Home >> Newsletters >> Insider's Health Newsletter - Volume 177 - October 22, 2009 >> Live Longer with Acetyl-L-Carnitine and L-Carnitine
Live Longer with Acetyl-L-Carnitine and L-Carnitine
Carnitines, acetyl-L-carnitine and L-carnitine, are not exactly household words, but they are vital to your health. They actually provide incredible health benefits that work equally as well as the chemical-based pharmaceuticals that physicians inundate you with. Keep reading to find out why carnitines are such winners when it comes to your health and wellness.
The carnitines can assist in a plethora of ways. Areas of your body that the carnitines help include:
- Brain
- Heart
- Kidneys
- Nerve disorders
- Bones
- DNA protection
- Erectile dysfunction
Brain Health
With aging the cell membranes of the brain get stiff and begin to function poorly. The carnitines easily permeate the brain and can stabilize cell membranes and make them soft, causing fluidity. Acetyl-L-carnitine has the ability to improve the function of nerve growth factor that assists in the repair of the brain’s cells and connections (synapses). This can be particularly important to patients with Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, brain injuries, or who have experienced strokes. Acetyl-L-carnitine can improve some cognitive problems of Alzheimer’s and can slow deterioration when combined with supplements like alpha-lipoic acid, vitamins E and C, CoQ10 and multivitamins. In fact, when combined with alpha-lipoic acid it can slow the brain’s aging and reverses it.
Heart
Placebo-controlled crossover studies have shown excellent results in treating angina patients. There is evidence that carnitine supplementation can cause serious improvement in heart function and exercise tolerance, as well as improve circulation in the legs of patients with sever atherosclerosis of the blood vessels.
Kidneys
What does L-carnitine supplementation do for the kidneys? Apparently it improves muscle strength, relieves muscle cramping and dramatically reduces the incidence of anemia in dialysis patients. In fact, carnitine deficiency is a well-established symptom of kidney failure.
Nerve Disorders
Diabetes, uremia, atheroslerosis, and heavy metal poisoning can result in nerve damage in the arms, and particularly the legs. It can also be caused from complications from certain cancer chemotherapy drugs. The pain and numbness associated with this can be disabling. Acetyl-L-carnitine can reduce and prevent nerve damage linked to cancer chemotherapy according to multiple studies. The majority of neuropathies are associated with nerve inflammation. Carnitine improves nerve energy, boosts the nerve growth factor, and in turn speeds up nerve healing and improves protection.
Bones
L-carnitine stimulates osteoblasts, bone-building cells, to actually produce more bone. This would make it beneficial to those battling osteoporosis.
DNA
A very important key to preventing cancer and neurodegenerative diseases is the protection of DNA. This is another function of carnitine.
Erectile Dysfunction
The carnitines seem to be a much better solution to erectile dysfunction than testosterone because testosterone enlarges the prostate and carnitines did not. This information came from study of men over age 66 in which testosterone was compared to the carnitines. The carnitines outperformed testosterone at improving erectile function, diminishing depression, allaying fatigue, and improving nocturnal erections.
While carnitine may not be a household word, maybe it should be. It seems that these supplements benefit nearly every aspect of the human physical well-being. With all of these positive functions, it seems that everyone should be considering them.
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