Health & Fitness

Is there an exercise pill in our future?

And other must-know health and fitness news.

by : Carli Whitwell- Oct 16th, 2015

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There’s a pill for that
Lazy girls, rejoice. Scientists are a step closer to creating pills that can mimic exercise. Before you burn your gym clothes, let me explain: for the first time, researchers in Sydney were able to map the 1,000 molecular changes in the body during workouts. That means they can now create a drug that copies these changes. It sounds a bit creepy – remember the exercise-adverse lumps that pass for humans in Wall-E? – but researchers promise this could help people who are physically unable to exercise, but need the benefits. Until they do, check out our new running guide for some fitspo.

Another good reason to go to bed early
Finally, my granny lifestyle is paying off! Sure, going to sleep at 10 p.m. (and sometimes 9 p.m.) doesn’t exactly skyrocket you to It girl status. But, it may keep you svelte. Adults and teenagers who burn the midnight oil Monday to Friday are more apt to put on the pounds than those of us goody-goodies who call it a night early, according to sleep docs at Berkeley. It didn’t matter how much sleep they got (although that does have an impact on weight gain) – it was simply the hour they decided to go to bed. Remember that when you decided to start that Nashville marathon at 10 p.m. Click here for more advice on getting a better night’s sleep.

A new reason to look up to tall people
Apparently, long legs aren’t the only reason to hate on tall people. New evidence suggests that tall people may be genetically predisposed to being slim depending on the country they live in. (#notfair). It’s all to do with evolution aka another reason to blame your parents. According to the brains who conducted the study, in southern European countries such as Italy, people developed curvier bodies to store fat in times of famine. In northern Europe (Finland, Sweden and Norway, for example), the body adapted to grow taller instead.