A popular dietary supplement can help burn up fat during exercise, British researchers have reported.
The supplement L-carnitine switches muscles from using carbohydrates to using fat, according to Nottingham University scientists.
It also genuinely improves exercise performance – and cuts build up of lactic acid, which causes muscle fatigue, according to Professor Paul Greenhaff, an expert in muscle metabolism at the university’s medical school.
The professor says his findings should "spur" fresh research into the supplement.
His research shows how it benefits high intensity athletes – and raises questions about whether it could be used as part of health and fitness programmes.
The scientists studied 14 young male volunteer athletes, who took the supplement in combination with a carbohydrate.
The research showed that during low intensity exercise the athletes used less carbohydrates after using the supplement. But use of carbohydrate increased during high intensity exercise – with reduce levels of lactic acid.
Professor Greenhaff says this must mean the muscles were using fat for energy during low intensity exercise.
He said: "This is the first study in healthy humans showing that muscle L-carnitine content can be influenced by dietary means, and that L-carnitine plays a dual role in skeletal muscle fuel metabolism during exercise that is dependent on exercise intensity."
Journal of Physiology June 2011: 589.4;963-973
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