss — as long as increased energy expenditure is not compensated for by later food intake. Writing in Nature, Li et al.1 describe a product of metabolism (a metabolite molecule) that is released during exercise and subsequently suppresses appetite in mice. The authors’ findings open up a route for better understanding of the physiological consequences of exercise.

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Nature 606, 655-656 (2022)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-01321-x

References

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Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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