I'm sceptical that we know enough about human metabolism that this kind of pill would provide all the health benefits of exercise without nasty side effects. Would this kind of thing also affect mitochondrial biogenesis?
But the public loves convenience. They love short cuts. Why control and discipline yourself when a pill can fix everything. That mindset alone is far from ideal.
Into the pods we go. The Matrix isn't as sci-fi as it once seemed to be.
I don't have a problem with the "laziness" angle (despite being a keen cyclist myself) as we have many different shortcuts to health that could be considered "lazy" such as adding vitamins/nutrients to foods to make it easier for people to not suffer deficiencies. It could be considered "lazy" to have pasteurised milk etc.
Edit: Also there's people with disabilities that can make it much harder to exercise.
Second, of course there are exceptions (e.g., disabilities). That said, we have to wonder if the push to make obesity a disease is to legitimize the market, and a massive market - no pun intended - is is. Big Pharma loves big markets.
Finally,
True Story 1: Approx 5 yrs ago I met a friend and her colleague for dinner. They do med / pharma research. The friend was working on something diabetes related. I asked, "Why isn't the treatment to change their diet and lifestyle?" The direct answer was, "They don't do it. It's not going to happen."
True Story 2: My parents are on meds that are only necessary because they don't want to change their diet and lifestyle. I have friends with parents on meds for the same reasons.
I don't know why. I don't know how. I'm not being a critic. But at this point people are people and 9 out of 10 times it's pills over diet or lifestyle change. I wish I could say otherwise.
There's also people with disabilities that can have a much harder time exercising than other people - seems unfair to use them as guinea pigs.
It would be interesting if they could measure things like motivation and happiness on that pill as well.
Absolutely. The improvement of mood after exercising in green spaces is often under-stated. Exercise doesn't just have to be about building strength and fitness.
To be fair, a pill doesn't have to provide all the benefits of exercise to still be useful, but it would be a concern if people took it as a replacement for exercise as opposed to those people who don't exercise for whatever reason.
Personally, I'm a huge fan of Active Travel as it's such an easy way to get a lot of people to exercise and also interact with their environment in a way that you don't get if you just sit in a vehicle and watch the world through a pane of glass. (Also has the benefit of reducing traffic congestion and is very time efficient compared to commuting and then going to a gym).