(NewsNation) — Researchers are experimenting with a vibrating diet pill intended to trick the stomach into feeling full, which could help fight obesity, according to a new study published in Science Advances.
The Vibratory Ingestible BioElectronic Stimulator, VIBES for short, is an ingestible capsule that vibrates within the stomach and induces serotonin, which triggers a sensation of fullness.
According to a Massachusetts Institute of Technology news release, “This treatment not only stimulated the release of hormones that signal satiety, but also reduced the animals’ food intake by about 40%.”
Shriya Srinivasan, a lead author of the study, told Fox News that the pill could be taken before each meal. She highlighted that the pill provides an option that “could minimize the side effects that we see in other pharmacological treatments out there.”
“It’s a credible and ingenious approach,” neurobiologist Guillaume de Lartigue of the Monell Chemical Senses Center, who wasn’t connected to the study, told Science. He said the data looked very convincing, but experts are still questioning whether or not the pill can actually be turned into a practical weight-loss therapy.