Carnitine, fish oil and weight loss.

http://youtu.be/ivxZfMmnvso

Carnitine is a supplement that helps increase energy levels.  As heard in the above video clip, when combined with fish oils, it is a strong promoter of weight loss. So the video clip has been taken down.  Well, I this is the only protocol I’ve had consistent success with in kick starting weightloss. When there is a significant amount of weight to lose, one difficulty encountered is that the walls of the fat cells have become hard and the stored body fat  becomes inaccessible as an energy source.  Waste products can’t get out – and nutrients can’t get in either.  So all this leads to feeling hungry – the cells are crying out to be fed, yet nothing is getting in, and the body is crying out for energy.  Because the fat cells can’t work properly, energy levels dip, hunger levels rise and trying to lose weight becomes a Sisyphean task. ¹

In the video that was, Dr Mark Houston recommended taking a very high dose of fish oil – 30 – 45 gms a day plus 6 – 8 gms carnitine.  30 gms sounds like a tremendous amount of fish oil – but this equates to 6 teaspoons a day, preferably split over the course of the day and taken with food.  As my fish oil blog went into, fish oil, or omega 3, helps weight loss by at least 5 different mechanisms and, as the blog on how fish oils make you healthier said, it also increases the flexibility of the cell walls.

In summary, the video clip is saying that fish oils promote insulin sensitivity by increasing fat uptake and burning in the cells – and this includes atherogenic cells.  Atherogenic cells cause problems in the blood vessels (veins and arteries) by causing stiffness and plaque build up.  Scientists give this action the name PPAR control valve.  There is much excitement in the pharmaceutical world about this, since a successful drug will help reverse type II diabetes, improve heart health and make big profits. ²³ However, as Dr Houston says, so far drugs cause subcutaneous weight loss – this is from under the skin and not from around the viscera and are associated with heart failure.  Fish oils, in contrast, help visceral fat loss – this means the waistline will be slimmer- and are very good indeed for heart health, having a normalising effect on both blood pressure and blood viscosity.  Mankind is extremely clever, but doesn’t hold a candle to nature.

Where the carnitines come into this is that they shuttle the fish oils into the cells and then trundle the waste products out – they make the cells work properly again.  So now we have energy to be more active and when we exercise, we happily burn our body fat for fuel instead of relying on the brief energy spurt of a biscuit.

As a final word, do make sure the fish oils are properly clean.  This means they will have been molecularly distilled.  All fish oils claim to be purified – the problems usually lie with what they purify the oils with cause as many health issues as uncleaned fish oils. Molecularly distilled fish oils really are clean.  Some places insist their oils are as clean as a whistle and these include Norway and California, so oils manufactured here will be reliable.

In more recent times, high levels of fish oils have been questioned.  As I said, this protocol is reliable.  However, it should only be followed for a month, then resume the more normal 1 – 3 gm super clean fish oil a day.

1. Sisyphus was a king in Greek mythology, who was condemned for eternity to roll a huge boulder up a hill, only to watch it roll down the hill again. [↩]
2. Lee C H, Chawla A et al.  Transcriptional repression of atherogenic inflammation: modulation by PPARδ.  Science 17 Oct 2003. Vol 302 no 5644 pp453-457 [↩]
3. Wu Z Rosen E D et al. Cross regulation of c/EBP alphaT PPAR gamma controls the transcriptional pathway of adipogenesis and insulin sensitivity.  Mol Cell 1999 Feb; 3(2): 151-8 Abstr [↩]