L-carnitine to lose weight: Effective according to new results

The weight loss remains one of the most common goals among people today around the world, being the pharmacotherapy a popular approach for this purpose. In this line, L-carnitine is one of the most controversial supplements in terms of whether it favors weight loss or is simply a fraud that does not do what it says.

The L-carnitine has been used for the prevention of cardiovascular disease, renal disease end stage, hypertension associated with dialysis, the treatment of persistent depressive disorder and treatment of fatty liver disease nonalcoholic. However, evidence on the anti-obesity effects of L-carnitine has not been conclusive in recent years.

The Australian Sports Institute classifies sports supplements according to scientific evidence and on the basis of a risk-benefit analysis of each product, all done by a group of scientists who are experts in medicine and sports nutrition.

This classification places the L-carnitine with a level of evidence B, which means that it is a supplement that deserves further investigation, and may be considered for its supply under a research protocol or in specific cases monitoring the situation (the highest degree of evidence would be A).

Role of L-carnitine in metabolism

L-carnitine plays some roles in the metabolism of glucose and has an important role in lipid metabolism , facilitating the transfer of long-chain fatty acids through the inner mitochondrial membrane and acting on the beta-oxidation of acids fatty. Due to these two effects of L-carnitine on the metabolism of glucose and lipids, it can help weight loss by increasing energy expenditure.

Supplementing L-carnitine as an agent for weight loss is based on the fact that regular oral ingestion of this substance leads to an increase in its intracellular concentration. This in turn activates the oxidation of the fat and helps reduce the fat reserves of the body.

In turn, there have been points in favor of L-carnitine because, unlike other drugs, with its supplementation is not suffered from some side effects such as gastrointestinal problems, increased blood pressure and pulse rate and the increased risk of psychological disorder.

What the latest studies on L-carnitine to lose weight tell us

Recently and published in 2016, a systematic review and meta-analysis in which articles with adequate methodological quality and with a total of 911 subjects were included, has concluded that supplementation with L-carnitine results in weight loss in adults.

The results of the study revealed that the subjects who received L-carnitine lost significantly more weight and showed a decrease in body mass indexcompared to the control groups, although it was revealed that the magnitude of the weight loss resulting from the supplementation with L-carnitine decreased significantly over time.

So, can we all already supplement with L-carnitine to lose weight?

Be careful, not everything is positive and we have finally found the star product that will help us all lose weight and look the body we want this summer. In the study it was reported that the positive influence of L-carnitine on weight losswas found in chronic conditions such as diabetes and obesity, in addition to that, as I mentioned earlier, the magnitude of weight loss would decrease with the time, which means that I do not have and should not take L-carnitine at all times, because with the passage of time its effect will be much less.

In turn, although the analysis indicated that the dosage of L-carnitine had a positive, but not significant, impact on weight change, the insufficient analysis power prevented having any recommendation regarding the best dose of L-carnitine.

Therefore, although L-carnitine could be an effective drug for weight loss in adults , not in all types of populations is equally effective, there are currently doubts as to what is the best dose, so that You will have to keep investigating.