Can It Help You Lose Weight? L-carnitine is a nutrient widely available in supplement form and is often marketed as a weight loss aid. Made naturally in the body, L-carnitine is essential for transporting fat into cells to produce energy.
While many supplement manufacturers claim that L-carnitine can speed up metabolism, there is little scientific support for L-carnitine’s ability to promote weight loss.
Health Benefits of L-Carnitine for Weight Loss
To date, few clinical trials have tested l-carnitine’s effectiveness as a weight loss aid. The available research includes a 2000 study from the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism in which 36 moderately overweight premenopausal women were given either L-carnitine or a placebo twice daily for eight weeks. Analyzing study results, researchers found no difference in total body mass or fat mass between those who took L-carnitine and those given a placebo.
A number of animal studies have also shown that L-carnitine may not support weight loss. A 2002 study from the Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism,
for instance, found that rats treated with l-carnitine did not experience a greater reduction in body fat levels compared to a control group.
What’s more, a 2005 study published in the International Journal for Vitamin and Nutrition Research found that rats fed an L-carnitine-enhanced diet tended to gain more weight than other animals in the study (despite no difference in their intake of calories).
L-Carnitine Side Effects
In some cases, L-carnitine supplements may produce certain side effects (including nausea, abdominal cramps, diarrhea, and a “fishy” body odor). In addition, L-carnitine may interact with antibiotics used in the long-term prevention of urinary tract infections (such as pivampicillin).
Acupuncture.
Some proponents of acupuncture suggest that the needle-based alternative therapy can help promote weight loss. Long practised in traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture is thought to stimulate the body’s flow of vital energy (or “chi”) and, in turn, improve several factors known to contribute to weight problems and obesity.
How Does Acupuncture Helps Weight Loss?
Although scientists aren’t sure how acupuncture might promote weight loss, it’s thought that undergoing acupuncture may suppress appetite, boost metabolism, and reduce stress. However, these theories have yet to be extensively tested in scientific studies.
Research on Acupuncture for Weight Loss
Although there is relatively little scientific support for the theory that acupuncture can promote weight loss, some studies suggest that acupuncture may be of some benefit to people looking to lose weight. In a research review published in 2009, for instance, scientists analysed 31 studies (with a total of 3,013 participants) and found that acupuncture was associated with a significant reduction in average body weight and improvement in obesity. However, the review’s authors caution that many of the reviewed studies were of poor quality.
Other research on acupuncture’s effects on weight loss has yielded mixed results. For instance, a 1999 study of 40 obese people found that 12 weekly acupuncture sessions led to significant improvement in anxiety and depression but failed to promote weight loss. In a study published the previous year, however, frequent acupuncture (administered twice daily for four weeks) was found to suppress appetite and promote weight loss in overweight participants.
Should You Use Acupuncture for Weight Loss?
Due to the lack of scientific support, acupuncture cannot currently be recommended as a main strategy for weight loss. If you’re looking to lose weight, talk to your doctor about which weight-loss strategies are right for you. If appropriate, you may want to consider combining acupuncture with other alternative therapies and key lifestyle changes in order to promote weight loss.
