Google L-Carnitine and you’ll get “about” 2,750,000 hits. The “about” is Google’s way of saying too damn many to count. Among supplements L-Carnitine is popular for body builders, dieters and diabetics since it, as Wikipedia puts it:
All of which appears to be true. The issue is that, as with so many other pieces of advice on supplements, there are too many contradictory opinions that fit in that gap between the effect of the compound itself and the dosage.
The journal of the American college of nutrition had an article, which Wikipedia again, summaries as,
My bottom line, it’s not harmful and keeping a small dosage as insurance against an unlikely shortage (which may be hard to detect) is (barely) worthwhile. But it is unlikely to lead to a measurable improvement. If after a few months my levels do not improve I will assume I am, like most people, producing all I need and stop wasting cash on it.
‘...helps in the consumption and disposal of fat in the body because it is responsible for the transport of fatty acids from the cytosol into the mitochondria. It is often sold as a nutritional supplement. Carnitine was originally found as a growth factor for mealworms and labeled vitamin Bt.’
All of which appears to be true. The issue is that, as with so many other pieces of advice on supplements, there are too many contradictory opinions that fit in that gap between the effect of the compound itself and the dosage.
The journal of the American college of nutrition had an article, which Wikipedia again, summaries as,
‘…improved glucose disposal among 15 patients with type II diabetes and 20 healthy volunteers.[7] Glucose storage increased between both groups, but glucose oxidation increased only in the diabetic group. Finally, glucose uptake increased about 8% for both.’This sounds like really good news; that led to me to start taking them within a few days of being diagnosed. Then I took a closer look, and read the article’s abstract. It appears that the design of the study involved artificially creating a condition by inserting a “euglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamp” in both the diabetics and the healthy control group. In other words, they created a short term artificial shortage to see what L-Carnitine does. Looking at another article from Vanderbilt University they found that most studies came up with the conclusion that, “…unless an individual is deficient in l-Carnitine, it is an unnecessary ergogenic aid…” In other words, L-Carnitine does exactly what it is promised to do if you have enough, but any extra is thrown away, and you probably already have enough.
My bottom line, it’s not harmful and keeping a small dosage as insurance against an unlikely shortage (which may be hard to detect) is (barely) worthwhile. But it is unlikely to lead to a measurable improvement. If after a few months my levels do not improve I will assume I am, like most people, producing all I need and stop wasting cash on it.
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