It sounds too good to be true: Exercise in a pill

The news this week that scientists think they've found a way to put exercise in a pill has been very widely reported. Google News lists 565 articles about the new exercise pill, including news outlets all over the United States, in India, Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom.

According to the numerous media reports, scientists at the Salk Institute in La Jolla fed ordinary mice two experimental drugs that made them capable of running 44 percent longer on a treadmill than before they were medicated.

The discovery that swallowing a capsule may one day be a time-saving substitution for sweating at the gym sounds too good to be true, and, alas, according to UC Berkeley nutrition specialist emeritus Joanne Ikeda, it probably is.

"I have read hundreds of studies done with mice or rats investigating compounds that cause weight loss in the little creatures," Ikeda was quoted in a story on the ABC News Web site. "None of these compounds had the same effect in humans."

Exercise in a pill would be handy, but I can think of other things I'd like to see encapsulated to make life easier:

• Air conditioning
• Patience
• Peace

What would you like to see scientists put in a pill? Leave a comment with your ideas.

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