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No Effect of L-Carnitine on Fat Loss or Body Composition in Obese Women

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After last weeks "bad" news on L-Cartinine L-Tartrate the supplement industry, which is still promoting various kinds of l-carnitines as fat loss aids, just received another beating. In a double-blind randomized placebo study Villani et al. (Villani. 2010) investigated the effects of 8 weeks of 2g/day l-carnitine supplementation on body composition, resting energy expenditure (REE) and substrate utilization of 18 premenopausal  women walking @60-70% of their maximum heart rate 4x a week: Figure 1: Chemical structure of L-Carnitine (HMBD v2.5) For the subjects who completed the study (15 P, 13 L-C), no significant changes in mean total body mass (TBM), fat mass FM, and resting lipid utilization occurred over time, nor were there any significant differences between groups for any variable. Conversely REE increased significantly for all subjects, but no between group differences existed . Five of the L-C group experienced nausea or diarrhea and consequently did ...
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Endurance Athletes Benefit from Anti-Oxidant Supplementation (Vitamin E, Vitamin C & beta-carotene)

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Lately, the discussion about the benefits of anti-oxidants has taken a turn. Studies and reviews have questioned the use or necessity of supplemental anti-oxidants to athletes diets and some have even claimed that overt use of anti-inflammatory supplements would reduce training success. In a recent study Acquilo et al. (Acquilo. 2010) have supplemented 18 amateur trained male athletes randomly with placebo or a mix of antioxidants (vitamin E, 500 mg/d; vitamin C, 1 g/d; and b -carotene, 30 mg/d) in the course of their usual training and competition season. The scientists found that Exercise decreased antioxidant defenses in the placebo group but not in the antioxidant-supplemented group . No changes were found in the number of erythrocytes, hematocrit, or hemoglobin concentration, or in values of serum iron parameters, after taking the antioxidant cocktail for 3 months, in spite of the exercise completed. The placebo group showed a high oxidative stress index, and decrea...
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L-Ornithine HCL as an Ammonia-Buffer for Hard Training Athletes

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Figure 1: Chemical structure of L-ornithine (HMDB v2.5) Habitual readers of the SuppVersity will be familiar with the ergogenic effects of l-ornithine . A recent study by Demura et al. ( Demura. 2010 ) verified the immediate effect of l-ornithine supplementation on ammonia and glutamate metabolism. In their 14 healthy young volunteers, who trained regularly , the scientists observed significant increases in plasma ammonia and glutamate upon supplementation of 0.1.g/kg body weight before the subjects conducted incremental exhaustive ergometer bicycle exercises. Interpreting their results as follows, although the ingestion of L-ornithine hydrochloride before the exercise cannot be expected to improve performance, it does increase the ability to buffer ammonia, both during and after exercise , Demura et al. are yet reluctant to postulate a direct effect on exercise performance.Such an effect has however already been reported in the 2008 study by Sugino et al. , I already referre...
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Do Your Sperm a Favor: Eat Salmon not Soy!

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In a recent investigation Brazilian scientists (Moraes. 2010) found that vitamin E from salmon, but not soy oil, has beneficial effects on sperm motality and resistance to cooling to 17° respectively 5°. The scientists supplemented twenty-four Dalboar 85 boars with three different amounts of antioxidants (150, 300 and 450 vitamin E mg/kg) from one of the sources and conducted a few standard tests at 24h, 48h, and 72h after the supplementation: Salmon oil increased the vigor in both temperatures evaluated after 24 and 48 hours. The occurence of total morphological abnormalities was higher in the semen of animals fed soybean oil and cooled at 17ºC while in the lowest cooling temperature (5ºC) there was no difference among animals under supplementation. [...] Salmon oil improves the sperm characteristics of the boar semen cooled at 17 and 5ºC from 24 to 48 hours. "No soy boy!". The good old BB-saying holds true no matter how hard animal rights activists are pushing to get me ...
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No Short Term Effect on Energy Expenditure by Consumption of Green Tea Extract (Epigallocatechin-3-Gallate)

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Figure 1: EGCG molecule ( HMDB v2.5 ) Lonac et al. ( Lonac. 2010 ) recently investigated the effect of supplemental Epigallocatechin-3-Gallate - better known as Green Tea Extract - on resting metabolic rate (RMR) and the thermic effect of feeding (TEF). Marketed as effective weight loss tools, it was to be expected that these extract increase one or the other and thus contribute to a greater overall energy expenditure, BUT this is not what the scientists found. According to their results, the consumption of 7x135 mg/capsule EGCG had no "thermogenic" effect , whatsoever: Contrary to our hypothesis, RMR was not greater ( P = 0.10) following consumption of EGCG (6,740 ± 373 kJ/day) compared with placebo (6,971 ± 352). Similarly, the area under the TEF response curve (Δ energy expenditure) was also unaffected by EGCG (246,808 ± 23,748 vs. 243,270 ± 22,177 kJ; P = 0.88). EGCG had no effect on respiratory exchange ratio at rest ( P = 0.29) or throughout the TEF measu...
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Don't Blame Your Parents for Getting Fat: N-3 Fatty Acids May Save You!

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Figure 1: Chemical Structure of Alpha-Linolic Acid ( HMDB v2.5 ) It has been assumed that bad dietary habits of mothers-to-be increase the risk of their offspring to become obese. As Oosting et al. ( Oosting. 2010 ) report the consumption of a diet high in n-3 Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 LCP) may well prevent you from this fate, even if your mother was a fast food maniac: A n-3 LCP-rich diet during postnatal life not only reduced fat accumulation by approximately 30% during the WSD [western diet = high fat, high carb] challenge from PN42 to 98 (p<0.001), but also led to a healthier plasma lipid profile, healthier plasma glucose homeostasis and less hypertrophic adipocytes compared to CTRL. This study shows that postnatal nutrition has programming effects on adult body composition and metabolic homeostasis. Additionally, it emphasizes that moderate alterations in fat quality during early postnatal life considerably affect adult metabolic health. Well, t...
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Prepare for the Winter: Get your Supply of Vitamin D Supplements

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Figure 1: In Great Britain Vitamin D3 supplementation appears indicated at least in the winter month A recent study by researchers ( Webb. 2010 ) from the School of Earth Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences at the University of Manchester highlight the importance of maintaining "late-summer 25-OH(D3) levels" throughout the winter month. In their investigation among 125 white Caucasians aged 20-60 years in Greater Manchester they found: Dietary vitamin D remained low in all seasons (median 3.27 mug/day, range 2.76-4.15) while personal UV exposure levels were high in spring and summer, low in autumn and negligible in winter . Mean 25(OH)D levels were maximal in September (28.4 ng/mL; 28% optimal, zero deficient (< 5 ng/mL)), and minimal in February (18.3 ng/mL; 7% optimal, 5% deficient). A February 25(OH)D level of 20ng/mL was achieved following an average late summer level of 30.4 (25.6 to 35.2) and 34.9 (27.9 to 41.9) ng/mL in women and men, respecti...
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