Carnitine | Benifits | Source | Deficiency | Toxicity
Carnitine is derived from an amino acid and is found in nearly all cells of the body. It is the generic term of number of compounds that include L- carnitine, acetyl L- carnitine, propionyl L- carnitine, and D- carnitine. L carnitine is the standard biological active form of carnitine. It plays a very crucial role in energy production. Deficiency of carnitine can cause many health problems and if untreated, can be fatal.
Benefits:
- It helps in burning fat. One part of carnitine transports long chain fatty acids into mitochondria to be burned to produce energy. The another part transports waste and toxic compounds out of the mitochondria, and this prevents unwanted substances from building up.
- It gives more energy during and after workout.
- It boosts the metabolism of the body, which helps to lose weight.
- It enhances the body’s immune system.
Sources:
Carnitine is mainly found in animal products, dairy products, poultry and meat. Red meat has the highest concentration of contain few plant sources are whole wheat bread and asparagus.
Recommended dietary allowance (RDA):
There is no recommended daily intake, but less than two gram per day is recommended to avoid toxicity.
Deficiency: The liver and kidney usually produce enough carnitine in the human body. However, people with genetic disorders or some medical reasons may not produce enough amounts. When the protein responsible for bringing carnitine into cells undergoes a genetic change, deficiency of carnitine occurs. This rare condition causes low plasma carnitine, heart muscle disease, skeletal myopathy, hypoglycaemia, hypoammonemia weak muscles in hips, shoulders, upper arms, legs, neck and jaw muscles. If it is untreated, it can be fatal.
Toxicity: High level supplementations of carnitine can cause nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, diarrhoea, and fishy body odour. Few rarer side effects are muscle weakness in uremic patients and seizures in people with seizure disorders.