What Is L-Carnitine?
L-carnitine is a nutrient and dietary supplement.
It plays a crucial role in the production of energy by transporting fatty acids into your cells’ mitochondria.
The mitochondria act as engines within your cells, burning these fats to create usable energy.
Your body can produce L-carnitine out of the amino acids lysine and methionine.
For your body to produce it in sufficient amounts, you also need plenty of vitamin C.
In addition to the L-carnitine produced in your body, you can also obtain small amounts by eating animal products like meat or fish.
Vegans or people with certain genetic issues may be unable to produce or obtain enough. This makes L-carnitine a conditionally essential nutrient.
L-carnitine is an amino acid that is produced in the body. L-carnitine helps the body turn fat into energy. The body can convert L-carnitine to other amino acids called acetyl-L-carnitine and propionyl-L-carnitine.
L-carnitine is taken by mouth to increase L-carnitine levels in people whose natural level of L-carnitine is too low. Some people also use L-carnitine for conditions of the heart and blood vessels, overactive thyroid, inability to become pregnant within a year of trying to conceive (infertility), serious kidney disease, and many other conditions.
How does it work?
L-carnitine helps the body produce energy. It is important for heart and brain function, muscle movement, and many other body processes.
Role in Your Body
L-carnitine’s main role in your body involves mitochondrial function and energy production.
In cells, it helps transport fatty acids into the mitochondria, where they can be burned for energy.
About 98% of your L-carnitine stores are contained in your muscles, along with trace amounts in your liver and blood.
L-carnitine may help increase mitochondrial function, which plays a key role in disease and healthy aging.
Newer research illustrates the potential benefits of carnitine’s different forms, which may be used for various conditions, including heart and brain diseases
Benefits of L-carnitine
L-Carnitine Weight Loss
Essentially, L-Carnitine plays a major role in helping the body burn fat and helps prevent fat from storing in our bodies. This would be a great supplement to include when you’re trying to lose weight and burn more calories.
Not only is L-Carnitine helpful for weight loss and increasing your metabolism, it has also been shown to have several other health benefits. Some studies have indicated that it can improve brain function and protect us from potential damage to our brain cells. It may also help in certain areas of learning.
L-carnitine & Exercise Performance
Given its fat burning capabilities, L-carnitine optimises how your body uses fat for fuel allowing you to exercise for longer. Research has also found that muscle lactate was reduced when performing high-intensity exercise (at 80% VO2max). This is not the first study to show that L-carnitine supplementation is able to reduce various markers of metabolic stress and muscle soreness.
L-carnitine may benefit:
- Recovery: May improve exercise recovery.
- Muscle oxygen supply: May increase oxygen supply to your muscles.
- Stamina: May increase blood flow and nitric oxide production, helping delay discomfort and reduce fatigue.
- Muscle soreness: May reduce muscle soreness after exercise.
- Red blood cell production: May increase the production of red blood cells, which transport oxygen throughout your body and muscles.
L-carnitine & Brain Function
L-carnitine may also benefit brain function. ALCAR has been proven to positively impact learning capacity. In experimental models carried out on rats, it has been found that the ALCAR-treated subjects had a superior learning capacity compared to those in the control group when subjected to a maze memory test.
In human studies, taking ALCAR daily helped to reverse the decline in brain function associated with Alzheimer’s Disease and other brain pathologies. Pilot studies on dementia patients have helped to reveal the effective impact on Alzheimer’s Disease; subjects scored better for memory, attention, language, visuospatial, and constructional abilities following ALCAR supplementation.
In another study, acetyl L-carnitine showed signs of protecting your brain from cell damage. The study involved alcoholic subjects taking two grams of acetyl-L-carnitine per day for 90 days. These subjects showed significant improvements in all measures of brain function.
Heart Health
Some studies demonstrate a potential for reducing blood pressure and the inflammatory process associated with heart disease.
In one study, 2 grams of acetyl-L-carnitine per day resulted in an almost 10-point drop in systolic blood pressure — the top number of a blood pressure reading and an important indicator of heart health and disease risk.
L-carnitine is also linked to improvements in patients with severe heart disorders, such as coronary heart disease and chronic heart failure.
One 12-month study observed a reduction in heart failure and deaths among participants who took L-carnitine supplements.
Type 2 Diabetes
L-carnitine may also reduce symptoms of type 2 diabetes and its associated risk factors.
One study of people with type 2 diabetes taking anti-diabetic medication indicated that carnitine supplements significantly reduced blood sugar levels, compared to a placebo.
It may also combat diabetes by increasing a key enzyme called AMPK, which improves your body’s ability to use carbs.
Should You Take It?
Your L-carnitine levels are influenced by how much you’re eating and how much your body is producing.
For this reason, L-carnitine levels are often lower in vegetarians and vegans, since they restrict or avoid animal products.
Therefore, vegetarians and vegans may want to consider L-carnitine supplements. However, no studies have confirmed the benefits of carnitine supplements in these specific populations.
Older adults may also benefit from L-carnitine supplements. Research shows that your levels tend to decline as you age.
In one study, 2 grams of L-carnitine reduced fatigue and increased muscle function in older adults. Other research reveals that acetyl-L-carnitine may also help boost brain health and function as you age.
Additionally, the risk of deficiency is higher for those with diseases like cirrhosis and kidney disease. If you have one of these conditions, a supplement may be beneficial.
As with any supplement, you should speak with your doctor before taking L-carnitine.
Additional Benefits of L-Carnitine
Studies also report there is a decline in mental function associated with Alzheimer’s disease for those taking L-Carnitine.
Another study showed that the amino acid could assist in cardiac health by reducing blood pressure and inflammation in the heart, even in patients with severe heart conditions.
Yet another benefit of taking L-Carnitine is its effect on insulin sensitivity. It may improve your blood sugar response to high carbohydrate meals and reduce type 2 diabetes symptoms.
Aside from these health benefits, taking L-Carnitine supplements may also improve areas of exercise performance.
That includes:
- Recovery
• Stamina
• oxygen supply to the muscles
• reducing muscle soreness.
L-Carnitine has been shown to be very safe to use as a supplement without any serious side effects.
Because of the potential for all of these benefits to positively impact your system, it may definitely be worth trying. L-Carnitine weight loss, it’s a natural way to lose weight.
