Carnitine is a vitamin like nutrient and occurs naturally in the body. It is essential for the fat metabolism. Not without good reason it is named "the energy vitamin".Carnitine is an amino acid which, has been found to have a wide range of protective effects and health benefits as long as it is consumed in sufficient amounts. Carnitine's protective effects are associated primarily with heart health. It has been shown to be a factor in the protection against heart disease.

One of a number of additional health benefits of carnitine is that it increases fat metabolism. It therefore helps in avoiding obesity, so the claim goes. Obviously, if carnintine can aide in avoiding obesity, it automatically qualifies as a medication against many health problems, which are associated with being overweight.

Carnitine is popular among athletes and body builders as it increases stamina and has been shown to help in developing muscle mass.

We haven't encountered claims that carnitine would be helpful in sexual functions, even though such claims (usually unsubstantiated) are regularly made for any kind of nutritional product as they tend to increase sales.

1905 L-Carnitine was first found in muscle extracts by Gulewitch and Krimberg and was so named from the Latin caro, carnis (meaning flesh or meat).

1927 The chemical structure of L-Carnitine was confirmed.

1947 Fraenkel conducted research for as yet undiscovered B-vitamins.

1952 Fraenkel worked on nutritional requirements of mealworms (Tenebrio molitor) and found they require L-Carnitine as an essential growth factor in addition to folic acid and the other known B vitamins.

1958 Fritz found that L-Carnitine increased the rate at which cells (mitochondria) burned fat. This established L-Carnitine's fundamental role in fat oxidation.

1970 Intensive research on the functions of L-Carnitine.

1980 L-Carnitine became commercially available.

1993 Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) - an independent expert committee of scientists evaluated the GRAS status of L-Carnitine as a dietary supplement. They concluded that L-Carnitine and its freely ionizable salts such as L-Carnitine L-Tartrate and L-Carnitine Magnesium Citrate can be safely ingested by adults at 20 mg/kg/day (1200 mg for a 60 kg person) for a broad range of uses.

Fatty acid oxidation:

Fatty acids are one of the primary energy sources for the body. oxidation is the process by which fatty acids are broken down for the ultimate production of energy. Although fatty acids need to enter the mitochondria for oxidation, they are unable to penetrate the inner mitochondrial membrane. L-Carnitine is essential to transport long chain fatty acids across the mitochondrial membrane for subsequent fat breakdown and energy production.

Free Co-Enzyme A (CoA) buffer:

L-Carnitine has been shown to buffer the bound CoA to free CoA ratio and removes toxic concentrations of acyl-CoA thereby helping to ensure that energy production can continue.

Detoxification:

Another important function of L-Carnitine is the ability to shuttle short chain fatty acids from inside the mitochondria to the cytosol.