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L-Carnitine is a non-essential amino acid that helps to maintain overall good health by facilitating the transfer of fatty acid groups into the mitochondrial membrane for cellular energy production. It naturally occurs in red meat and other animal source foods, but we recommend supplementation to obtain optimal levels of this excellent amino acid.
For athletes, regardless of what your bodybuilding and fitness goals are, losing fat or gaining muscle, your chances of success will increase greatly if you have l-carnitine in your supplement arsenal. Studies focusing on how carnitine works have been done as far back as 1937. Let's take a look at some of the benefits that l-carnitine can have on your goals and your health.
If you are looking to get lean, then this is the amino acid you need. L-carnitine transfers long-chain fatty acids, such as triglycerides into mitochondria, where they may be oxidized to produce energy. Carnitine has also been shown to reduce fatigue and serve as an appetite suppressant as well. Therefore, l-carnitine would be a major asset to have in your arsenal when you are dieting.
Carnitine is a potent fat burner because it is responsible for the transport of fats into the cells to be used for energy in the body. By raising the level of muscle carnitine, you support the fat burning process, and because your body becomes more efficient at processing fuel, it will increase your energy levels.
Elevating carnitine will also improve physical performance by burning more fat, sparing glycogen, clearing muscle lactate, and increasing anabolic hormone response. It not only will help keep your body from storing fat, but it will increase your aerobic capacity to help you burn more calories. L-carnitine is also a great weapon for hardgainers looking to pack on muscle. Supplementing with l-carnitine can help you increase your strength and heavier weights mean bigger muscles in the long run.
L-Carntine is often used for heart conditions. Several clinical trials show that L-carnitine can be used along with conventional treatment for angina to reduce the needs for medicine and improve the ability of those with angina to exercise without chest pain or discomfort. Some studies have determined that taking l-carnitine after a heart attack decreases the chances of suffering another one later. Carnitine has actually been given to help treat people with heart disease.
Visceral belly fat is one of the toughest fats to lose once you’ve got it, and it causes numerous health problems. Once you begin to gain visceral fat around the belly, it will lead to fat gain within the organs such as the liver, the heart, or even in muscle.
Fat gain in the liver leads to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, while epicardial fat is a type of visceral fat that is deposited around the heart and is considered a metabolically active organ, altering heart function. Raising your carnitine levels will fight this visceral fat gain because it increases fat burning, which has the effect of taking triglycerides and low-density lipoproteins out of the system so that they don’t build up causing high cholesterol and atherosclerosis.
A new research study in the journal Food and Chemical Toxicology illustrates this. Researchers gave a carnitine supplement to mice who were fed a high-fat diet in order to make them gain weight. In comparison to a group of mice fed a placebo, the carnitine group gained substantially less visceral and subcutaneous fat (fat that is right below the surface of the skin that you can pinch with your fingers). The placebo group exhibited the beginning stages of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and atherosclerosis, neither of which were evident in the carnitine group.
Take carnitine to speed both short- and long-term recovery from intense training and you’ll have less pain, soreness, and feel more energized. Muscle lactate buildup is a limiting factor that inhibits performance and causes muscle pain, meaning that if you produce less of it and are able to clear it faster, you will have a faster recovery. Taking carnitine will also support an anabolic response to exercise by up-regulating the androgen receptors, which will “help to mediate quicker recovery,” according to one research group.
Two studies led by William J. Kraemer tested the hormonal response to taking carnitine tartrate. In one of these studies, supplementing with carnitine for 21 days produced an increase in the resting content of the androgen receptors that bind with testosterone, indicating a better anabolic environment. Following resistance exercise, participants also had increased androgen receptor content that indicated greater cellular uptake of testosterone and increased protein synthesis. Enhanced protein synthesis allows tissue that was damaged during training to regenerate faster and speed recovery.
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