This Week In Focus: L-Carnitine: New Section Check It Out

[parisgirl_811]

i'm curious about it's effects also. I read about others taking it and how DANDR suggested it, so i've ordered a small bottle online, small bottle to test it out given the price!

[Happyme]

Well, according to Skank you can take it 1 hour before exercise for a energy boost and I think he said it helps with sore muscles also. It can also be taken for stalls and that is what I take it for. My bottle states: Carnitine assists in the breakdown of fat in cells to produce energy.. L-Carnitine plays an essential role in making fatty acids available for energy in muscle tissue. It also states to take one tablet daily with a meal. The tablets are 500 mg and Dr Atkins recommends more than that. So, My guess would be if you are going to exercise that day take one hour before exercise. If it is your rest day take them with the rest of your supplements with a meal. As far as spreading them out through out the day, I would like to hear about that also.. Hope this helps you..

I think this is a great idea to learn all you can about different supplements. Thanks Skank!!

Happyme

[JoanOH]

I just got back from a check-up with my family doctor. First, and very important, let me say that she is VERY pro-Atkins! Gave me lots of encouragement to stay on it. I brought in a list of vitamins/supplements that I am taking, so she could review them and tell me if I should add any, eliminate any. Here's a list of what I currently take:

Mature multi-vitamin (no iron)
Chelated Potassium, 99mg x 2
Calcium plus Vitamin D, Calcium 600mg
B-50, B-Complex vitamin
Chromium Blend
Q-Sorb Coenzyme Q-10, 50 mg

She wants me to add two things. A regular adult-strength aspirin because of a family history of heart disease (I'm in my 50s). But she also wants me to add L-Carnitine! I told her I was on it but didn't see any difference in weight loss, and she said to get back on it and stay on it because it takes awhile to have an effect. She said an alternate supplement would be Pyravate?? I haven't looked into that yet -- maybe it's less expensive than L-Carnitine! She also said the Chromium would have a good metabolism-boost effect.

BTW - I don't have my blood work back yet, of course, but my blood pressure went from 160/90 on 02/02/04 to 114/74 today!! Surprised my doctor enough that she took it again just to make sure she'd read it correctly! LOL

So, I'm off to find some info on Pyravate or buy some L-Carnitine. BTW, www.puritan.com has Buy 1 get 2 free sale going on!

Joan J

[parisgirl_811]

GReat news for that dr.'s appt. Yay. Pyruvate is a good supp., at least in my opinion, I used to take it back in the day when I exercised like a maniac. I had good results w/ it, it supposedly helps burn fat. I haven't been on it in a while but I used to buy twinlab's and I believe it was cheaper than l-carnitine, at least back then.

[cranberry]

OK let me get this straight.. Pyruvate is a possible replacement for L-Carnitine? This is particularly important to me because L-Carnitine is banned in Canada. You cannot buy it anywhere here, and foreign companies will not ship it. Does anyone have ANY experience with Pyruvate??

[cranberry]

Joan - if you find any info, please post share : )

[parisgirl_811]

Personally I am more familiar w/ pyruvate b/c I took that at one point and l-carnitine i haven't started yet. Waiting for my order to come in. I thought pyruvate had a good effect for me fat burning wise but i was no slouch w/ exercise then either. I was very disciplined. L-carnitine I'm a bit less educated about and hope that it has some effect on me when i start up. I'm not sure if i would exactly call them equals as i think they vary slightly, they are different substances. I had forgotten about it as a supplement actually or else i would have ordered that vs. l-carnitine...i've been off supps. for a few years. it got too expensive when iwas in college.

[JoanOH]

Let me explain how the conversation went with my doctor, because I don't want to confuse anyone (especially when *I* don't know what I'm talking about!) She reviewed my list of vitamins/supplements (listed above in a previous post). She said they looked good. I then asked if she could recommend anything to boost the metabolism (I'm 52 - it's definitely slowed down!), and she first said "L-Carnitine" would be a good choice. I then said I'd taken that and didn't notice any results, to which her reply was that I needed to take it longer because it takes awhile to have an effect. She next said an alternative that she had read good things about was Pyruvate.

So, in this conversation, it was specifically given as an alternative to L-Carnitine as a boost to the metabolism.

I've done some reading about it this morning on the Internet, and read perhaps 20 positive articles and one negative article -- note that the negative article was by a web site that was selling it's own weight loss supplements. Of the positive, many stated that extended studies had been done and it weight loss and fat burning were both found in a high percentage of clients. Recommended doses varied from 3g to 10 g. That said, the pill comes in 1000 mcg, so that means I'll have to take 3 a day (I will do minimum recommended dose). At 19.95 a bottle for 60 - that's a 20 day supply, $1 per day. GNC lists Pyruvate as one of their in-store items, but doesn't list the price online.

I checked PREVENTION magazine web site and found the following:

"Much of the research testing pyruvate's ability to aid weight loss comes from Ronald Stanko, MD, associate professor of surgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Dr. Stanko holds the patent for the use of pyruvate in weight loss. He has published two human studies showing that supplementing ultra-low-calorie diets (500 to 1,000 calories a day) with more than 20 grams of pyruvate a day (an extremely high dose, about 10 times the recommended amount) resulted in very small increases in weight loss--an average of 2 to 3 pounds over 3 weeks--compared to those who got placebos.

"More recently, a group of Connecticut researchers found that only 6 g of pyruvate a day, combined with regular exercise and a 2,000-calorie diet, resulted in a 2.6-pound weight loss over 6 weeks, compared to no weight loss in the placebo group. Although the weight loss was rather minor, according to Dr. Stanko such small differences can make a big difference over time, especially for weight gain due to middle age spread. He currently recommends 3 to 5 g of pyruvate a day for gradual weight loss.

"Pyruvate may provide an extra nudge to weight loss attempts when it's combined with exercise and a reduced-calorie diet, but it won't effortlessly melt away the extra pounds resulting from a lifetime of inactivity and poor eating habits." http://www.prevention.com/cda/featur...-2367,00.html?

I'm not sure that I like the fact that Dr. Stanko has the patent on "the use of pyruvate for weight loss" and a majority of the studies are done by him. I think I'll do some further research and see if any independent or academia studies have been done.

So, I haven't made up my mind. I'll keep reading, I guess. You can do a Google search for Pyruvate and you'll find quite a bit of info - but most of it is commercial sites, unfortunately.

Joan J

[redneck_girl]

Side Effects?

i'm curious to know if there are any negative side effects associated with L-Carnitine (and CoQ10)? *i.e. heart palpitations, anxiety, nervousness, etc.

[JoanOH]

I know this discussion was started about L-Carnitine, so I'm going to start a new topic about Pyruvate. Found some more info, and a good price

Joan J

[shawnee]

Redneck Girl; nothing of the sort

These types of supplements we are talking about here have none of those side affect commonly associated w/commercial ephedra/xenedrine driven 'junk' supplements sold by brand name, not type of vita-nutrient.

[redneck_girl]

Skank~

Thank you for the reply!! i kind of figured that is wasn't like the commercial stuff but.......i'm very apprehensive with taking anything that is a stimulant.....(i've learned the hard way) since beginning this WOL, i've become extremely sensitive -- heart palpitations/anxiety inducing stimulants SUCK! *lol*

[shawnee]

I agree 100% I hate that ****.

Some guys at the gym got me to try hydroxycut once, damn it was just as bad as real speed/crank. It totally sucked, took me to a place I hadn't been in over twenty years & didn't want to ever revisit.

This weeK Books gonna discuss B Vitamins & the week after I may do
CoQ10 which I find does give you lots of good clean energy.

[AJ2004]

When I take L-Carnitine before walking I can walk longer and faster. I only take it when I exercise though. Should I be taking it all the time?

[mattkins]

Didn't do anything for me. :-(