Carnitine L Tartrate

Chad Cilli · 08-26-2010, 09:10 AM

I've seen a few articles about this supplement lately. I think 2 of them were on EliteFTS, but here's one of them http://www.elitefts.com/documents/clt.htm

In any case, it seems that the real benefit from CLT is its effect on neurological adaptations. If my understanding is correct, most of "exhaustion" or rather the "breakdown" from training is neurological which is why when you're overtrained, you feel like your brain has been scrambled and you get all the fun neuro stuff like depression. I would then assume that taking something like CLT would be highly beneficial to serious athletes.

I'm personally interested in trying this supplement. I'll probably do a bit more research before I start taking it, but I'm wondering if anyone else has tried it or has an opinion on it.

Carnitine variants in general seem like some kind of miracle drug to me. I'm currently dosing 500mg of acetyl-L-carnitine a day after my opthamologist told me that it prevents and sometimes even removes cataracts. I don't know if CLT would be repetitive to dose with ALCAR, but it seems like it does something very different from what I've read.

Garrett Smith · 08-26-2010, 10:37 AM

The first breakdown from training is neurological, your brain trying to tell you that you are doing too much.

The second breakdown is physical, which has all sorts of manifestations, generally depending on where someone has "chinks in their armor".

Read this: http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_...drenal_fatigue

That generally covers a lot of the approach I use.

I've personally never used CLT, but I'm sure Poliquin has used buckets full.

Chad Cilli · 08-27-2010, 09:39 AM

That's exactly how I thought overtraining progressed, neuro first, muscular second. Could CLT prevent overtraining, or would it just delay the inevitable?

Good article on the science behind adrenal fatigue, but my knee jerk reaction about Tnation articles is they they're always trying to promote Biotest supplements, so I try to take their recommendations with a grain of salt.

If my cortisol levels are too high though, do I have the opposite of adrenal fatigue then? Is that just adrenal dysfunction then?

And 2g a day of phosphatidylserine?! I take 200mg a day, and I thought I was taking a high dose. I need to take 10x a much? That's like $200 a month just in PS.

Garrett Smith · 08-27-2010, 10:19 AM

The Adrenal Stress Index tells us what levels cortisol is at during different times of the day. People can be both high and low within a 24-hour period, hence why we need to see what is going on "inside".

The PS I use is a cream, easier and less expensive to get higher doses than the capsules/softgels.

Chad Cilli · 08-27-2010, 11:36 AM

Ah, makes sense, so that's why I feel better taking PS in the morning, but I sleep better eating honey before bed.

I've never seen PS as a cream, just as a powder or gel cap. Do you have it on your website? I looked under Adrenal Support. Do you ever get to a point where you don't need PS anymore?

Garrett Smith · 08-27-2010, 02:23 PM

The functional medicine supplements I use are not supposed to be sold to the public over the internet, so they aren't in the store.

Yes, the point is to get people to where they don't need the PS at all...but that depends on what your training evolves into and what issues you may be trying to avoid in the future (particularly if you are doing things that stress your adrenals on a regular basis).