Most people use L-carnitine to help boost weight loss and increase fat burning. However, there are many other potential reasons you may want to add carnitine into your diet. It can correct deficiencies, boost brain function, prevent muscle damage, increase endurance and enhance athletic performance. It can also be incredibly useful for vegans and vegetarians who may have a limited intake of carnitine-rich foods. Taking a supplement can be an easy way to help meet your needs for this crucial amino acid.
Here are some recipes that are high in carnitine for you to try out:. When used as directed, carnitine can be safe and effective with minimal risk of side effects. Common L-carnitine side effects include stomach pain, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. L-carnitine may increase the risk of seizures in those with epilepsy. Additionally, carnitine may worsen symptoms of hypothyroidism. If you have an underactive thyroid, you should consult with your doctor before taking this amino acid.
If you experience any negative side effects, be sure to report to your doctor to determine if supplementation is right for you. Finally, keep in mind that carnitine may enhance fat loss and weight loss for some people, but it should be used in combination with a healthy diet and active lifestyle to see the most results. Josh Axe is on a mission to provide you and your family with the highest quality nutrition tips and healthy recipes in the world What Is L-Carnitine? More Nutrition Dr. Axe on Facebook 1 Dr.
Axe on Twitter 22 Dr. Axe on Instagram Dr. Axe on Google Plus Dr. The normal range is between and 2, mg per day. But for those who have a condition, a deficiency, or want to increase exercise performance , the number could be slightly higher. The answer to this one is identical to the others in that it varies. Everything comes into play when talking about L-carnitine. For supplement timing, the biggest factor is your personal goals. In order to achieve this, pair your L-carnitine supplement with an insulin-raising supplement or meal.
The easiest is to ingest it with your lunch or dinner. As for goal-oriented timing, if your primary efforts are for fat loss, take L-carnitine with your biggest meal of the day.
If your goal is muscle growth , recovery , or performance, be sure to take L-carnitine before and after your workout, coupled with insulin-secreting carbs. Again, the reason for eating insulin-spiking foods with the L-carnitine supplement is because the insulin will make sure the carnitine is saturated in muscle cells , where it can provide the most bang for your buck. It starts working as soon as it enters the bloodstream, which takes between 15 minutes and half an hour.
Another added benefit is the increase in mental clarity and alertness within the same time frame. For long-term effects, you can expect to see results within a few weeks. But if you stick with supplementation, you should see either performance, muscle, or fat changes fairly quickly. Two forms of the same amino acid, but they act differently. Acetyl L-carnitine is actually the processed version of L-carnitine that bypasses the blood-brain barrier. In summary, L-carnitine burns fat and provides energy for building muscle and improving performance, and acetyl L-carnitine helps with cognitive function and mental alertness.
So, in accordance with your goals, you might be looking for one or the other. You can take both, but take it at different times in the day. The great thing is that acetyl L-carnitine does everything its regular counterpart does, with the bonus of improved brain function.
This is actually a commonly debated competition: Which is better, liquid L-carnitine or L-carnitine pills? Other than personal preference, the clear winner is liquid. The biggest of the three is cost.
You can add it into your juice, smoothie, or just dissolve it in water. It is suggested that you take this with a juice or smoothie as carbs will help your body to absorb the carnitine better. This is a great choice for those who have a hard time swallowing pills. As the name suggests, it is sold in bulk. It actually comes in 5 different sizes and the bigger the size the cheaper it is per gram.
This is a much better value than in tablet form. It comes in a factory sealed foil zip pouch so you can be assured that it is fresh and will stay fresh. Arazo Nutrition used to be called Bioscience Nutrition. This l-carnitine supplement contains mg of l-carnitine tartrate along with mg of calcium which is a nice bonus for good strong bones.
It does contain some additives like cellulose, stearic acid and more to keep the amino acid in pill form. Now Foods is one of the more popular brands for supplements. Their l-carnitine is half the size of Arazo Nutrition which would make them easier to swallow but of course, they only contain mg of l-carnitine tartrate, which is half what the big pills contain.
Their l-carnitine is Carnipure, the gold standard for l-carnitine purity. It does contain a few additives such as cellulose, stearic acid, and silica. This product also contains mg of l-carnitine but not Carnipure. It is much cheaper than the first two on this list though.
The additives in this product include gelatin, cellulose, silicon, and magnesium stearate. Optimum nutrition decided to add a little more to their l-carnitine cocktail. Each tablet contains mg of l-carnitine tartrate, 95 mg of calcium, and 70 mg of phosphorus. Phosphorus is just another mineral that will aid in keeping your bones strong while you lift heavier weights. This added bonus of minerals bumps the price up but not by much. This is another great buy that comes with capsules, each containing mg of l-carnitine tartrate.
It has only three additives; gelatin, magnesium stearate, and silicon dioxide. This reputable company made one of the purest forms of l-carnitine but it would be even better if it used Carnipure l-carnitine. Nevertheless, this is a great product that has little else but l-carnitine. This product has a long fancy name and comes in a shiny fancy bottle but it is a pure and simple capsule containing mg of l-carnitine tartrate along with additives like gelatin, silicon dioxide, magnesium stearate, and talc.
Each bottle contains capsules. For all the hype, I would have expected more but I understand their marketing strategy. It is still a good product that will deliver the close to the same effects as the others. This product contains mg of patented Carnipure l-carnitine in each capsule. It contains additives of two different kinds of cellulose, magnesium stearate, and silicon dioxide. The use of Carnipure l-carnitine gives it a great advantage as this type of l-carnitine has been proven to be the purest most easily absorbed l-carnitine on the market today.
This product is actually a liquid form of l-carnitine. Each tablespoon of this liquid contains a whopping mg of l-carnitine. This is a much higher dose than the other products. It also contains 10mg of pantothenic acid, or vitamin B5, which gives another boost in converting your food into energy. It comes in seven different flavors: vanilla, berry, blue razz, green apple, cherry popsicle, and sweet and tart.
Each bottle contains 31 servings. Users say that the taste is really sweet but good. It is suggested that you dilute it a bit with water to cut a bit of the sweetness. This is another brand that made the right choice and decided to use Carnipure l-carnitine tartrate.
This brand is the official bodybuilding. This again means that more ATP is produced via mitochondrial membrane flux rather than through anaerobic respiration. The follow up study that came in dealt with that body mass observation during the study, where the Control group added over 5 lbs on average, and the Carnitine group added no body mass despite all subjects consuming a calorie surplus. Skeletal muscle carnitine loading increases energy expenditure, modulates fuel metabolism gene networks and prevents body fat accumulation in humans.
Francis B. Stevens; Benjamin T. So, while the study was exciting with respect to muscle carnitine content; physical performance and energy metabolism, the study took a closer look at the energy metabolism aspect.
Perhaps most importantly for a lot of people, the emphasis on body fat mass could tell them with more certainty as to whether l-carnitine was a viable weight loss supplement.
Additionally, they decided to measure the expression of nearly genes associated with carnitine and energy fuel metabolism in the subjects. Gene expression would bolster the insight gained from the invasive scientific analysis alongside, plus that of the study.
Hypothesis: that any change of energy metabolism as a result of increased muscle carnitine content would occur alongside adaptations in expression of genes related to fuel use, mitochondrial function and insulin signalling. Again, just like the study, the control group put on weight after 12 weeks.
The carnitine group did not. Energy expenditure also increased over the 12 weeks in the Carnitine group, but not in the control group. Carnitine Palmitoyltransferase 1 CPT1 is the enzyme derived from its substrate l-carnitine, and is responsible for the transfer of long-chain fatty acids through the mitochondrial membrane for oxidation.
These long-chain fatty acids arrive at the mitochondrial membrane attached to Coenzyme A CoA , where CPT1 transfers the acyl group including the fatty acid to l-carnitine. This combination can then travel through the membrane to be oxidized. This 4 x carnitine content in the muscles is similar to when fuel metabolism switches to fat oxidation during rest periods from exercise where muscle carnitine stores are high. However, the fact that CPT1 activity did not change counters the other findings of this study.
The scientists themselves could not explain this, and determine that further research is required. A possible explanation would be that CPT1 maximal activity is not solely determined by quantity of CPT1 protein but rather its capacity when dealing with a greater concentration of Acyl-CoA which Carnitine content causes in the muscle.
It certainly appears as though increased carnitine content can mitigate the negative effects of carbohydrate caloric surplus on insulin signalling. Takeaways from the Study. This is indicative of a switch to fat metabolism during rest periods. Additional carnitine content in muscles extends process. The three genes that changed the most are critical for a insulin signalling; b PPAR signalling; and c fatty acid metabolism — all supported the hypothesis that chronic long-term and consistent muscle carnitine loading can improve energy metabolism.
In basic terms, increased muscle carnitine content can increase fat metabolism during low intensity exercise and prevent fat mass storage during carbohydrate caloric surplus. The above studies focused on physical performance at both high and low intensity, energy metabolism inc. Increased Testosterone by increasing androgen receptor density — and upregulating them in muscle — tissue Kraemer, William J.
Improved Recovery 8. Improved Sexual Health 9. L-Carnitine, irrespective of the specific form, should be consumed with carbohydrates. The following are the average recommended doses of the different forms of l-carnitine supplements:. Acetyl-l-Carnitine has a higher absorption ratio from the intestines compared to the other forms and thus can be found in capsule supplements and taken at lower doses.
This form of l-carnitine is typically used as a performance enhancer and for improving overall power output during a workout. Similar to l-carnitine and LCLT you should take about mg in total over the course of the day. This form is best for enhancing blood flow and getting a decent muscle pump. For muscle pumps, it works in combination with other ingredients that boost NO like L-Citrulline. As previously discussed, l-carnitine enters the muscle tissue via insulin-mediated transport and so consuming carbohydrates with your l-carnitine supplement is recommended.
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