It's no secret that our bodies need certain nutrients to function. We all need vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and fats to live our healthiest lives.
While they are all important, some of them become even more important when you exercise. This is especially true when you are trying to achieve any sort of fitness goal.
Plus, that's whether you want to lose weight, build muscle, or improve performance. Regardless of your goals though, knowing how to use these nutrients to your advantage can be quite helpful.
As an example, one popular supplement people use for fat loss and performance is L-carnitine. L-carnitine is derived from amino acids and it can help in both of those key areas of fitness.
It can even be beneficial for some medical conditions too. Believe it or not, L-carnitine is actually used in hospitals.
Even still, not everyone is familiar with L-carnitine. If you aren't, that's what I'm here to talk to you about today!
Chances are, you're wondering if L-carnitine is a good supplement for you to take or not. So, what is L-carnitine good for? Do you need L-carnitine?
Let’s start by going a little more in-depth on what L-carnitine is.
What Is L-Carnitine?
L-carnitine is an important chemical found mostly in your heart and muscle cells. Our bodies create it from the amino acids lysine and methionine.
But, what does L-carnitine do?
Basically, it helps transport fatty acids into the mitochondria of your cells. Mitochondria are the powerhouses of our cells and are where we convert those fats into energy.
This isn’t just for when we want to lose body fat either. We use fat for energy 24/7, but the location and amount vary based on what we’re doing.
Plus, anything and everything we do requires energy in the form of ATP. Without going too deep into the science, just know that ATP is the energy currency every cell uses. Without it, we wouldn’t be alive.
You see, our bodies are able to create more ATP from fat than any other nutrient. So it’s safe to say L-carnitine is pretty necessary to have around.
When you work out, it’s no different. Using fat for energy can help you sustain long-duration workouts. L-carnitine can be a major key in your long-term stamina for that reason.
L-carnitine also can help make fat burning more efficient. As long as you eat fewer calories than you burn, L-carnitine could help you lose even more body fat (1).
Our body produces L-carnitine in organs like our liver and kidneys, but we also get it from our diet. L-carnitine is found in animal-based proteins like meat and fish, and we can take it as a supplement too.
There are multiple types of L-carnitine, such as:
Acetyl-L-carnitine or ALCAR: Can help support cognitive health and functioning
Propionyl-L-Carnitine: Can help support cardiovascular health
L-Carnitine L-Tartrate: A common form used in workout supplements, and has added antioxidant protection
All of these will add L-carnitine to your body, but each form adds specific benefits in addition to that, as you can see above.
For instance with acetyl-L-carnitine, the acetyl group adds the benefit of increasing acetylcholine in the brain for added focus and memory (11).
L-carnitine-L-tartrate is a form used in workout supplements because it is easily absorbed. The L-tartrate is also an antioxidant, which may help reduce muscle damage and soreness (12).
So each form of L-carnitine has its benefits. Regardless of the form though, they’re all helping you get more L-carnitine.
More L-carnitine can help you be more efficient in turning fats into energy.
Now that you know what it is, let’s dive into some L-carnitine benefits.
L-Carnitine Benefits
L-carnitine can have several useful benefits to take note of. Not only for people who work out, but also for those with specific health concerns.
Let's take a look at these benefits, starting with how L-carnitine can help when it comes to fitness.
L-Carnitine Benefits For Fitness & Health
For many people, L-carnitine has been known to increase exercise and sports performance (2).
With L-carnitine, you may see improvement in your...
Recovery
Exercise can put the body under a lot of stress. L-carnitine, however, could help with quicker recovery from that stress. L-carnitine may have antioxidant properties too, which can help reduce muscle damage (3).
Stamina
Studies show exercise performance is greater at high intensities when taking L-carnitine (4). Usually, carbohydrates are the main energy source during high-intensity training. With lots of L-carnitine around though, it looks like our bodies may use more fat for energy.
So, we may have a longer-lasting energy source to push us for a bit longer at high intensities.
Muscle Oxygen Supply
L-carnitine may also help with muscle tissue oxygenation (5). One study found increased oxygen uptake in muscle tissue even when availability was lower. To use fat for energy it requires oxygen, so this makes sense. If more oxygen is being consumed by the muscle, more fat may be being used.
Soreness
L-carnitine can help reduce pain, damage, and tenderness in muscles after working out too (5). Part of this may be due to its antioxidant properties, but the "why" behind this isn’t fully understood.
Fat Burning
L-carnitine is like a taxi that drops fat off where it can be burned for energy (6). It makes sense that it can help with fat loss when there is more L-carnitine around to do this.
So, supplementing with L-carnitine certainly has its benefits for fitness. Those aren’t the only benefits though, so let’s take a look into some other L-carnitine benefits.
Aging
Mitochondria are an essential part of the cell. Like most functions in our body though, our mitochondrial function starts to go down as we age.
L-carnitine is known to boost mitochondrial function and lessen decay. It could potentially help with various age and metabolic-related diseases for this reason (7).
So, L-carnitine may be able to help us continue to produce energy and protect our brain and body as we age.
Cancer
Many believe that fatigue in cancer patients has to do with low amounts of carnitine. L-carnitine supplements seem to be a big help with this fatigue (8).
When using chemotherapy as treatment, it can cause carnitine deficiencies in the body. That's why adding L-carnitine may help increase energy production to reduce this lack of energy.
Type 2 Diabetes
There may be a connection between type 2 diabetes and mitochondrial dysfunction (9). As you know, L-carnitine works with mitochondria, so there may be a benefit here.
In fact, studies show that L-carnitine supplementation can be helpful for type 2 diabetics. L-carnitine can help lower fasting blood sugar, insulin resistance, HbA1c, and insulin levels in type 2 diabetics (10).
Considering type 2 diabetes is on the rise, this could be very helpful information for a lot of people!
Who Needs L-Carnitine?
Everyone needs carnitine to create energy efficiently in their body. There’s no question about that, but it’s definitely something that is often overlooked.
While L-carnitine supplements can help support fat loss, they have quite a few other potential benefits as well. So, if any of the benefits I discussed could be of use to you, L-carnitine may be worth investing in.
Another good reason to supplement L-carnitine is if you’re a vegan/vegetarian. You won’t find L-carnitine in plants, and your protein intake may be lower already.
After all, lower protein and carnitine intake could lead to lower amounts in your body. But, that's what supplements are for anyway: adding in what your diet is lacking.
A lot of us already supplement with vitamins, minerals, and protein. Well, L-carnitine is no different. A lot of people could benefit from adding it to their daily regimen.
Like any supplement, it’s always important to discuss it with a doctor if you have any medical conditions. No matter what benefits you read about, L-carnitine still may not be a good fit for you.
It could depend on many factors, and I’m not your doctor. So if you’re looking into L-carnitine to help with a medical condition, check with them first.
Ready To Try an L-Carnitine Supplement?
If you're working toward a fast-loss goal, L-carnitine could be a great tool to help you.
At 1st Phorm, we're committed to helping real people earn real and long-term results. We know you don't take shortcuts with your goals, which is why we don't take shortcuts with the products to help you reach them!
Our L-Carnitine is no exception to that commitment. That’s why you’ll get green tea leaf extract and a newer ingredient called fucoxanthin as an added benefit in our L-carnitine.
Both of those ingredients show benefits for fat loss in different ways than L-carnitine does. So, think of it like a trifecta of fat loss supplements that can help support your efforts!
Personally, I use L-Carnitine with Fucoxanthin as a pre-workout before every training session. It gives me the edge I need to push harder for longer and perform my absolute best.
The increased fat loss is just an extra benefit for me, but to each their own. We all have different goals and can use L-carnitine for different reasons.
Yes, you still have to eat fewer calories than you burn to lose body fat, but that goes for any supplement. There’s no magic pill or powder that will do the work for you.
With that being said, if you're struggling to earn the results you want, that's where we can help!
We have a full team of NASM Certified Personal Trainers and Nutrition Coaches right here in St. Louis, Missouri who are happy to help out. Just give us a call at 1-800-409-9732 or send us an email at CustomerService@1stPhorm.com any day from 6 AM to 10 PM Central.
...and if you're ready to give L-carnitine a try, you can get L-Carnitine w/ Fucoxanthin here!
References:
(1) Talenezhad N, Mohammadi M, Ramezani-Jolfaie N, Mozaffari-Khosravi H, Salehi-Abargouei A. Effects of l-carnitine supplementation on weight loss and body composition: A systematic review and meta-analysis of 37 randomized controlled clinical trials with dose-response analysis. Clin Nutr ESPEN. 2020 Jun;37:9-23. doi: 10.1016/j.clnesp.2020.03.008. Epub 2020 Apr 18. PMID: 32359762.
(2) Drăgan IG, Vasiliu A, Georgescu E, Eremia N. Studies concerning chronic and acute effects of L-carnitina in elite athletes. Physiologie. 1989 Apr-Jun;26(2):111-29. PMID: 2510191.
(3) Fielding R, Riede L, Lugo JP, Bellamine A. l-Carnitine Supplementation in Recovery after Exercise. Nutrients. 2018 Mar 13;10(3):349. doi: 10.3390/nu10030349. Erratum in: Nutrients. 2018 Apr 26;10(5):E541. doi: 10.3390/nu10050541. PMID: 29534031; PMCID: PMC5872767.
(4) Mielgo-Ayuso J, Pietrantonio L, Viribay A, Calleja-González J, González-Bernal J, Fernández-Lázaro D. Effect of Acute and Chronic Oral l-Carnitine Supplementation on Exercise Performance Based on the Exercise Intensity: A Systematic Review. Nutrients. 2021 Dec 3;13(12):4359. doi: 10.3390/nu13124359. PMID: 34959912; PMCID: PMC8704793.
(5) Spiering BA, Kraemer WJ, Hatfield DL, Vingren JL, Fragala MS, Ho JY, Thomas GA, Häkkinen K, Volek JS. Effects of L-carnitine L-tartrate supplementation on muscle oxygenation responses to resistance exercise. J Strength Cond Res. 2008 Jul;22(4):1130-5. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e31817d48d9. PMID: 18545197.
(6) Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on Military Nutrition Research; Marriott BM, editor. Food Components to Enhance Performance: An Evaluation of Potential Performance-Enhancing Food Components for Operational Rations. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 1994. 21, The Role of Carnitine in Enhancing Physical Performance. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK209052/
(7) Virmani MA, Cirulli M. The Role of l-Carnitine in Mitochondria, Prevention of Metabolic Inflexibility and Disease Initiation. Int J Mol Sci. 2022 Feb 28;23(5):2717. doi: 10.3390/ijms23052717. PMID: 35269860; PMCID: PMC8910660.
(8) Matsui H, Einama T, Shichi S, Kanazawa R, Shibuya K, Suzuki T, Matsuzawa F, Hashimoto T, Homma S, Yamamoto J, Taketomi A, Abe H. L-Carnitine supplementation reduces the general fatigue of cancer patients during chemotherapy. Mol Clin Oncol. 2018 Mar;8(3):413-416. doi: 10.3892/mco.2018.1557. Epub 2018 Jan 16. PMID: 29456846; PMCID: PMC5795559.
(9) Zhang X, Zhang C, Chen L, Han X, Ji L. Human serum acylcarnitine profiles in different glucose tolerance states. Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2014 Jun;104(3):376-82. doi: 10.1016/j.diabres.2014.04.013. Epub 2014 Apr 28. PMID: 24837145.
(10) Fathizadeh H, Milajerdi A, Reiner Ž, Kolahdooz F, Asemi Z. The effects of L-carnitine supplementation on glycemic control: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. EXCLI J. 2019 Aug 19;18:631-643. doi: 10.17179/excli2019-1447. PMID: 31611746; PMCID: PMC6785772.
(11) Pennisi M, Lanza G, Cantone M, D'Amico E, Fisicaro F, Puglisi V, Vinciguerra L, Bella R, Vicari E, Malaguarnera G. Acetyl-L-Carnitine in Dementia and Other Cognitive Disorders: A Critical Update. Nutrients. 2020 May 12;12(5):1389. doi: 10.3390/nu12051389. PMID: 32408706; PMCID: PMC7284336.
(12) Stefan M, Sharp M, Gheith R, Lowery R, Ottinger C, Wilson J, Durkee S, Bellamine A. L-Carnitine Tartrate Supplementation for 5 Weeks Improves Exercise Recovery in Men and Women: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial. Nutrients. 2021 Sep 28;13(10):3432. doi: 10.3390/nu13103432. PMID: 34684429; PMCID: PMC8541253.
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