L-carnitine is a coenzyme and water-soluble, vitamin-like compound that falls into the category of amino acids. You can use L-carnitine to treat carnitine deficiencies, as a supplement for resistance exercise and to support weight loss. L-tartrate is a salt used as an additive in some health supplements to facilitate absorption of another substance. According to ""Human Physiology: The Mechanisms of Body Function," by combining L-carnitine with the salt L-tartrate, you body has an easier time absorbing the L-carnitine.
L-Carnitine
L-Carnitine plays an important role in energy production by supporting the metabolism of activated fatty acids and helping to remove toxic metabolites from your body. According to "Integrative Medicine," by counteracting high levels of free fatty acids and by enhancing carbohydrate metabolism, L-carnitine reduces the effects of blood vessel damage caused by the fatty acids. Additionally, l-carnitine can improve your body's energy utilization in the muscles.
Effects of L-Carnitine
L-carnitine also increases fat oxidation in your body while maintaining the integrity of your muscles. Therefore, supplementation with L-carnitine can improve muscle response. According to "Guyton and Hall Textbook of Medical Physiology," L-carnitine reduces the amount of exercise-induced muscle tissue damage, and has a favorable effect on the recovery phase of exercise.
Carnitine Sources
You can obtain L-carnitine from foods such as beef, sheep, lamb and dairy products. Additionally, nuts, seeds, legumes, beans, lentils, some fruit and vegetables and some cereals also contain L-carnitine. For example, an 8 oz beef steak contains approximately 95 mg of L-carnitine and an 8 oz. glass of orange juice contains approxiamtely 0.0019 mg of L-carnitine. In supplemental form, L-carnitine is biologically active, and by combining L-carnitine with L-tartrate, your body can more easily synthesize the L-carnitine.
Precautions and Dosage
According to "Integrative Medicine," the recommended daily dose of L-carnitine is 1 g to 3 g. To facilitate absorption in your body, you should ideally consume 1 g in the morning, 1 g prior to a workout and 1 g post workout. Doses higher than 3 g per day may cause diarrhea, a fishy body odor and rashes.
References
- "Integrative Medicine"; David Rakel; 2002
- "Human Physiology: The Mechanisms of Body Function"; Arthur Vander et al; 1998
- "Guyton and Hall Textbook of Medical Physiology"; John E. Hall; 2010
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