Statistically speaking, the number of people suffering from obesity is increasing dramatically every year worldwide. In order to achieve a successful loss of body mass consisting of fat, all factors for successful fat burning must be taken into account. For the metabolism of fat in the body, the compound L-carnitine plays an outstanding role.
L-carnitine is a chemical protein compound that occurs naturally in the human body. The body can produce L-carnitine itself from two amino acids, which are taken in with food. L-carnitine itself can be found in relatively large quantities in products containing meat. L-carnitine has a number of functions in the human body, all of which directly affect the fat metabolism, as well as the necessary enzymes and thus indirectly the fat metabolism.
Effect in skeletal muscle
From an evolutionary point of view, the accumulation of adipose tissue in the human body in moderation represents a biological advantage, as these stores represent an enormous proportion of the body’s energy reserves. In order to utilize this energy from the fatty tissue, the body must metabolize the existing fatty acids and convert them into energy. The function of L-Carnitine is in the biochemistry of fat burning in the human body.
Most of the fat metabolism takes place in the so-called mitochondria. Most cells in the human body have mitochondria, which are understandably also called the power plants of the cell. The reason for this name is the conversion of the body’s own fat into energy.
Before the fatty acids can be metabolized into the energy-rich compound acetyl-CoA, they must be activated. This activation takes place on the outside of the mitochondria. In order to reach the inside of the mitochondria after activation, L-carnitine must be present in the cell.
L-carnitine is therefore necessary in any case if fat cells in the body are to be metabolised into energy. This means that if there is a deficiency of L-carnitine, the normal number of fatty acids cannot be “burned” because some of them cannot reach the interior of the mitochondria at all. A further effect of L-carnitine in the mitochondria is the maintenance of a ratio of bound CoA and free CoA.
This ratio is important because only with a sufficient amount of free CoA can all the glucose be converted into energy. At the same time, L-carnitine prevents the “overacidification” of the muscle via this effect by partially breaking down the lactic acid produced in the muscle tissue. In a state of hunger, an additional role is attributed to L-carnitine.
During phases in which no food has been consumed for a long time, existing L-carnitine prevents muscle tissue, which is rich in protein, from being broken down more intensively. By the same effect, athletes are also protected from the breakdown of protein-rich mass if a continuous load is carried out where muscle breakdown could be expected. Since the human immune system also consists of proteins, L-carnitine is also said to have an immune-boosting effect in this special situation.
