Metformin and Rapamycin have both been hyped as anti-aging miracles. But are there downsides? Let’s start with Metformin.
METFORMIN
It is well grounded to help with many health conditions, including diabetes, prediabetes, gestational diabetes, and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Yet, a number of studies suggest that metformin can decrease the benefits of exercise, including:
- Insulin sensitivity: Metformin can reduce the improvement in insulin sensitivity that exercise can cause.
- Cardiorespiratory fitness: Metformin can reduce the improvement in cardiorespiratory fitness that exercise can cause.
- Mitochondrial respiration: Metformin can reduce the increase in mitochondrial respiration in skeletal muscle that exercise can cause.
- Lean mass: Metformin can reduce the increase in lean mass that exercise can cause.
- VO2max: Metformin can reduce the improvement in VO2max that exercise can cause.
Other studies suggest that combining metformin with exercise may still be a useful strategy to prevent the transition from prediabetes to diabetes.
Factors that may contribute to the variability in the effects of metformin and exercise include: Whether people are habitual or naive metformin users, the outcome of interest, and the tissue or outcome being studied.
RAPAMYCIN
Rapamycin has been shown to improve elements of aging in the immune and cardiovascular systems of healthy individuals. Overall, no significant effects on the endocrine, muscular, or neurological systems were found.
However, bad news — rapamycin can block the anabolic effects of resistance exercise on protein synthesis in human skeletal muscle.
| Effect of rapamycin on exercise | |
|---|---|
| Protein synthesis | Rapamycin blocks the anabolic effects of resistance exercise on protein synthesis. |
| Muscle hypertrophy | Rapamycin only partially inhibits the effects of resistance exercise on muscle hypertrophy. |
| Muscle mitochondria | Dietary protein decreases exercise endurance through rapamycin-sensitive suppression of muscle mitochondria. |
| Treadmill performance | Rapamycin-treated females had a two-thirds slower decline in treadmill performance over time compared to the placebo group. |
| Muscle strength and function | Rapamycin and calorie restriction provide partial protection against loss of muscle strength and function in middle aged mice. |
Note: Yes, if you don’t exercise regularly, then the downsides listed above may be lessened. But if you have the liberty to choose, choose exercise over pills when possible. And keep in mind that I haven’t even listed other downsides of metformin for example, which can often be an upset stomach for some people.
For some people, metformin and rapamycin are perfect. But just because they’re right for some people doesn’t mean they’re right for everyone.
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