Episode 20: Would you like an exercise pill?

What this episode covers

What if there was a pill that you could take that would give you all the benefits of exercise? That’s right: no more dragging your feet to the gym, no more sweating, gasping for breath and hurting muscles. Who needs an expensive gym membership when all you need to do is pop a pill to become fit and healthy? Sound too good to be true? Not for some scientists who are trying to create an exercise pill. But is it really possible to package all the benefits of exercise into a single pill? Do we even need one? And what does this pursuit to pill-ify a healthy lifestyle betray about modern medicine? We explore these questions and more in this episode of the Lifestyle Is Medicine podcast. Links Narkar, V et al. AMPK and PPAR agonists are exercise mimetics. Cell. August 2008; 134, 405 – 415 Goodyear, L. The exercise pill – too good to be true? N Eng J Medicine. 2008; 359; 17 Church TS, Blair SN. When will we treat physical activity as a legitimate medical therapy … even though it does not come in a pill? B J Sports Med. February 2009; 43 (2) Guerrieri D et al. Exercise in a pill: The latest on exercise-mimetics. Brain Plasticity. (2016/2017); 2: 153 – 169 Sallis, RE. Exercise is medicine and physicians need to prescribe it! Br J Sports Med. January 2009; 43, (1): 3- 4