Python Blood Could Hold the Secret To Healthy Weight Loss (colorado.edu) 129
Longtime Slashdot reader fahrbot-bot writes: CU Boulder researchers are reporting that they have discovered an appetite-suppressing compound in python blood that helps the snakes consume enormous meals and go months without eating yet remain metabolically healthy. The findings were published in the journal Natural Metabolism on March 19, 2026.
Pythons can grow as big as a telephone pole, swallow an antelope whole, and go months or even years without eating -- all while maintaining a healthy heart and plenty of muscle mass. In the hours after they eat, research has shown, their heart expands 25% and their metabolism speeds up 4,000-fold to help them digest their meal. The team measured blood samples from ball pythons and Burmese pythons, fed once every 28 days, immediately after they ate a meal. In all, they found 208 metabolites that increased significantly after the pythons ate. One molecule, called para-tyramine-O-sulfate (pTOS) soared 1,000-fold.
Further studies, done with Baylor University researchers, showed that when they gave high doses of pTOS to obese or lean mice, it acted on the hypothalamus, the appetite center of the brain, prompting weight loss without causing gastrointestinal problems, muscle loss or declines in energy. The study found that pTOS, which is produced by the snake's gut bacteria, is not present in mice naturally. It is present in human urine at low levels and does increase somewhat after a meal. But because most research is done in mice or rats, pTOS has been overlooked. "We've basically discovered an appetite suppressant that works in mice without some of the side-effects that GLP-1 drugs have," said senior author Leslie Leinwand, a distinguished professor of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology who has been studying pythons in her lab for two decades. Drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy act on the hormone glucagon-like petide-1 (GLP-1).
Pythons can grow as big as a telephone pole, swallow an antelope whole, and go months or even years without eating -- all while maintaining a healthy heart and plenty of muscle mass. In the hours after they eat, research has shown, their heart expands 25% and their metabolism speeds up 4,000-fold to help them digest their meal. The team measured blood samples from ball pythons and Burmese pythons, fed once every 28 days, immediately after they ate a meal. In all, they found 208 metabolites that increased significantly after the pythons ate. One molecule, called para-tyramine-O-sulfate (pTOS) soared 1,000-fold.
Further studies, done with Baylor University researchers, showed that when they gave high doses of pTOS to obese or lean mice, it acted on the hypothalamus, the appetite center of the brain, prompting weight loss without causing gastrointestinal problems, muscle loss or declines in energy. The study found that pTOS, which is produced by the snake's gut bacteria, is not present in mice naturally. It is present in human urine at low levels and does increase somewhat after a meal. But because most research is done in mice or rats, pTOS has been overlooked. "We've basically discovered an appetite suppressant that works in mice without some of the side-effects that GLP-1 drugs have," said senior author Leslie Leinwand, a distinguished professor of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology who has been studying pythons in her lab for two decades. Drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy act on the hormone glucagon-like petide-1 (GLP-1).
Pip install (Score:5, Funny)
pip install blood?
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pip install blood?
Certainly not Java blood, unless we are talking the blood of the developers writing software or the black stuff that comes from grinding a few beans and adding liquid to them.
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And as a bonus, the test mice can now swallow a cat whole.
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I don't know, I went back to CPAN after I came to understand the socioeconomic and cultural ramifications of mandatory white space.
Papers, please?
"They yearn for the greenscreens."
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Just switch to dark mode.
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It is something to do with 2 X chromosomes...?
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"Run awayyyyyy!!!!"
Redneck Gold Rush (Score:2)
If python blood is 6 months away from a 12-figure IPO in the Waistline wars and Body Positivity battles, Greed will invade the Florida Everglades and turn it into another country from a tax perspective. You’ll need a Visa to cross alligator alley.
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Hmm. That gives me an idea. Pythons are a major invasive species causing all sorts of problems for the Everglades. If we can encourage even more people to hunt them down and turn them over to for medical reasons, it could be a win win for everyone. Well except the python anyway.
Self discipline (Score:3, Insightful)
kewl story bro, but these drugs aren't for them (Score:2, Insightful)
It's a thing. Don't buy the food, don't eat the food. Only yesterday I watched a couple waddle out of a bakery with a large bag filled with cakes, buns and pastries. They were under 40 years old and already unable to walk properly.
"Only yesterday, I saw a guy with lung cancer smoke. If everyone stopped smoking, there would be no more cancer, right?" Isn't it that simple? Additionally, if everyone trained as hard as Lebron James, they'd all be able to dunk like him, right?
Your anecdote is a moronic simplification of a complex topic you clearly know nothing about. You're welcome to judge them like an asshole, but by the same logic, I have the right to call you a clueless asshole. Do you feel like a big man for shitting on the fa
Re:kewl story bro, but these drugs aren't for them (Score:4, Insightful)
We wouldn't buy a 100 # bag of dog food, open it in the corner and let the dog feed itself--it couldn't do it. So I presume we are not designed to have constant food access either, be it donuts or salads. The snake in the article eats once a month...talk about intermittent fasting.
I suspect some unknown, microbiome interaction is at play, maybe made worse by it being attacked by the chemicals in our modern, man-made environments. Personally, I've noticed myself suddenly getting naggingly hungry upon just seeing food...I was fine seconds earlier.
Re:kewl story bro, but these drugs aren't for them (Score:4, Insightful)
"You have to admit that the majority of people are not like diligent you but are more like those bakery patrons"
So then the drugs sound like the best option? The only other argument is basically that of a sociopath -- people should be punished because they don't have the willpower you think they do.
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Well no, the best option would be doing more to encourage people to live in a healthy manor. We spent a ridiculous amount of effort to stop smoking in this country but have done almost nothing in regards to obesity which is killing far more people than smoking ever did.
Typo (Score:2)
Ugh, manor = manner. Typo...
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Ugh, manor = manner. Typo...
Makes me think of this from Galaxy Quest [wikipedia.org]: :-)
Alexander: Could they be the miners?
Fred: Sure. They're like, three years old.
Alexander: MINERS, not MINORS.
Fred: You lost me.
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Underrated movie!
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"We spent a ridiculous amount of effort to stop smoking in this country but have done almost nothing in regards to obesity"
I disagree strongly. We have spent as a society uncounted billions on addressing obesity, including on government programs. The problem is it's just a harder problem than smoking.
At the end of the day, just about everybody knows obesity is bad and that you have to exercise and eat healthier. Lack of knowledge isn't the problem.
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Where are the constant awareness commercials telling people they are endangering the lives of themselves and their children with their lifestyle habits? Where's the heavy taxes on the stuff we know is killing Americans. We have never taken the issue of obesity as seriously as the issue of smoking in this country.
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Those techniques won't work on overeating because you need to eat to live, you can't just stop cold turkey like with smoking.
Overweight people have it constantly hammered into them that they're endangering their lives, it's not a messaging issue.
And if it's so bad, why is having the meds such a problem? Their side effects are minimal and they work better than diet and exercise and lifestyle change. Most of the arguments seem to be based on some weird puritanism, where only the "worthy" should be able to wei
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Imagine if a sugar tax was equal to that of the tobacco tax. Also, include corn syrup and other "sugars" under that same umbrella. People would shift to cheaper alternatives while complaining but they would do it.
Let's just face it though, many people are absolutely terrible at delayed gratification or self control and will reach for the quick and easy solution to just about anything, regardless of the poor long term ramifications of those choices. Being that we can now order just about any food from our co
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Those techniques won't work on overeating because you need to eat to live, you can't just stop cold turkey like with smoking.
Plenty of people quit without going cold turkey. Never mind the fact that smoking is far more addictive than junk food thus is harder to beat then giving up junk food.
Overweight people have it constantly hammered into them that they're endangering their lives, it's not a messaging issue.
As I said before, we've never tried anywhere near as hard with our obesity messaging as we did with smoking. To dismiss a solution that worked in another context that we haven't even attempted in this one is foolish.
And if it's so bad, why is having the meds such a problem? Their side effects are minimal and they work better than diet and exercise and lifestyle change. Most of the arguments seem to be based on some weird puritanism, where only the "worthy" should be able to weigh less.
Because the bad lifestyle choices that cause obesity negatively effect the body beyond obesity. Refined sugar is still bad for yo
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Re:kewl story bro, but these drugs aren't for them (Score:4, Interesting)
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I have a cat that's 18 with poor lower teeth dental issues. She was continuing to lose weight and being the runt of the litter, it was hard to notice. Ironically, it wasn't until another cat of mine that's only 11 had to get both canine teeth pulled. He required an all wet food, patte diet for about 6 weeks. Of course, you can't open a can of cat food for one cat...So I was giving the 11yo most of a can, while splitting the rest with an overweight and underweight cat.
After that six weeks, the twice a day fe
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I'm sorry to hear that you and your cat had to go through all that. I highly recommend spay and neutering for all cats and probably dogs as well. While I know it's not cheap, it's a one time cost and if you truly cannot afford it, a lot of large cities have various resources available specific to spay and neuter them for lower cost and sometimes even free. There are also sometimes specific "spay and neuter day" where you can get this done for free or much cheaper. Just do some searching for resources in you
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Dogs don't complain. They don't want the pack to abandon them because they are lame.
As a dog owner, you should know this.
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One looks like a supermodel, a gorgeous blue-eyed long legged Husky girl.
Not to be judgmental, but that's an ... unusual way to describe a dog.
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It's easier to quit fentanyl than be skinny. (Score:3)
And don't kid yourself, the drugs will be plan A for the majority if not already.
Every responsible doctor prescribes drugs after diet and exercise fail. The drugs SUCK...hence why they're interested in this new one. I hate how I feel 24h after injection. Your stomach emptying slows down and whatever you ate ferments in your stomach. It's really gross...and yes, I am being coy about what happens afterwards. If I didn't need the drugs, I'd do anything else. Drugs are ALWAYS a last resort. If you can get the same results naturally, you want to do it naturally. All drugs have side e
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To be fair, a lot of smokers really just had an oral fixation and it was "something to do". If you take away the cigarettes, they still need that oral fixation and unfortunately, some will stuff food in their mouths instead. I've seen people quit smoking and will put on weight after the fact.
Also, some people just have more addictive personalities then others do. Gambling and drugs hit them harder then those of us with less addictive personalities. The trick is to know yourself and your personal triggers. I
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The flip side is that we have dramatically more obese people now than we ever had in the past so a lot of these folks shouldn't need medication and really aren't solving problems for themselves that they could and for the sake of their health, should. It's even trickling down to kids, we're currently raising the fattest generation of Americans ever.
These drugs are great for folks like yourself who can't lose the weight on their own but they're enabling a lot of bad lifestyle choices for a ton of others.
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About three quarters of Americans are overweight or obese. So at most you can say some people an exceptional ability to regulate their weight effectively without assistance.
People have been arguing for years that people need to do more exercise and eat more healthy food. They have been trying to regulate food producers and advertising to make healthy eating easier and more affordable. These efforts have failed. You can argue that we should try harder, but realistically the chances of it working seem to be q
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For most (not all) the weight is just a symptom of bad lifestyle choices that will continue to effect their health even after the weight is lost though. Never mind that going by childhood obesity metrics in the US, many of these folks are passing on their bad lifestyles to their kids which means a lifetime of health problems for them as childhood obesity is quite bad for a person's long term health even if the weight is later lost.
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You make it sound like people have a free choice about their lifestyle, but that seems exceedingly unlikely given that a) three quarters of Americans are making these bad choices, despite likely knowing what the good choices are, and b) what we know about modern life and the pressures people face.
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Almost half the US population used to smoke. Simply telling them smoking was bad for them wasn't enough to mostly end the practice though. We had to beat it into them over the course of decades with regular, dramatic, in their face ads telling them how bad their tobacco use is for both them and their children while actively discouraging the practice with high taxes on smokes. We haven't even come close to trying that with obesity yet.
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What really helped with smoking was first nicotine substitutes like patched, and second vaping.
While many people do regain weight when they come off these drugs, maybe in time we can find ways to prevent that, or find better drugs like this one that either keep the weight off or which they can just take forever and are cheap.
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It starts with the children. The over 40s are already a lost cause for the most part. They will dig in to their lifestyle choices. Obviously, smoking had a huge advertising industry pushing it and advertising clearly works on most people. Smoking was presented as "cool" in movies and on tv.
That's all gone now, for the most part. Turns out, very few young people now smoke.
If we really pushed hard on healthy eating while also taxing the really bad foods (including processed fast food slop) you would eventuall
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What really helped with smoking was first nicotine substitutes like patched, and second vaping.
And they choose to use such things because they decided to quit smoking. Guess what was happening that was encouraging people to stop smoking :)
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Sigh. That's a boat load of excuses. You are basically saying that most Americans are fucking lemmings that can't think for themselves and therefore should be given a pass for poor decision making.
They do have the free choice when it comes to lifestyle. You don't have to drink (many young people don't, much less then prior generations) or do drugs. You don't have to eat a bunch of processed food. People make the active choice to buy soda, chips, ice cream, and frozen dinners (all packed with salts, sugars a
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We wouldn't buy a 100 # bag of dog food, open it in the corner and let the dog feed itself--it couldn't do it.
Ive had two dogs that would refuse to eat too much dog food, they weren’t the eat now ask questions never type. I always refilled a large bowl and they always had food but neither were overweight. They both were very picky and preferred human food and on the rare occasions they got some or stole some they didn’t have the sense not to stop eating when full and kept eating stuff that made them sick because there are so many things dogs can’t tolerate that we can. One of them even ate Amer
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This. I spent a huge amount of time on a bicycle, swimming and just playing outside. Sure, I had video games also but we still spent a lot of time outside. I realize not everyone has access to a pool. Growing up on the poor side, lots of apartment living, and many apartments have pools.
We would play street hockey, make up games to play with a ball and just generally weren't inside quite as much. By choice as well. Then again, I would call myself a free-range child in today's parlance.
Now a days, they might
Re:kewl story bro, etc. (Score:2)
On top of all of this, there really needs to be more of a realization that for many people? They're pretty ok with being "fat". The medical field wants to keep pushing obesity as a disorder or a disease. But a lot of people have no interest in going to the gym/working out or making a special effort to eat only "health foods". Many even prefer the look of an overweight person to an "ideal weight" person of similar height.
Like anything out there, you can go to extremes and then you're liable to suffer conseq
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"You have to admit"
Consider you provide neither evidence not anecdote to back up your claim, I don't have to admit a damn thing.
"I suspect some unknown, microbiome interaction is at play"
See, even you don't believe your own claim.
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Consider you provide neither evidence not anecdote to back up your claim,
If the complete answer was out there, we wouldn't be talking about it.
"I suspect some unknown, microbiome interaction is at play"
See, even you don't believe your own claim.
I was just spitballing; there may be many reasons why the hunger mechanism seems broken.
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A friend has it, he's never smoked (so he says, and I've known him for 40 years). His wife did some research and came up with the figure 40 - 40% of people who have lung cancer have never smoked. Assuming they were telling the truth.
Let's not get into passive smoking though.
exactly the point! (Score:2)
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Your anecdote is a moronic simplification of a complex topic you clearly know nothing about. You're welcome to judge them like an asshole, but by the same logic, I have the right to call you a clueless asshole. Do you feel like a big man for shitting on the fatties?
Even at this distance, I can hear the twang of a nerve being struck.
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Metabolism is one of the most complex functions of the body and we don't know much about it. We're constantly learning new things.
Just to add, I have the opposite problem in that I have metabolism issues where I can eat insane amounts of calories and not gain weight. Right now I always am trying to eat more than I’m hungry for, probably around 3k+ calories per day and I’m old and moderately active certainly not some kind of professional athlete. My body fat is around 7-10% (it makes me look grotesque and bizarre) and I have a bmi of about 19 which is very close to underweight. When I was younger I used to make people v
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Some bodies are eager to store every surplus calorie as fat, most aren't. Some people have reliable hunger signaling, some don't. There's a lot of genetic variation and biology is not deterministic.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/... [cdc.gov]
wow, that's a heck of a lot of genetic drift in not even 50 years. are you guys inbreeding too?
I'll be sure to point out that you're a smug, clueless asshole.
yeah ... that's surely gonna help.
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American obesity is a cultural problem, not a genetic problem.
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More than one lives the lifestyle you describe, but both you and them made body weight out to be some
You're oversimplifying very complex phenomena (Score:3)
Weight and fat stores is calories in a calories out. What literally else can it be? I know without a doubt now anyone who “can’t” lose weight knows what the energy imbalance part of their equation is, they just don’t want to give it up. Hers was pizza dips, what is yours???
Metabolism isn't deterministic. Your body has stores of fat, muscle, and tissue it can break down at will. 4 years ago, I started intermittent fasting. I carefully controlled my calories, worked from home, and ate the same food every day...just for time sake. I lost about .5 lb a week on average. I was working out nightly. I went from 240 to 195. Then it stopped...same calories in....same level of fitness and working out....now the weight started creeping up. Because I'm not a moron, I tried working
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He might have a thyroid issue. I had a coworker that almost died from an over-active thyroid. Of course, the majority of people don't have any real medical issues and I agree with your overall post.
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If you are diabetic, sure. Otherwise, you obviously haven't known anyone who has tried to get this as a weight control solution and deal with insurance that absolutely doesn't want to pay for that stuff.
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I wouldn't be surprised if those "doctors" will also sell you the "Ozempic". Guaranteed to have spent at least one day in the same room as a genuine vial of real Ozempic.
Prove it - like a Rolex for $50 on the corner (Score:2)
OK, so you saw a is couple who are a bunch of lardasses with self-control issues. They're fat from reckless behavior. These drugs are not for them. Drugs are for people who eat responsibly and exercise and do everything right, but aren't at a healthy weight. They're never Plan A. .
I can download an app on my phone and speak to a "doctor" that will sign me up with Ozempic in 5 minutes. Don't kid yourself.
I'll call your bluff. You're full of shit. Where can you do this? No respectable doctor does this and Ozempic, as of pretty recently, is not available compounded (legally). You can't get name brand drugs OTC. So is this like that Rolex I can buy outside a bodega in a bad neighborhood? There are a some clinics that are worse than major doctors, but insurance won't cover it.
Also, Ozempic is approx $500/month out of pocket. Who the fuck has that much money, but not the willpower to join a gym and e
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Also, Ozempic is approx $500/month out of pocket. Who the fuck has that much money, but not the willpower to join a gym and eat better?
Take a good hard look at the average multi-millionaire beach body and understand affordability has fuck-all to do with it.
There's a reason Hollyweird looks like a 2027 documentary on GLP-1 addiction and abuse. They can afford healthy food, personal trainers, and the best gyms all day every day and they STILL choose the shortcut.
or...they need it?!? (Score:2)
There's a reason Hollyweird looks like a 2027 documentary on GLP-1 addiction and abuse. They can afford healthy food, personal trainers, and the best gyms all day every day and they STILL choose the shortcut.
An alternate theory...they need GLP-1. Say you're James Marsden (Cyclops from X-Men and a TON of other small roles). You're well liked, a familiar face, but not a household name. Your whole thing is being handsome. No one wants James Marsden with a dadbod. If he was a software engineer?...a small gut would be normal and fine at his age. However, he needs to take his shirt off....even if he doesn't?....he doesn't want to risk getting out of shape because the next role may want him hanging out at a beac
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Also, Ozempic is approx $500/month out of pocket. Who the fuck has that much money, but not the willpower to join a gym and eat better?
Lots of Americans. Obesity might effect the affluent at a lower rate than the poor but their rate of obesity has still gone up dramatically over the last few decades. Being good at earning money != being good at other things.
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Here's the thing, some folks do the discipline and keep a healthy weight, but they are basically always feeling hunger. Some people don't feel it but some people are having to constantly fight sensation of hunger, with a respite of a little bit after a meal, and almost never feeling 'full'.
If we had something to tame the rather depressive experience of constantly denying one's hunger because you know in your mind that you got the nutrition and caloric intake you need, but your body wants to eat your way to
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Here's the thing, some folks do the discipline and keep a healthy weight, but they are basically always feeling hunger. Some people don't feel it but some people are having to constantly fight sensation of hunger, with a respite of a little bit after a meal, and almost never feeling 'full'.
I wonder how much that hunger sensation problem is fed by bad or alternative diets that avoid meat-based proteins?
Not saying those diets are bad for you per se, but I could eat rice and leafy greens until it's coming out of my ears. It will never satiate me like eating meat does. As it always has, which is not an uncommon phenomenon.
I can say it's not the case for me and my family (Score:2)
Here's the thing, some folks do the discipline and keep a healthy weight, but they are basically always feeling hunger. Some people don't feel it but some people are having to constantly fight sensation of hunger, with a respite of a little bit after a meal, and almost never feeling 'full'.
I wonder how much that hunger sensation problem is fed by bad or alternative diets that avoid meat-based proteins?
Not saying those diets are bad for you per se, but I could eat rice and leafy greens until it's coming out of my ears. It will never satiate me like eating meat does. As it always has, which is not an uncommon phenomenon.
I've been on that page for 20 years....less fat than before, but still 30% bodyfat. Trust me, I've done it all, as have every member of my family. I've eaten so much meat, I'm starting to get sick of it. Beef and fish are super expensive these days and there's only so many ways you can cook chicken or pork before getting sick of it. I'm like Bubba Blue from Forrest Gump...only with pork/chicken instead of shrimp...pork chops, pork fillet, jerk pork, slow cooked pork, grilled pork, pork slow cooked in ch
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Here's the thing, some folks do the discipline and keep a healthy weight, but they are basically always feeling hunger. Some people don't feel it but some people are having to constantly fight sensation of hunger, with a respite of a little bit after a meal, and almost never feeling 'full'.
If we had something to tame the rather depressive experience of constantly denying one's hunger because you know in your mind that you got the nutrition and caloric intake you need, but your body wants to eat your way to obesity.
We do have something, it's called a healthy diet of real food.
People, you are always feeling hungry because you're eating food without nutrition. That's right, empty calories and your body is deficient and this is expressed as hunger.
People are overweight largely due to two main factors, poor food choices and over-eating, which are both based in self-indulgence. The reality is if one eats whole foods in reasonable amounts, weight gain never becomes and issue and people do not feel hungry all the time.
I'm a
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Screw you. Once you find yourself trapped by the fat your body FIGHTS back. So hey, your preaching about nutrition is great. But people who are already trapped in bodies deal with more than that. Some of us just want a little freakin help rather than being preached at and scolded. We KNOW this stuff idiot. We probably know it better than you. So your self-righteous preening isn't helping anybody.
This 100%.
It's easy for thin people to be Body Nazis, declaring everyone overweight to be morally deficient. Their "just lose weight" mantra is an oversimplification based on ignorance and resentment. Both the food industry and our biology are working against us.
It's like saying "just stop smoking", "just stop being poor", "just stop being sick", etc. They're easy words to say, but difficult to implement.
Ignorance or willful ignorance? (Score:3)
Don't buy the food, don't eat the food.
Are you ignorant or are you willfully ignorant?
Food has literally been engineered to be addictive. [scientificamerican.com] Don't believe the scientists? How about about looking at the food industry is responding by developing GLP-1 resistant food formulations. [bcmj.org] Given that obesity in the US has tripled in the last 50 years [wikimedia.org], if you don't suspect something odd is happening then you aren't looking.
Look at the facts, instead of trusting your "gut instinct" which you "know" is right because it's not.
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It's a thing. Don't buy the food, don't eat the food.
So you think that the obesity epidemic is caused by a lack of discipline?
When I was a kid, fat people were the outliers, not the mainstream. Since then, our food has been engineered. And suddenly everyone just lost their self-discipline? Or was the food engineered to have certain effects that may be undesirable on a personal level but highly desirable at the group level (if you own medical corporations)?
Self-discipline has ALWAYS been an issue throughout history... but not like this. But, whatever. You appe
I thought... (Score:1)
... that was oil, not blood.
Did Anybody else (Score:2)
think of that skit from The Meaning of Liff where we really fat guy explodes after eating a huge meal (and an after-dinner mint)
Python (Monty)... (Score:2)
The bottom part of the E fell off on the copy I have
Great! But Rossum only has enough for himself (Score:2)
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They said pTOS was being produced by a specific type of gut bacteria, they only measured the levels in the blood.
Bacteria of course are very easy to "cultivate". Might even be possible to introduce that bacteria into the human gut so we can produce it ourselves.
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Not as good as it looks (Score:2, Interesting)
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People who are morbidly obese are not feeling hungry all the time, they're dopamine addicts that like the feeling food gives them. They eat whether they're hungry or not. We already have an appetite suppressant - it's called dietary fiber. It makes you feel full. Doesn't stop the addicts. That's why that new weight loss shot works so well. It stops people from feeling happy from eating. So this is a nonsense invention that won't do anything.
go months or even years without eating -- all while maintaining a healthy heart and plenty of muscle mass.
If the new discovery can solve for that obvious problem in the GLP-1 drug epidemic, then it's far from a "nonsense" invention.
Perhaps Hollywood can avoid replacing their growing collection of unhealthy stick figures with AI, which will be ironically programmed to present the pre-Ozempic version on the big screen.
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go months or even years without eating -- all while maintaining a healthy heart and plenty of muscle mass.
Do they even lift? [knowyourmeme.com]
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You are wrong, the shots do NOT affect happiness from eating at all. They actively negate hunger and also affect how sugar is manipulated by the body. Nothing they do affects dopamine.
Moreover, you have overly simplified an extremely complex issue, in large part to blame the fat people.
Dietary fiber does not totally suppress appetite. Feeling full discourages eating, it does not negate hunger. You can very easily feel hungry even if you also feel full. That is one of the issues that many obese people fa
No thanks! (Score:3)
My kid has a ball python... (Score:3)
And it just plain doesn't eat in the winter. It's strange and frightening, as we're concerned for its well-being.
Additionally, I finally have a good guess as to where our pet antelope disappeared to.
Sssssss - What could go wrong? (Score:3)
The comments here are missing the point (Score:3)
Appetite suppressing molecules are no surprise. In fact, we have one on the market called GLP-1 that works so well, it almost works too well. The big story in the TFA is that this is a "small-molecule" - a relatively simply organic compound that you could synthesize in bulk in a chemistry lab or pharmaceutical plant.
By contrast, GLP-1 is hormone - specifically, a 30-amino acid chain of amino acids called a peptide that folds into a particular tangled shape that makes it work. Peptides are much more difficult to synthesize, and are quite unstable. Our bodies also tend to get rid of peptides quickly, so they don't last very long in the bloodstream.
Just compare how the two look:
GLP1 [nih.gov] versus p-Tyramine-O-Sulfate [nih.gov] and it is obvious which one is the harder one to deal with.
Just ask the crew of Artemis (Score:2)
Or the ISS
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Just ask the crew of Artemis
And yes, shooting nutritionally enhanced people into orbit is slightly cheaper than paying American cartel prices for those weight-loss drugs.
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Tonight, you drink from the bottle.
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doesn't work. haven't americans been "brewing" and slurping down budweiser for decades, now?
on topic: not eating like a pig works for weight loss too, and even more healthy. leave the fucking pythons alone.
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This is America though. The land of zero responsibilities for anyone. Why watch your diet and exercise when you can just take a pill paid for by insurance to moderate your appetite?
Still, this is an interesting find and I'm sure big pharm will be all over it, trying to charge a fortune for it, even if it probably cost next to nothing to produce.
I should of started a medicine company I suppose. I entirely blame my parents for teaching me ethics. What were they even thinking!? I could have been president, but
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your parents did well. don't think for a second that "presidents" are happy people. they're not. they're psychopaths, which literally means "spiritual suffering" (sort of).
now, if you manage to get elected and keep your ethics ... that would be a thing! but note that your life could end very abruptly. probably not worth it.
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If it works in both Pythons and mice then that suggests it's an awfully old mechanism that's got a good chance of being active in humans too. A much better chance than if it was only seen in mice.