Carnitine Review & Information: Does Carnitine Burn Fat?

Contrary to popular belief, carnitine (sometimes referred to as l-carnitine) is not an amino acid but a quaternary amine, which the body manufactures out of two amino acids -- lysine and methionine. Carnitine is found naturally in such food sources as red meat, fish and dairy products.

Carnitine plays many important roles in the body, but the most important one from a fat burning perspective is Carnitine's role in escorting fatty acids to the cell's mitochondria (think of the mitochondria as the cell's furnace) where they can be burned as fuel. Because Carnitine plays such a role, many have postulated that supplementing with Carnitine should aid in weight loss.

However, studies to date have been largely contradictory, and there does not seem to be any real evidence showing that supplementing with carnitine will lead to dramatic weight loss.

One study (Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2000 Jun;10(2):199-207) performed on 36 moderately overweight premenopausal women concluded...

"Eight weeks of L-C ingestion and walking did not significantly alter the TBM (total body mass) or FM (fat mnss) of overweight women, thereby casting doubt on the efficacy of L-C supplementation for weight loss."

Another one (see Metabolism. 2004 Aug;53(8):1002-6) found that supplementing with 3 grams of l-carnitine daily led to a significant increase in fat oxidation.

Regardless of this conflicting data, it's important to note that most fat burners touting the fat burning abilities of carnitine usually only contain only a spattering of this compound. Most studies have been completed using 2-6 grams daily. Any less than this is simply "label dressing" (it looks good on the label, but there's nowhere near enough of the compound to elicit any effect).

If you want to experiment with l-carnitine for the purpose of weight loss, you'll need to take a hefty dose.

BodyBuilding.com sells the NOW brand of liquid l-carnitine!

Nonetheless, Carnitine is a very exciting compound for another reason -- it seems to be invaluable for heart health -- helping to prevent, even reverse ischemia, stabilize irregular heartbeats, reduce incidents of angina, lower triglycerides and maintain a beneficial cholesterol profile.

After reading "The Carnitine Defence", by Stephen L. DeFelice, M.D., I was so impressed with the benefits offered by carnitine, I immediately added it to my regular supplement regime.

In fact, anyone who has heart issues of any sort (or is interested in maintaining a healthy heart), may want to consider reading Dr. DeFelice's book, and look further into supplementing with carnitine.

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