From the point of view of chemistry, carnitine is an amino acid, it enters the body when eating, and it can also be synthesized in the liver and kidney cells. The richest carnitine includes foods that contain a lot of protein, that is, meat, milk, fish. Entering the body, carnitine penetrates into the muscles. Its main function is to direct fats in the form of free fatty acids in the mitochondria of cells to convert them into energy. In the absence of carnitine, the body can not burn fat at all. You can arbitrarily torture yourself with active physical exertion, but in the absence of this amino acid in the body, fat burning will not occur. In addition to directly fat burning effect, this amino acid helps to keep protein in the body.
The fat burner L-carnitine also has a beneficial effect on the functioning of the cardiovascular system, since the main source of energy for the heart is free fatty acids, and their processing into energy just depends on the presence of this amino acid. Carnitine, in addition, even regulates the work of the nervous system. It is believed that it can slow the aging process in the brain. Thus, summing up all the functions of carnitine, we can determine that the functions of a separate food additive include:
- fat burning effect;
- anabolic - maintenance of muscles in a tonus on a diet thanks to retention of protein.
Unfortunately, our body lacks the amount of carnitine, which gives us the usual food. The daily dose for an average person is about 300 mg, this amount is contained in 500 g of raw meat. And after the thermal treatment of this amino acid in the product becomes less than 2 times less. Those. it turns out that for a natural replenishment of the carnitine reserve, even the average person will have to eat about 1 kg of cooked meat every day.
How to take carnitine correctly?
In the question of how to correctly take L-carnitine, the best option is to take courses. The duration of a continuous course of admission can be on average from 4 to 8 weeks. After that, you need to make a 2-week break and then resume taking the supplement. To date, the sports nutrition industry provides the widest range of different forms of carnitine. These are simple tablets, gelatin capsules, sports drinks, concentrates and even sports chocolate. In such a variety it is difficult to decide which l-carnitine is better. It is safe to say that liquid l-carnitine is absorbed more quickly, but as a rule, various concentrates, sweeteners and other harmful substances are added to ready-made beverages. In addition, the price for this product is usually higher. Therefore, it is better to buy tablets of carnitine and when buying pay attention to the composition, where there should not be any extra additives.
Dosage of L-carnitine
On average, the athlete needs to take from 500 to 3000 mg per day in accordance with body weight. In higher doses, there is no need, although studies have been conducted that confirmed that prolonged intake of high doses of up to 15 grams per day does not cause side effects. On the box or bank with the drug they write how to take carnitine. It is advisable to drink it every day in 2 divided doses (morning and evening), before training. It is not recommended to take carnitine on an empty stomach, tk. it is an amino acid, and it can negatively affect the intestinal microflora.
And remember, carnitine does not help you lose weight if you eat a lot and move little. This is a great addition to training and diet, which will greatly accelerate the approach to the goal, but can not replace you a healthy lifestyle.