Can sound waves help weight loss? The method can deceive fat cells

Forget the fiction diets and outline extras, your favorite song can be the key to staying thin.

In a new study, Japanese researchers found that waves of acoustic sound can affect the way our cells behave – including stopping fat development.

“Since the sound is non-material, acoustic stimulation is a tool that is non-invasive, safe and immediate, and is likely to benefit from medicine and health care,” the corresponding author Masahiro Kumeta said in a statement.

Sound is more than just noise – it is made up of mechanical waves that create small vibrations traveling through the air, water or even tissue.

We have long known that animals use sound tremor in their bones to communicate and collect important information about their surroundings, but scientists have only begun to understand how sound affects us at a deeper, cellular level.

Music for your cells

The new research is based on a 2018 study by the cm and its team that found that sound waves can affect the genes involved in bone formation and wound healing.

“To investigate the effect of sound on cellular activities, we designed a system to wash the cultured cells in the acoustic waves,” Kumeta said.

They tested three sounds in muscle cells taken from mice: white noise, a 440 Hz tone (note “A” in a piano) and a tone of 14 kHz raised (near the highest pitch that most people can hear).

The results were great. After only two hours of sound exposure, 42 genes had changed. After 24 hours, a 145 impressive gene showed changed activity.

The way cells responded depend on the frequency, intensity and pattern of the sound wave. The answer also changed based on the cell type.

The most significant finding of the study was that the sound waves stopped the differentiation of adipocytes – the process where preadipocytes (precursor cells) turn into mature fat cells.

When exposed by healthy vibrations, researchers found that many preadipocyte cells did not mature in fat cells as expected. Those who baked contain about 15% less fat than normal.

This effect was seen if the cells were exposed to constant sound for three days or just two hours of sound daily during three days.

Although still in the early stages, researchers said this progress could one day lead to new non-invasive treatments that can help with everything, from managing metabolism to speeding of wound healing.

The Kumta team is not just in exploring the acoustics potential for health. At Stanford University, researchers are using healthy waves to re -regulate heart cells that are highly filled, improving the flow of nutrients.

Meanwhile, acoustic wave therapy which sends tremors to our tissues-is being used to treat conditions such as chronic pain, erectile dysfunction and soft tissue damage by increasing circulation and reducing inflammation.

Further, the cm and his team want to experiment with tuning sound waves to target specific cell types, opening the door for more adapted, non-invasive treatments.