A Beginner’s Guide to L-Carnitine
Today, we want to shed some light and insight onto a common compound that many either haven’t heard of or don’t know the uses and benefits of, or maybe just need a refresher! Further we’ll break down how it might be beneficial for your best furry friend! Afterall, we’re here to better serve your dog’s overall health and happiness, and we always like to hear from you about how we can do just that. So, let’s discuss L-Carnitine.
What is L-Carnitine?
Carnitine was first discovered to be a significant component of muscle. It is a specific type of compound—quaternary ammonium compound—and is involved in the system’s metabolism, which directly supports energy. Carnitine is concentrated in tissues of living beings like mammals, plants, and select bacteria. The tissues it is typically found within are skeletal and cardiac muscle.
Carnitine was first extracted from meat extracts in 1905 but has since evolved in its extrication from other sources, including plants. Carnitine occurs in two forms—D and L. Only L-Carnitines is already present in the body and is the form also found in food, therefore D-Carnitine has the possibility to be a harmful compound and contribute to potential health concerns due to it not already existing as a natural source in living beings. L-Carnitine is generally the utilized form, especially in supplements as it is already evident in many food sources.
The food sources L-Carnitine tends to be most prevalent in are red meat, fish, poultry, milk, whole wheats, and for vegetables it tends to be most predominant in asparagus. This is one of the factors in choosing raw dog food brands, or foods that are dense in meat ingredients, as a dog can obtain a source of L-Carnitine from their daily diet. However, the kidneys efficiently tend to conserve carnitine regardless of daily intake and while deficiency is not a typical concern unless genetic or medical, there are a few possible benefits to obtaining added carnitine, which we’ll talk about below.
L-Carnitine and Athletes
L-Carnitine may have benefits that boost the body's metabolism by improving mitochondrial function and increasing cellular energy. It can also provide enhanced recovery and prevent muscles from increased fatigue. These are a few of the reasons that L-Carnitine is popularly used by athletes as it could contribute to enhanced athletic performance. After strenuous exercise, and especially endurance exercise, L-Carnitine has possibilities to reduce muscle soreness and contribute to quicker recovery times in order to keep performance up without minor setbacks.
How Can Dogs Benefit From L-Carnitine?
L-Carnitine has the potential to play a key role in the health and wellbeing of our four-legged friends, especially as they respond similarly to humans where physical health factors are concerned. Dogs are athletes in their own right, and as L-Carnitine has already been discussed to have many athletic health benefits, these extend to dogs as well. As any of us dog owners know, sometimes dogs push themselves to the limits when they play since they don’t register many strenuous activities in the way that we do, but their bodies will still take impact when it comes to overexertion the way ours do. They still get sore, stiff, and fatigued, even if they keep pushing. So, a very active and energetic dog that gets lots of exercise could benefit from normal muscle recovery time, as well as maintain their cardiovascular health, by receiving further L-Carnitine supplementation.
Created specifically using the benefits of the clinically studied L-Carnitine, we utilize Carniking® as the base ingredient in our Heart + Vitality Chews. This supplement was created to support heart health, cardiovascular function, and vitality, as well as to support normal circulation. It contains all the positive powers of L-Carnitine, along with select additional ingredients discussed below, and is specifically designed for dogs.
Other Ingredients in Our Heart + Vitality Chews
Another interesting thing about L-Carnitine is that the benefits of compounds working together can be numerous. Since L-Carnitine is a beneficial compound for energy production, and provides support for performance and recovery, if you combine it with other effective compounds the results may reflect even further benefits. The below are the other ingredients we have incorporated into our Heart + Vitality Chews that have been studied in depth, and especially when combined with L-Carnitine.
Coenzyme Q10 or CoQ10 acts as an antioxidant in the body, protecting cells from damage and playing a role in healthy metabolism. It can be especially beneficial to those with increasing age.
Taurine is an amino acid, which are the foundation for proteins. The body uses proteins to grow and repair tissues. It can also support greater energy for physical activity, which is especially powerful when combined with L-Carnitine.
Everything You Need to Know About Our Heart + Vitality Super Chews
Now you know about the history and uses of L-Carnitine, why athletes have utilized it over time to enhance their performance and recovery, how it has now been designed for dogs to enjoy those benefits as well, and even about other compounds that are beneficial for cardiovascular function when combined with L-Carnitine. We took great care and attention when creating this product, and to top it all off we combined all these elements with a bacon taste that dogs love. Seriously, they’re drooling over these powerful superhero chews!
Want to see L-Carnitine in action? Give our Heart + Vitality Chews a try today and let your dog feel the power. Let us know what benefits you have noticed in your dog from the cardiovascular chews, or other sources that your dog obtains their L-Carnitine intake from. Have any questions about the power of L-Carnitine? Contact us today!
Shay Siegel is a young adult author, freelance writer, and editor from Long Island, NY. She has a BA from Tulane University and an MFA in Writing from Sarah Lawrence College. Always a lover of animals, Shay had several cats growing up. She's now a dog mom to the snuggliest rescue pit bull, Bernie. She enjoys writing on a variety of topics and sharing her love and knowledge of animals with others!