Articles that suggest new ways to control weight are always interesting to me, and hopefully also to the readers of my blog. But this one is a doozy. Clinton Rubin found that placing mice on a vibrating platform for 15 minutes per day, 5 days per week, for 15 weeks produced a 27 percent reduction in fat and a corresponding increase in bone.

Hypothesizing that mechanical signals, such as muscle contractions, tell us when to make more bone, Rubin believed that a slight, buzzing vibration would be more effective than large signals like pounding the concrete while running. Rubin’s previous work showed that standing on a vibrating platform increased bone, a procedure that shows promise for dealing with osteoporosis and other bone loss. But the reduced fat finding was surprising. Rubin argues that stem cells in bone marrow can turn into either fat or bone, depending on the signals they receive. Perhaps some of these cells were diverted into bone as a result of the vibration.

Not all researchers agree that simply buzzing away fat is a reasonable notion. They point to the exertion that the mice may be putting out to stand steadily on a vibrating platform, or to the fear and stress the mice may be experiencing. It will be very interesting to see how further research from Rubin and his colleagues turns out.

Further research will probably answer these questions. In the meantime, I’ll probably stick to good old diet and exercise.


4 Comments

R.Nickles · November 2, 2007 at 9:27 pm

This is so interesting! I know I’ve seen those infomercials about contraptions that ‘vibrate the fat away’, but after reading about this research maybe they were on to something. I would love to read more research on this… my mother was actually diagnosed with osteoporosis last month, and I’m planning on sharing this information with her. It would be wonderful if they found this method were effective!

Laura Freberg · November 3, 2007 at 10:20 am

Your mom might want to contact the docs who are working on this project. I believe one of the major applications they want to pursue is treatment of osteoporosis. Another possibility is for your mom to join a gym and work with a personal trainer to up her weight-bearing exercise in a safe way. My family is always after me to do more weight-lifting. I love aerobics, but absolutely hate the weightroom. Women of my age and your mom’s do not have that luxury.

bldrysdale · February 23, 2008 at 8:08 pm

Has any research been done on the effects of vibrating and osteoporosis in the past 4 months? If so did the vibrating increase bone mass and help with the affects of osteoprosis? and if not, why is nobody researching it?

Exercise » Buzzing your way to lower fat? · October 30, 2007 at 2:27 pm

[…] Dave Stringham wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptIt will be very interesting to see how further research from Rubin and his colleagues turns out. Further research will probably answer these questions. In the meantime, I’ll probably stick to good old diet and exercise. […]

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