Exercise alters more than 9,800 molecules in your blood, a process that scientists have called a cellular “symphony.”
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But not all of these molecules equally provide the benefits of physical activity. [Recently,] researchers primarily based out of Baylor’s College of Medicine and Stanford’s School of Medicine reported that one in particular seems to play an outsized role.
The researchers noted that the data “establish Lac-Phe as one of the top exercise-regulated metabolites in humans.”
So it seems that the blood is flooded with Lac-Phe during, and in the wake of, exercise, particularly when it is intense. Could it perhaps be responsible for imparting some of exercise’s miraculous effects on health?
To find out, the researchers injected obese mice with Lac-Phe, finding that it significantly lowered their appetite, reduced body fat, and improved glucose tolerance over the ten-day study period. Interestingly, Lac-Phe didn’t grant these benefits to lean, healthy mice, even when administered at higher doses. Nor did it work when given orally, indicating that Lac-Phe may not work as a long-sought “exercise pill.”
