The Benefits of L-Carnitine

We take nutrition seriously at Defy Medical. We not only hand select the supplements and nutrients that make the biggest impact in our day to day lives, but we only offer and prescribe the few products that meet our high expectations. They must be made and tested to pharmaceutical-grade standards and have their claims of benefits clinically researched and verified.

What is L-Carnitine?

L-Carnitine is an amino acid that plays a critical role in energy production within your body. It is found in nearly every cell and it transports long-chain fatty acids from the bloodstream into the mitochondria within your cells so that the fatty acids can be burned (oxidized) and converted into energy [1]. This has several benefits affecting your health.

What Benefits Can Supplementing Bring?

Only small amounts of L-Carnitine are produced in the body and/or come naturally from food. By supplementing L-Carnitine, its powerful fat-burning and energy-producing effects are magnified. Here is what it can do for you:

• Increase fat-burning at the cellular level leading to easier weight loss.
• Preserve muscle during exercise [2].
• Reduce overall muscle fatigue and effort during exercise [3].
• Increase protection against cardiovascular disease (CVD) [4].

A recent Chinese study [5] has also shown that supplementing L-Carnitine while fasting not only helped the subjects lose over 30% more weight, but also decreased hunger and fatigue while fasting compared to a placebo group. There are several ways that L-Carnitine can be taken to supplement nutrition.

Oral L-Carnitine

We offer high-grade L-Carnitine capsules from Metabolic Maintenance at 25% off the retail price. These are ideal for patients who want the ease and convenience of capsules.

Injectable L-Carnitine

Much more L-Carnitine is absorbed and used by your body when it is injected because it doesn’t have to go through your digestive system. This means that not only can you inject smaller amounts than you would have to take in capsule form, but it works faster and more efficiently. Our 30mL vial of injectable L-Carnitine will help your body work better as you work toward your strength and fat-loss goals. We also offer an L-Carnitine-based lipotropic called Lipo-C which contains additional nutrients to maximize the fat-burning power of L-Carnitine.

IV Infusion

When taken via an IV infusion to boost athletic performance or to increase metabolism and cardiovascular health, L-Carnitine starts working immediately throughout your entire body because it goes straight into your bloodstream.

Whichever way you decide to supplement your L-Carnitine, it does some great things for your body to help keep you leaner, stronger, and healthier.

References

1. Longo N, Frigeni M, Pasquali M. CARNITINE TRANSPORT AND FATTY ACID OXIDATION. Biochimica et biophysica acta. 2016;1863(10):2422-2435. doi:10.1016/j.bbamcr.2016.01.023.
2. Wall BT, Stephens FB, Constantin-Teodosiu D, Marimuthu K, Macdonald IA, Greenhaff PL. Chronic oral ingestion of l-carnitine and carbohydrate increases muscle carnitine content and alters muscle fuel metabolism during exercise in humans. The Journal of Physiology. 2011;589(Pt 4):963-973. doi:10.1113/jphysiol.2010.201343.
3. Seiler SE, Koves TR, Gooding JR, et al. Carnitine Acetyltransferase Mitigates Metabolic Inertia and Muscle Fatigue During Exercise. Cell metabolism. 2015;22(1):65-76. doi:10.1016/j.cmet.2015.06.003.
4. Oyanagi E1, Yano H, Uchida M, Utsumi K, Sasaki J. Protective action of L-carnitine on cardiac mitochondrial function and structure against fatty acid stress. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2011;412(1):61-7. doi:10.1016/j.bbrc.2011.07.039.
5. Zhang, et al. L-carnitine ameliorated fasting-induced fatigue, hunger, and metabolic abnormalities in patients with metabolic syndrome: a randomized controlled study. Nutrition Journal. 2014;13(1):110. doi:10.1186/1475-2891-13-110.