Research

Mixed

Higher body mass index (BMI) is independently associated with elevated plasma levels of acylcarnitines (ACs) and large neutral amino acids (LNAAs), serving as biomarkers of metabolic dysregulation and increased cardiometabolic risk.

Your weight (BMI) is a rough proxy for metabolic health, but it's not the whole story. This research shows that as BMI increases, your body's metabolic byproducts (specifically acylcarnitines and large neutral amino acids) also increase, signaling higher metabolic stress and disease risk. Focus on metabolic health markers and lifestyle factors rather than just the number on the scale.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
In a multivariable model containing study, race, gender, BMI, and age (Table 2), the AC Factor was independently associated with age (p < .0001) and BMI (p = .014)... every unit (kg/m2) increase in BMI was associated with a 0.015 (SD) unit increase in the normalized AC factor score.
William E. Kraus et al. · The Journals of Gerontology Series A · 2016

Why this rating

Meta-analysis of 6 diverse studies with 739 subjects, consistent findings across cohorts, but observational nature limits causal inference.

Source

Association of Plasma Small-Molecule Intermediate Metabolites With Age and Body Mass Index Across Six Diverse Study Populations

William E. Kraus et al. · The Journals of Gerontology Series A · 2016

DOI 10.1093/gerona/glw031

Meta-analysis · 6 studiesCited 27×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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