5-amino-1mq, The Ultimate Weight Loss Drug
August 01, 20215-Amino 1 MQ - The Real Key to Weight Loss
Have you noticed that as you get a bit older, you have put on a few pounds around your middle? Can't get rid of it? You have hit on the nexus of middle age and weight gain. The teeter-totter of energy-burning versus energy storage has started to tilt the way you don't want, to uncontrolled storage. Details? Well, for one, we don't make as much NAD, starving our sirtuins and dismantling our epigenome. But we have covered that in the past. That's why we take metformin and NAD.
To understand what's happening in this context, you first have to learn some jargon for human physiology. There is an enzyme called NNMT: nicotinamide N-methyltransferase. It is the fulcrum in this discussion. It is also one of the key enzymes which modulate energy balance. In biological chemistry terms, it regulates nicotinamide and S-(5′-adenosyl)-L-methionine within a couple of intracellular pathways that deal with cellular energy regulation. Basically, it ships off NAD into breakdown products. What happens when this cellular energy balance becomes unbalanced? It starts the domino effect; one thing leads to the next. In aging humans, a little extra weight can lead to a little extra NNMT enzyme which leads to worse fat cell metabolism which leads to increased fat cell energy storage. That's called weight gain. On a more sinister note, it sets you up for diabetes, heart disease, stroke, cancer, dementia.... What happens if we reverse that by blocking NNMT? We tilt the teeter-totter back in the right direction. First, fat cell metabolism is rebalanced. Rebalanced means fat cells won’t grow. Finally, decreased NNMT means we lose weight because the fat cells shrink. Healthy aging, in part, is weight control.
What is equally interesting is how it was discovered. Researchers at the U of Texas, trying to find a key to helping folks lose weight, used "structure-guided design and binding calculations" to find a whole raft of molecules that would inhibit NNMT. That means looking at an enzyme with a supercomputer to see the shape of its active docking station. Then, make a chemical that will fit into that docking station in just the right way. Instead of having to trial and error millions of compounds, you get right to the heart of it by having to examine only those that would "fit". 5-amino 1 MQ popped out as having the highest IC50, the ability to inhibit the enzymes 50% with the lowest dose. And with that discovery, the blogosphere of body shapers was off to the races. "Miracle weight loss."
And just what energy increase happens? Well, by inhibiting the enzyme, you remake your vital internal energy molecule NAD instead of the molecule falling apart and being repurposed for other uses. NAD is critical to providing energy to all your SIRT proteins, the little fellas tasked with keeping your epigenome maintained and your DNA healthy. Raising your internal NAD is one of the Holy Grails of anti-aging research. NAD is the only source of energy for the SIRT system, so this inhibition and recycling by 5 Amino 1 MQ is a huge "Two-fer", two wins with one effect.
Is this drug safe? How do we know? It's only been discovered 3 years ago in mice. There are no human studies. But just spend a minute on the internet and you can find any number of blogs saying it is the best weight loss drug around. That's why I include the blog by Jay Campbell as a reference. But there are many others. It has shown no toxicity to date that I could find, but this is pretty early in its discovery curve. There are known risks to being overweight too.
www.What will Work for me. I am utterly intrigued. I know of one person who has taken it and improved their weight and A1c rather dramatically in just a few months. I find no sign of toxicity. This is a topic we need to keep watching with great interest. The NAD side of the equation captures my fancy as much as the weight loss side. If you are interested, call us up.
References: Biochem Pharmacol, Jay Campbell, Dr Lauren Bramley,
Pop Quiz
1. What is 5-amino-1MQ? Answer: a tiny molecule that blocks some key enzymes that reverse the age-related decline in NAD metabolism that shifts energy into storage.
2. Will my doctor prescribe it for me? Answer: Are you kidding? This has had no human trials of any kind yet.
3. Have humans used it without apparent trouble? Answer: Google it and read the blogosphere's answer to that. There are many claims out there that it is the best thing since sliced bread.
4. What's the alternative if I can't lose weight? Answer: That has risks to it, as we all know. Healthy aging can be, in part, equated with healthy weight maintenance.
5. Do you want to know more? Answer: Don't we all. Pubmed lists ZERO references to it. That will change.