18 mo stall ended w L-carnitine : Tips and Stalls Forum : Active Low-Carber Forums

#46 ^

Sat, May-22-04, 12:33

Worldlife

Senior Member

Posts: 122

Plan: Atkins
Stats: 190/177/160 Male 68 inches

BF:
Progress: 43%

Location: United Kingdom - Sussex

Hi folks

Firstly I've been taking L-Carnitine 500mg once a day since starting Atkins in March. This didn't stop me getting into a stall.

Wish I had read Weight loss stalls and plateaus , and particularly Doreen's excellent link to this problem, before opting for a "Fat Fast" as suggested in Atkins.

However the "Fat Fast" is working for me and details are given in my posts in the above link.

For UK readers L-Carnitine 500 mg Higher Strength is available from "Natures Best" at 19.95 pounds sterling for 60 tablets. Found their products usually competitive and of premium quality.

Sponsored Links

#47 ^

Sat, May-22-04, 13:46

doogieb

Modified :)

Posts: 1,387

Plan: Atkins
Stats: 242/223/175 Male 170cm

BF:
Progress: 28%

Location: Glasgow, Scotland

Quote:

Originally Posted by Worldlife

For UK readers L-Carnitine 500 mg Higher Strength is available from "Natures Best" at 19.95 pounds sterling for 60 tablets. Found their products usually competitive and of premium quality.

Or even better, Affordable Supplements has Reflex brand at £23.99 for 120 caps of 500mg

#48 ^

Sat, May-22-04, 22:45

Worldlife

Senior Member

Posts: 122

Plan: Atkins
Stats: 190/177/160 Male 68 inches

BF:
Progress: 43%

Location: United Kingdom - Sussex

Quote:

All Nature's Best products are manufactured in our own purpose built UK factory that is one of the most technically advanced in Europe. The factory operates to the high standards required to satisfy Good Manufacturing Practice and is regularly inspected by the UK Department of Health, so you can be assured that all our products are manufactured to the highest pharmaceutical standards.

However both these firms are, for most of their products, under the High Street prices generally charged.

Last edited by Worldlife : Sat, May-22-04 at 23:10.

#49 ^

Sun, May-23-04, 01:54

doogieb

Modified :)

Posts: 1,387

Plan: Atkins
Stats: 242/223/175 Male 170cm

BF:
Progress: 28%

Location: Glasgow, Scotland

Quote:

Originally Posted by Worldlife

Sounds like a bargain doogieb!!!!

Need to know a little more. Are "Affordable Supplements" their own processors or merely repackers and do they have their own quality control systems and testing facilities in place?

However both these firms are, for most of their products, under the High Street prices generally charged.

Affordable Supplements are neither; they are (for want of a better term) "box shifters" - they sell all sorts of different body building supplements from different manufacturers. The L-Carnitine I pointed out is Reflex brand (Reflex are an ISO 9001 company if that matters to you

).... check out their website at http://www.reflex-nutrition.com/

#50 ^

Sun, May-23-04, 07:14

Worldlife

Senior Member

Posts: 122

Plan: Atkins
Stats: 190/177/160 Male 68 inches

BF:
Progress: 43%

Location: United Kingdom - Sussex

Interesting doogieb - your boxshifter is cheaper the the manufacturer Reflex at £29.99 for 120 x 500 mg tablets

Agree that the ISO 9001 is an excellent quality indicator for Reflex and they will therefore be certain to have strict stock rotation and storage conditions for their warehouse.

Would the same be applicable to a box shifter? Might you be getting stock that had a shorter recommended shelf life than that which you would get directly from Reflex,

Sorry if I seem cynical but one must be careful about apparant bargains

#51 ^

Sun, May-23-04, 07:34

Vanity3

Senior Member

Posts: 828

Plan: Atkins
Stats: 265/247.5/145 Female 5'4.25"

BF:50%/46%/15%
Progress: 15%

Location: West Hartford, CT

Quote:

Originally Posted by missaec

I started taking mine again today along with oil of oregano and relacore. One of the three HAS to work. heh

I guess you are covering all of your bases! I'm currently taking MCT (medium chain triglycerides) and Flaxseed oil once a day each. I guess it wouldn't hurt to add this too.

#52 ^

Sun, May-23-04, 07:45

doogieb

Modified :)

Posts: 1,387

Plan: Atkins
Stats: 242/223/175 Male 170cm

BF:
Progress: 28%

Location: Glasgow, Scotland

I don't think it's likely to be a problem... I'm obviously not as paranoid as you

/me looks in cupboard.... Reflex L-Carnitine BBE Aug 05, Reflex L-Glutamine BBE Apr 06, Reflex Whey BBE Jan 06 all bought from Affordable.

The Affordable guys also have a shop in Castleford in West Yorkshire..... I'm not sure whether the mail order based or shop based is their main business, but they have always been great with queries, advice and shipping out my orders... for cheap!

#53 ^

Sun, May-23-04, 11:37

Worldlife

Senior Member

Posts: 122

Plan: Atkins
Stats: 190/177/160 Male 68 inches

BF:
Progress: 43%

Location: United Kingdom - Sussex

Quote:

Originally Posted by doogieb

I don't think it's likely to be a problem... I'm obviously not as paranoid as you

I was never called that when I seized unfit and mouldy food from supermarket refrigerators because of poor stock rotation :lol

Tend not to rely on other people reading "best before" dates

Perhaps we can recommend Affordable Vitamins for price, quality and freshness

#54 ^

Tue, May-25-04, 08:31

Vanity3

Senior Member

Posts: 828

Plan: Atkins
Stats: 265/247.5/145 Female 5'4.25"

BF:50%/46%/15%
Progress: 15%

Location: West Hartford, CT

I started taking mine this morning. I took one 500mg pill. I'll try with one a day and see how that goes.

#55 ^

Sat, May-29-04, 13:28

Arizona B

Senior Member

Posts: 369

Plan: Atkins
Stats: 199/177/135 Female 5 feet 4 inches

BF:
Progress: 34%

Location: Surprise, Arizona

Matty,
Thanks for the advice. I was stalled for several months. I'm going through Induction again starting tomorrow. I'm on my way to the store to buy some L-carnitine now. I'll let you know how things go. I have 50 more lbs to lose so I get really frustrated when I hit a stall. Thanks again.

#56 ^

Sun, Jun-13-04, 11:31

cbcb

Senior Member

Posts: 791

Plan: South Beach-esque
Stats: 194/159/140 Female 5'3"

BF:34% / 28% / 20%
Progress: 65%

Matty,

Just wanted to say it was so helpful how you listed the stuff you tried that did vs. didn't have an impact!

Also, in case anybody's interested, some doc wrote a book called The Carnitine Miracle.

CB

---------
RE:

Quote:

Originally Posted by matty

Just wanted to report what worked for one person (me). I've been stalled for 18 months. I'm not on any meds. I take a multi+anti-oxidants so I figured I was covered. I tried all of the following for about 1 month each:
- increased exercise. No impact. (kept this one going, not just 1 mo.)
- cut out all artificial sweeteners and all processed foods including store mayo. No impact.
- cut out coffee and tea, drank only water. No impact.
- cut out all dairy. No impact.
- went back to induction: GAINED 2 lbs.
- lowered carbs below induction. Got down to 5/day for about 2 weeks, now holding steady at 10-15. No impact.
- fat fast (2 days). No impact.
- cyclic refeeds. No impact.
- Raised fat. No impact
- Lowered calories. No impact.
- Raised calories. No impact.
- cyclic high cal/low cal (all low carb). Slight loss, which came back.
- added coconut oil. No impact.
- thyroid tested: no problem.

Decided to read the damn book again, and lo and behold, practically the first thing Dr. A says is "add l-carnitine". Well Duh! So I started taking 500 mg with each meal, have lost 7 lbs in the last 4 weeks. I am officially declaring this stall over, and I'm going to hit my head against the wall some more. (Which is good exercise as well.)

Thanks for listening (reading) my long vent at myself!

#57 ^

Sun, Jun-13-04, 11:40

cbcb

Senior Member

Posts: 791

Plan: South Beach-esque
Stats: 194/159/140 Female 5'3"

BF:34% / 28% / 20%
Progress: 65%

One other thing - carnitine is apparently found in red meat, though I think it's kind of heat sensitive. So if anyone does beef sashimi... that would be the ticket to 'natural' carnitine.

Maybe some people's bodies are closer to their caveman roots than others.

#58 ^

Fri, Jun-18-04, 08:48

austinlc

New Member

Posts: 14

Plan: atkins
Stats: 188/160/155 Male 5' 8"

BF:25.7%/19.2%/15%
Progress: 85%

trying it...but how much?

So after reading this thread, I ran over to the local GNC and bought GNC-brand 250mg l-carnitine capsules. I do have a few questions for those of you taking these, however.

1. How much should I take a day? I'm 5'8, 175", been LC'ing for months and have hit a small stall here recently. The bottle says 1 tablet / day.

2. How long did you all take it before you saw an impact? A few days? A few weeks? 1 day?

Thanks, and thanks for this thread!

#59 ^

Fri, Jun-18-04, 09:10

LMmama

Senior Member

Posts: 241

Plan: Atkins
Stats: 148/125/121 Female 66

BF:
Progress: 85%

Location: foothills of No. Cal.

I take one pill a day, but my pills are 500 mg. I noticed a change within a week or so.

#60 ^

Fri, Jun-18-04, 18:39

Sasha99

Registered Member

Posts: 30

Plan: Dr. Bernstein's
Stats: 189/165/140 Female 5 ft 6 in

BF:
Progress: 49%

Location: South Texas

In Fran McCullough's book "Living Low Carb" (pp. 47-50), she quotes a book called "The Carnitine Miracle" by Robert Crayhorne. Crayhorne says to start with 500 mg/day and increase by 500 mg each day until you feel extremely good and highly energized. But even the optimum amount won't work very efficiently unless it is accompanied by omega-3 oil. Take it in two doses, before breakfast and lunch, with flaxseed oil or another omega-3. He recommends Twinlab 500 mg tablets, which are the best kind: L-carnitine tartrate. He says all manufcturers don't identify whether their is the tartrate form (it's the most effective). The Crayhorn book sounds fabulous and very informative.

So now I'm taking L-Carnitine with a flax oil/evening primrose combo.