Animal Research Minute – What makes our muscles perform?
Well, new research from Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute says muscle performance and
fitness are determined by how well your muscle cells use sugar as a fuel source. Exercising improves the
muscle's ability to take up sugar and burn it for energy. Inactivity reduces the muscle's capacity to burn
sugar. By studying mice, researchers found a mechanism that re-programs metabolic genes in muscles
so they can burn sugar better and improve performance. This finding could lead to new treatments for
obesity, metabolic syndrome and diabetes.
Read more: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-11/smri-sam112811.php