An obesity pill that transforms ‘bad’ fat to ‘good’ could replace exercise, helping people shed pounds and with them their risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer.

That is the claim by scientists who believe they have made a breakthrough in the battle against the bulge.

They said the discovery could be ‘the first step towards a pill that can replace the treadmill’.

Harvard Stem Cell Institute at Havard and Massachusetts General Hospital have identified two compounds that can turn white or ‘bad’ fat cells into brown ‘good’ fat cells in the body.

When a person eats too many calories without burning them off, they are stored as white fat cells by adult stem cells.

That is what causes people to pile on the pounds.

The new study found two small molecules that convert fat stem cells, which would normally produce white fat, into brown-like fat cells.

These brown fat cells burn excess energy and subsequently reduce the size and numbers of white fat cells.

Associate professor Chad Cowan, at Harvard, said: ‘What we were really impressed by is that there are some compounds that have this same kind of effect when they are administered to animals, but when you remove them, the effect goes away.

‘But what we saw here was a stable conversion of the white fat cells to brown cells.

‘You’re constantly replenishing your fat tissue so if you were on a medication to convert the cells, each new fat cell would be more metabolically active and would convert to brown fat over time.’

The researchers said this reduces the chances of a person developing type 2 diabetes, or any of the other conditions related to a build-up of fat.

One of the two molecules is already approved to treat rheumatoid arthritis, but scientists warned a pill is some way off.

They warned the compounds could damage the immune system.

The obesity pill that could replace exercise by turning ‘bad’ fat to ‘good’ | Daily Mail Online