The Magic Diet Pill

If you've ever struggled to lose weight - or managed to lose it only to find it come right back on again - you'll know how attractive the prospect of a magic pill sounds. Right now millions of people around the world are spending billions of dollars a year on shakes and pills, all in the hope that they'll find the 'magic' pill that works.

So, is there such a thing as a magic pill for weight loss?

Researchers at Washington University seem to think so.

What they've discovered is that mice can be bred to have larger amounts of muscle protein. And that in turn speeds up the metabolism of the mice. In turn that seems to protect against some of the effects of aging and also obesity.

The researchers have been quoted as saying that by altering the physiology it might be possible to eat what you want without gaining the weight as easily. Surely, that's something everyone who struggles with dieting would give their right arm for?

So when is this magic pill going to be available? Well, the researchers are just about to start trying to produce the pill following their test results.

But it's a big if. Stories of this kind surface every so often, when one new miracle cure after another is announced to build up the hopes (and take the money) of people suffering from being overweight. The promise of eating what you want and popping a pill to prevent weight gain is currently a dream. And it's likely to stay that way for a while. Tempting as it would be (the queues to get the pill would be substantial) the truth is less easy to swallow.

Every overweight person on the planet knows exactly how to lose weight. What most of them struggle with is having the willpower to do what's necessary and keep doing it. That's why the average dieter has tried 3 different diets in any 18 month period and has 3-7 diet books on their bookshelves - sometimes not even read.

It is possible to bolster your ability to do the necessary work for losing weight, but a magic pill probably won't be the way to do it.

And to anyone who's reading this and now disappointed the pill is not on sale, consider this: by putting the control of your weight outside yourself (in a pill), you deny yourself the chance to make a real difference to your weight and succeed where you might have failed before.

If someone offered you a pill tomorrow that would let you eat what you want and still not gain weight, would you really believe them?