Metabolic and Cognitive Health
Acetyl-L-Carnitine Is Considered a Weight Loss, Fitness, and Nootropic Supplement
Here is a summary of what ALCAR can do for the body and brain under three different categories based on scientific reviews
Potential Benefits of Acetyl-L-Carnitine for Weight Loss, Fitness Performance, and Cognitive Health
I have been investigating the potential effects of acetyl-L-carnitine (ALCAR) on the brain for a long time. ALCAR research gained momentum after 2010, with several informative studies published in credible journals.
Since then, I have also used the supplement for various reasons that I briefly explain in this article. Even though some people report side effects, I haven’t experienced any for over a decade.
Please note that this story does not include health advice. It contains my review of the literature and reflects my personal experience.
As I mentioned before, I only write about essential and well-researched supplements that have compelling benefits for the body and brain.
ALCAR is one of them. It is not an ordinary supplement and is not hyped, unlike other supplements on the market. Instead, it is widely used by informed athletes and fitness enthusiasts, especially those following time-restricted eating and ketogenic diets.
Our body naturally produces carnitine. It is a critical molecule for energy metabolism. Our mitochondria need it to metabolize fat. More specifically, it serves as a transport agent for fatty acids.
As mentioned in a previous article, mitochondria are the energy powerhouse of our cells. Our muscles store carnitine, but it can also exist in the bloodstream and the liver in small amounts.
In addition, especially the acetyl form of carnitine serves as an antioxidant in the body and brain, reducing oxidation caused by fat metabolism.
Carnitine is mainly found in animal products such as meat and fish. However, it is also available in supplement form in health and sports shops with no prescription.
In some countries, ALCAR is categorized and sold as a nootropic. I introduce nootropics in an article titled What We Know about Nootropics & Why They Matter.
In short, nootropics enhance our cognition, contributing to focus, attention, memory, task switching, and problem-solving capabilities. In addition to ALCAR, you may also come across two other forms of carnitine called L-carnitine L-tartrate and Propionyl-L-carnitine.
My focus is on ALCAR as I have more experience with that form, especially from the cognitive angle.
When reviewing the medical and fitness literature, I came across various use cases of ALCAR. Some of the interesting benefits are its use to prevent memory loss, improve physical and mental tiredness, reduce cravings, slow Alzheimer’s disease symptoms, improve mood, reduce nerve pain, and increase sperm count.
Even though research findings on these points are still inconclusive, researchers highlight the potential benefits of ALCAR, recommending further investigation. Here is a summary of three use cases.
1 — Weight Loss and Fat Metabolism
The research findings on carnitine supplementation for weight loss and fat reduction look murky, even though we know the role of carnitine in fat mobilization.
Some studies offer compelling results on its benefits for fat metabolization leading to potential fat loss, and some offer no difference. Rather than going into the details of multiple studies, I provide a meta-analysis of studies that give us the bigger picture.
For example, a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials have examined the effect of carnitine on adult weight loss.
The paper published in Obesity Treatment/Etiology and Pathophysiology journal in 2016 concluded that “receiving the carnitine resulted in weight loss. Using multiple-treatments meta-analysis of the drugs and non-pharmacotherapy options seem to be insightful areas for research.”
However, when I reviewed multiple papers on animal studies, some of the studies on mice showed no difference.
Interestingly, a study on obese cats produced positive results. Researchers of this paper concluded that “Dietary l-carnitine supplementation appeared to have a metabolic effect in overweight cats undergoing rapid weight loss that facilitated fatty acid oxidation.”
2 — Cognitive Protection and Enhancement
I came across numerous studies on humans and animals highlighting the benefits of ALCAR in reversing cognitive decline, especially in neurodegenerative conditions like Alzheimer’s disease.
I only introduce two studies to give you an example.
A double-blind, parallel-design pilot study of Acetyl Levocarnitine in patients with Alzheimer’s disease published in JAMA Neurology suggests that:
“Acetyl levocarnitine may retard the deterioration in some cognitive areas in patients with Alzheimer’s disease and stress the need for a larger study of this drug.”
A scientific animal study published in the Journal of Behavioral and Brain Science pointed out:
“Treatment of mice with ALCAR significantly attenuated spatial learning and memory impairment on the Morris maze-water behavioral task and also importantly reduced degeneration in size and number of cholinergic cells in the nucleus basalis magnocellularis of the basal forebrain [the brain region for learning and memory].” In simple terms, the attention, memory, and learning of mice increased.
3 — Fitness Performance
Over the last two decades, I have read many scientific papers from peer-reviewed journals and hundreds of experimental studies in fitness magazines on the benefits of ALCAR in athletic performance.
While scientific studies show mixed results, the experimental and anecdotal evidence depict positive results on the benefits of supplementation. Due to the scope of my article, I provide two sample studies.
A paper titled “The Effects of Acute L-carnitine Supplementation on Endurance Performance of Athletes” published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found:
“The running speeds corresponding to specific lactate concentrations were increased, and lactate and heart rate responses to the running speeds were decreased in both supplemented groups compared with placebos.” Besides, researchers identified a significant reduction in heart rate.
Another paper titled “Effects of Prolonged L-Carnitine Administration on Delayed Muscle Pain and CK Release After Eccentric Effort” published in the International Journal of Sports Medicine concluded:
“L-carnitine has a protective effect against pain and damage from the eccentric effort. This effect is mainly attributed to the vasodilatation property of the compound, which both improves the energetic metabolism of the damaged muscle and enhances the wash-out of algogenic metabolites.”
Conclusions and Takeaways
The research into carnitine supplementation, especially the acetyl form, looks promising even though the results are still inconclusive.
The major benefit of the acetyl form of carnitine is the ability to pass the brain-blood barrier giving a competitive advantage to the brain. Only specific molecules can pass this well-controlled biological barrier.
Therefore, I am more interested in ALCAR (Acetyl L Carnitine) than other forms of carnitine. In addition, ALCAR has antioxidant effects protecting the brain from oxidative stress.
I only focused on three use cases in this article, including weight loss, cognitive health, and fitness performance.
However, the medical and fitness literature also includes other important use cases, such as increasing the production of red blood cells, reducing muscle soreness, increasing stamina, and improving recovery after heavy workouts. I plan to cover these benefits in another article.
ALCAR is an essential supplement for me as I am on time-restricted eating, including long-term fasting, and my body is fat-adapted, requiring more carnitine for fat mobilization, giving me the needed energy.
In addition to the weight loss, fitness, and cognitive benefits of ALCAR, my other interest is its benefits for type II diabetes, especially in dealing with insulin resistance and increasing insulin sensitivity to prevent metabolic syndrome.
For example, this paper titled “Caloric Restriction and L-Carnitine Administration Improves Insulin Sensitivity in Patients With Impaired Glucose Metabolism,” published in the Journal of Parental and Enteral Nutrition, provides compelling results.
University of Rochester Medical Center points out that we may need a total and free carnitine test if we are being treated for type II diabetes, cancer, an enlarged heart, or kidney disease.
In some cases, these conditions can affect how patients use carnitine. As the resource points out, test results depend on our physical condition and age. However, a ratio greater than 0.4 suggests a carnitine deficiency.
In some nutrition communities, I found negative carnitine reviews from food intake allegedly increasing metabolite TMAO (within the atherogenesis context), blaming red meat consumption.
However, fish, touted as a healthier alternative food, creates much more TMAO than red meat. Therefore, I politely disagree with these allegations based on my reviews and experience with red meat for over a decade.
The Science Director for NutriGuard, Mark McCarty, explains this complex situation based on his review of the Mayo Clinic Proceedings in a video on YouTube.
Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a healthy and happy life.
I also wrote about other valuable nutrients. Here are the links for easy access:
Lutein/Zeaxanthin, Phosphatidylserine, Boron, Urolithin, taurine, citrulline malate, biotin, lithium orotate, alpha-lipoic acid, n-acetyl-cysteine, acetyl-l-carnitine, CoQ10, PQQ, NADH, TMG, creatine, choline, digestive enzymes, magnesium, zinc, hydrolyzed collagen, nootropics, pure nicotine, activated charcoal, Vitamin B12, Vitamin B1, Vitamin D, Vitamin K2, Omega-3 Fatty Acids, N-Acetyl L-Tyrosine, and other nutrients to improve metabolism and mental health.
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