The obesity epidemic

There is a better way - eat more fiber, eat RAW foods, at least those that can be eaten raw, do not cook veggies, that destroys vitamins, drink a lot of water, don't eat white bread but whole grain, don't eat after 8 pm and exercise regularly

Meat is important, especially red meat, as it is the only source of Acetyl-L Carnitine which cannot be synthesized by the body and is one of the few good chemicals that is able to pass the blood-brain barrier plus it is a transport protein for long chain fats, which cannot pass the cell membrane by themselves and thus are very hard to burn.

Cooking concentrates fats into longer chains which are harder to burn and temperature destroys vitamins. The link you posted actually supports most of the things I said and says nothing about synthesis in the human body.

If anything, it says "INGESTION" which means you eat it, not synthesize it

Humans can synthesize L-carnitine but can't acetylate it, that's what I've been taught at school and if if you have information suggesting otherwise, I'd be happy to fix that eventual educational mistake ;)

ALCAR is an acetylated derivative of L-carnitine. During strenuous exercise, a large portion of L-carnitine and unused acetyl-CoA are converted to ALCAR inside mitochondria by carnitine O-acetyltransferase.[1]

Adv Drug Deliv Rev. 2009 Nov 30;61(14):1332-42. Epub 2009 Aug 29.
Mitochondria in the elderly: Is acetylcarnitine a rejuvenator?

Rosca MG, Lemieux H, Hoppel CL.

Center for Mitochondrial Diseases and Department of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
Abstract

Endogenous acetylcarnitine is an indicator of acetyl-CoA synthesized by multiple metabolic pathways involving carbohydrates, amino acids, fatty acids, sterols, and ketone bodies, and utilized mainly by the tricarboxylic acid cycle. Acetylcarnitine supplementation has beneficial effects in elderly animals and humans, including restoration of mitochondrial content and function. These effects appear to be dose-dependent and occur even after short-term therapy. In order to set the stage for understanding the mechanism of action of acetylcarnitine, we review the metabolism and role of this compound. We suggest that acetylation of mitochondrial proteins leads to a specific increase in mitochondrial gene expression and mitochondrial protein synthesis. In the aged rat heart, this effect is translated to increased cytochrome b content, restoration of complex III activity, and oxidative phosphorylation, resulting in amelioration of the age-related mitochondrial defect.

PMID: 19720100 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Congrats!! What do you win besides a hot body?

$200. My birthday is on the 27th, the day of the final weigh-in. Every year, we celebrate my birthday and Memorial Day by going to Long Beach Island and have steamed lobsters. This year I expect they'll be extra sweet.

Jimmy no longer qualifies for a free meal here

Jimmy no longer qualifies for a free meal here

"Here" being the Heart Attack Grill. Their spokesman, a 575-pound, 29-year-old man, died Tuesday -- not of a heart attack, but of pneumonia.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/41899470/ns/today-food/

Good grief, his BMI was 63.

This may be a silly question but is obesity a risk factor for pneumonia?