The "imaginary meal" pill, as researchers call it, is a new diet pill in development that makes the body feel it has taken up a satisfying meal. According to scientists, the new drug may pave the way for a new generation weight loss remedy.

According to the report by CBS News, scientists at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California have created a compound called fexaramine, the "imaginary meal" pill. Unlike other drugs, which claims to speed up the metabolism or serve as an appetite suppressant, the newly-developed pill remains in the intestines and is said to cause fewer side effects.

"This pill is like an imaginary meal," Salk Institute's Gene Expression Laboratory director and U.S. lead scientist Dr. Ronald Evans said. "It sends out the same signals that normally happen when you eat a lot of food, so the body starts clearing out space to store it. But there are no calories and no change in appetite."

In an early study on mice, the "imaginary meal" pill effectively stopped weight gain, lowered cholesterol, controlled blood sugar and reduced levels of unhealthy white fat. The Telegraph reported the fexaramine drug activates a protein called the farensoid X receptor (FXR). Medically speaking, the protein plays a role in how the body releases bile acids from the liver, digests food and stores fats and sugars.

As researchers explained in the study published in the Nature Medicine journal, FXR is activated in preparation for food intake when one starts eating a meal. As reported by Medical News Today, past studies from Evans' team have indicated that aside from triggering the release of bile acids to aid digestion, FXR changes blood sugar levels and switches on a fat-burning process.

Not like most appetite suppressants and caffeine-based diet drugs, scientists said fexaramine remains in the intestines without dissolving into the blood, thereby causing fewer side effects and setting off a more natural flow of events that better restricts weight gain, USA Today reported.

Meanwhile, obesity is a growing problem in the U.S. as well as in some other countries of the world. Tech Times reported a major chunk of the U.S. population is obese and it can lead to other medical conditions such as type 2 diabetes, heart diseases and more. Evans and colleagues believe fexaramine, the "imaginary meal" pill, is a promising candidate to reduce obesity and the risk of its related diseases.

In two to three years, The Guardian reported that researchers hope to launch clinical trials, adding that the "imaginary meal" pill would preferably be prescribed alongside diet and lifestyle changes.