Acetyl L-carnitine, or ALCAR, is a dietary supplement that combines the amino acid L-carnitine with an acetyl side group to enhance its absorption by your gut and increase its effects on various body tissues. ACLAR plays an important role in the utilization of glucose, or sugar, and glycogen, the storage form of sugar in your skeletal muscles, for energy during exercise. Athletes use ALCAR to enhance exercise performance, especially for its benefits in increasing exercise intensity and substrate utilization when your muscles are under stress.
Antioxidant Benefits
ALCAR has the unique ability to cross the blood-brain barrier, a protective chemical barrier protecting your brain from potentially harmful toxins. Once inside your brain, ALCAR can exert antioxidant properties by binding to harmful compounds that might have crossed the blood-brain barrier by accident, removing them from your brain through your bloodstream. ALCAR might also provide protective benefits against brain cell deterioration due to the presence of harmful toxins and free radicals.
Energy Production
ALCAR promotes energy production in your skeletal muscles by effectively mobilizing sugar and fat. ALCAR mobilizes free fatty acids stored in fat tissue and promotes its conversion into glucose through a process called beta-oxidation. Once converted into glucose, ALCAR helps transport it into the mitochondria located inside your muscle cells for use in energy production. This can increase energy utilization during exercise, improving the intensity and duration of your workouts, as well as promoting body fat reduction, which is why ALCAR has been marketed as an effective weight loss supplement.
Cardiovascular Benefits
According to the book "Anabolic Primer," ALCAR might improve circulation and oxygen delivery to various body tissues, and might be helpful in treating cardiovascular diseases such as angina, high blood pressure and cardiomyopathy. ALCAR's ability to reduce the effects of certain cardiovascular diseases might be related to its ability to increase the diameter of your blood vessels, called vasodilation, which can increase blood flow and improve the ability of your lungs to deliver oxygen to cells throughout your body.
Nervous System Benefits
ALCAR might help improve the function of your central and peripheral nervous systems, which might have implications for the treatment of certain neurological diseases and disorders, such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. ALCAR might protect your body from nerve cell deterioration by promoting the health and maintenance of myelin sheaths, the protective covering that surrounds your nerves. ALCAR might also promote the balance of neurotransmitters in your brain, which can have an effect on nervous system function as well. Unbalanced levels of neurotransmitters in your brain might lead to muscle tremors, numbness, and even anxiety and depression. By balancing brain chemicals, ALCAR might help reduce the severity of these effects.
References
- "Essentials of Sports Nutrition and Supplements"; Jose Antonio et al; 2008
- "Encyclopedia of Nutritional Supplements"; Michael Murray; 1996
- "Anabolic Primer"; Phil Embleton et al; 1998
Member Comments