L-carnitine is known as an important substance for burning fat and generating energy. Although it is found in many foods and is even produced by the human body itself, many people also use dietary supplements to improve their health, lose weight or achieve better results in sports. But what are the benefits of these supplements? How much L-carnitine does the body need and tolerate?t?
This article explains what L-carnitine is and how it works in the body. In addition, it is examined how high the requirement is, which foods contain L-carnitine and how you can recognize a deficiency. Furthermore, it is shown in which cases it makes sense to artificially supplement L-carnitine, when you can do without it and which dangers can be associated with a possible overdose.
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THAT DOES L-CARNITINE
- L-carnitine is important for burning fat.
- L-carnitine supplies cells with energy.
- Supplemented L-carnitine can have a positive effect on cancer.
Overview:
What is L-Carnitine?
How much L-carnitine does the body need?
In which foods does L-carnitine occur??
What is the point of supplemented L-carnitine?
L-Carnitine has harmful side effects?
Conclusion
What is L-Carnitine?
L-carnitine is an isomer of carnitine, which belongs to the so-calledVitaminoids counts. This chemical compound is produced in various living things, in the human body from the two amino acids lysine and methionine. Carnitine was isolated for the first time in 1905 by Wladimir Gulewitsch and Robert Krimberg and it has been known since the 1950s that it plays an important role in lipid metabolism and plays a key role in the production of energy from fatty acids.
The primary function of L-carnitine is to attach itself to fatty acids and then to transport them into the mitochondria of the body's cells, which is necessary for the energy supply. In addition, this vitaminoid can help improve blood lipid levels and have a positive effect on the development of existing heart diseases. Both some athletes and people who are overweight or affected by illnesses take L-carnitine in the form of dietary supplements to prevent deficiency and increase the positive effects, although this is not without controversy.
How much L-carnitine does the body need?
L-carnitine is produced by the body itself and is also absorbed through food, in large quantities through the consumption of red meat. The daily requirement of L-carnitine in adults is estimated to be around 50 to 300 mg. Healthy people who have a fairly balanced diet usually have no difficulty in meeting these needs. Whether and to what extent the supplementation with L-carnitine can actually compensate for a disturbance of its natural production by amino acids in the body has not yet been scientifically clarified.
How much L-carnitine is normally in the body?
A healthy human body contains around 15 to 25 g of L-carnitine. Most of it, around 97 of the reserves, are stored in the heart and skeletal muscles. The normal value of L-carnitine in plasma is around 50 µmol / l, about ¼ of which is esterified as acylcarnitine with a fatty acid, but the majority is available as free carnitine. Basically, the proportion of L-carnitine is highest in tissues with a high fatty acid metabolism. Every day about 20 mg of L-carnitine are excreted in the urine via the kidneys..
What happens if there is a lack of L-carnitine
Under certain conditions there can be a deficiency in L-carnitine, for example because too little of it is produced or absorbed or because the body excretes too much of it at once. A deficiency in certain vitamins and enzymes that the body uses to make L-carnitine itself can lead to decreased production. A deficiency can occur, especially in pregnant women, babies and growing children, because the demand temporarily increases faster than the production. In addition, various impairments of the liver or kidneys, medical treatments and the use of certain medications can lead to a deficiency in L-carnitine. Typical complaints with such a deficiency include:
- Muscle necrosis
- muscle pain
- Weight changes
- Fatty liver
- Fat storage myopathy
- Cardiomyopathy
- Hyperammonaemia
- fatigue
- Difficulty concentrating
Since the symptoms of a deficiency in L-carnitine are varied and not very specific, a specific diagnosis by the doctor is required in order to determine exactly what the cause of the complaints is before resorting to supplements. For this purpose, the blood of newborns is examined for carnitine palmitoyltransferase deficiency using mass spectrometry. In adults, however, the acylcarnitine level is measured in serum, urine or tissue.
In which foods does L-carnitine occur??
L-carnitine is found in various plant and animal foods. L-carnitine is only found in comparatively small amounts in vegan food, such as fruit, vegetables, rice and cereals, which is why vegans usually consume less L-carnitine than people who also consume food of animal origin. However, a relatively high amount is present in some mushrooms, with oyster mushrooms, for example, having around 530 mg L-carnitine per kg of dry matter, which is comparable to some animal foods. There are particularly high amounts of L-carnitine in red meat, especially in lamb muscle meat. The following table provides an overview of the approximate content of L-carnitine in various fresh foods:
|
Food |
Serving size |
Amount of L-carnitine |
|
Beef steak |
100 g |
100 mg |
|
Lamb fillet |
100 g |
150 mg |
|
Chicken breast |
100 g |
5 mg |
|
coalfish |
100 g |
9.5 mg |
|
herring |
100 g |
12 mg |
|
Goat cheese |
100 g |
12.5 mg |
|
Whole milk |
100 ml |
3.5 mg |
|
Condensed milk |
100 ml |
9.5 mg |
|
peanuts |
100 g |
0.5 mg |
|
avocado |
100 g |
1.5 mg |
|
Carrots |
100 g |
0.5 mg |
|
asparagus |
100 g |
0.2 mg |
|
Chanterelles |
100 g |
12.5 mg |
|
Wheat bread |
100 g |
0.5 mg |
|
Pasta |
100 g |
0.7 mg |
What is the point of supplemented L-carnitine?
It is undisputed that the body needs L-carnitine and that various complaints can arise in the event of a deficiency. Depending on the cause of the reduced content in the body, it can be supplemented with food supplements, for example in cancer diseases. Many manufacturers also make claims that such tablets or powders serve as miraculous slimming products, accelerate muscle building and improve athletic performance. Unfortunately, some of these are empty promises that have not been scientifically proven.
What does L-Carnitine do in cancer
Most cancers themselves, as well as traditional treatments such as chemotherapy, are associated with organ damage, physical exhaustion and unwanted weight loss, among other things. Some studies suggest that drugs such as cisplatin and idosfamide in particular reduce the carnitine level in the blood, which can be balanced out by taking appropriate supplements to counteract any damage to the heart or the nervous system as well as typical complaints such as fatigue reduce. In 2012, a study by the University of Greifswald also showed that the daily supplementation of L-carnitine in patients with pancreatic cancer helps the so-calledCachexiato halt rapid and dangerous weight loss. Whether or to what extent L-carnitine has a direct influence on cancer cells or the growth of tumors has not yet been proven.
Does L-Carnitine Really Help You Lose Weight??
It is a proven fact that L-carnitine plays an essential role in fatty acid transport. However, this does not mean that the more L-carnitine you consume, the more fat you automatically burn. Whether an increased intake through supplementation results in additional fat burning and an associated weight loss is extremely controversial. With the help of studies only an increased concentration of L-carnitine in the blood due to supplementation could be proven, but no intracellular increase was proven. There are also insufficiently representative studies that clearly demonstrate greater success in losing weight with the help of L-carnitine in the form of dietary supplements. Anyone who suffers from obesity or cellulite should therefore try to reduce weight through conventional methods such as more exercise or less high-fat diet.
What is the use of L-carnitine in sports?
There are different opinions about the effect of L-Carnitime on athletic performance. The results of a few small studies indicate that taking carnitine supplements shortly before exercising can promote increased oxygen uptake. Scientifically, however, the effect of such food supplements on athletic performance has not yet been fully clarified. There is also no clear evidence that the carnitine content in the muscle cells is actually increased by supplementing with L-carnitine, thereby accelerating muscle building. Critics assume that a large part of the supplemented L-carnitine is not used by the body, but is simply excreted.
L-Carnitine has harmful side effects?
Basically, L-carnitine is a natural and important component of the body, which is ingested through the consumption of food in addition to the body's own production. However, many experts advise against excessive intake through dietary supplements. The following side effects are known to be associated with a greatly increased consumption of carnitine:
- diarrhea
- Bad breath
- Unpleasant body odor
- arteriosclerosis
- Heart attacks
- Heart attacks
Some critics also suspect that regular supplementation of L-carnitine can cause its natural production by the body to decline over time. The constant consumption of such food supplements would therefore have the opposite effect in the long term, or could create a kind of dependency. However, this thesis has not yet been clearly scientifically proven.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it can be summarized that in healthy people, L-carnitine is produced in sufficient quantities by the body itself and is also absorbed through food. In the case of a reduced production, a strongly one-sided diet or an increased need due to special circumstances, a deficiency of L-carnitine can occur, which can cause various complaints.
Artificial carnitine supplementation can have positive effects on some cancer patients. Meanwhile, the effects of such dietary supplements for increasing athletic performance or as diet products for weight loss are controversial and the promises of the manufacturers are often unproven. In addition, the regular intake of high-dose carnitine preparations poses the risk of overdosing, which can have serious health consequences.