Acetyl L-Carnitine is one of the essential amino acids that is naturally produced in your body (basically, this is one of the building blocks of your muscles). It is also used by the body for a number of other bio functions and has enormous health benefits as well when taken as a supplement. But one of its most important functions for people who are looking to lose weight is its ability to not only boost your metabolism, meaning you consume energy faster and lose weight faster, but it also increases the rate at which fat is burned in your body, a process known as thermogenesis.
Acetyl L-Carnitine is very similar to L-carnitine, with the main difference of an extra component (acetic acid) bound to the core molecule, which makes it more effective than its cousin.
How does this amino acid work ?
Acetyl L-Carnitine, as one of the essential amino acids, it has a very unique function. It is responsible for carrying fatty acids to your mitochondria to be burned as energy. In other words, the fat that is stored in your body’s adipose tissue is broken down by the thermogenesis outlined above (increased fat burning) and the fatty acids are transported to the cells that build up your muscles. The energy in essence is simply relocated to a much more efficient way of storing it — muscles are far more useful for storing energy than fat is and they can store even more energy — they are more efficient energy stores when compared by weight.
When you use your muscles for intensive strength exercises, that burning feeling in your muscles is all the energy going out of them. This can be replenished though, again by Acetyl L-Carnitine. As you eat more protein, it is broken down and the fatty acids are transported into your mitochondria once again to create bigger, stronger muscles than the previous ones that were burned out.
How to get shredded with acetyl L-Carnitine ?
Your body only makes a limited amount of acetyl L-Carnitine, and this is why it makes good sense to supplement with this as well. There is no disadvantage to having excess amounts of acetyl L-Carnitine in your body, as if there is any excess your kidneys will simply remove it. But what’s for certain is that if you are after building up your muscles and looking great, then using this supplement is one of the best ways to make your cycle more efficient.
Weight lifters and body builders often cycle their macro nutrients — on workout days they will eat more carbohydrates and less fat and on non workout days they will eat more fat and less carbohydrates. This is because carbohydrates provide instant, fast energy, while fat is slow and needs to be broken down for energy. Enormous amounts of protein are eaten every day, as protein is the building blocks of your muscles and contain all the fatty acids that you need. You can make this process more efficient by supplementing with acetyl L-Carnitine as well.
Clearly, the fat burning benefits of acetyl L-Carnitine are not just useful for losing weight, but also for converting that weight to useful muscles.
To summarize: Acetyl L-Carnitine is an essential amino acid that carries great health benefits and can be used as a supplement to lose weight and get in shape. Read on to find out more.
