In long overdue news for increasingly sedentary first world citizens (and their marketing-driven appetites) around the globe, French scientists have discovered a drug said to ‘trick’ the body to burn fat away – even on a high fat diet reports The BBC.

The drug - SRT1720 - has protected mice against insulin resistance and weight gain according to the University of Pasteur team's results published in Cell Metabolism. SRT1720 is a chemical cousin of resveratrol, (the beneficial antioxidant extract found in red wine) and targets a protein called SIRT1 which is understood to combat aging.

Earlier studies showing resveratrol countering some effects of a high-calorie diet via SIRT1 prompted the French team’s interest, but tests in mice suggested humans would need gallons of wine to stand a chance of getting the same benefits.

So the team focused their efforts on creating a more potent drug specifically targeting SIRT1, and found after 10 weeks of treatment a low dose of SRT1720 partially protected mice from gaining weight on a high-fat diet.

The drug works by changing the metabolism to a fat-burning mode that usually only starts when energy levels are low.

Higher doses completely prevented weight gain, as well as improving blood sugar tolerance and insulin sensitivity in the mice - important factors in warding off diabetes. While there were no signs of side effects, further studies are needed before it can be tested on humans.