L-Carnitine Vs Meldonium


Meldonium is a popular performance-enhancing drug that gained fame due to several doping cases like Maria Sharapova's. Today, Meldonium has lost popularity compared to the use of injectable L-Carnitine. Some users have decided to combine the two products to improve their performance. In this article, I will explain why this is a very bad idea.


L-Carnitine

L-Carnitine is a compound derived from amino acids that has always been very popular in sports supplementation due to its proven improvement in performance and especially in fat burning. Currently, we know that its oral absorption is very limited unless taken with an insulin spike, so injectable L-Carnitine has gained much popularity in recent years.

Its mechanism of action involves increasing the levels of Carnitine in the body. Carnitine improves the transport of long-chain fatty acids to the mitochondria, where they are used as an energy source, thus enhancing fat loss and improving energy output and endurance.


Meldonium

Meldonium, also known as Mildronate, is a medication invented in Eastern Europe that has made headlines due to various doping scandals involving very famous athletes.

Its mechanism of action involves inhibiting the synthesis of Carnitine in the body. By doing this, it slows or stops the transport of long-chain fatty acids to the mitochondria. This shift causes the body to prefer glucose oxidation as its energy source, improving energy output, endurance, and protecting against ischemia since this pathway is much more oxygen-efficient.


Interactions

As you can see, both compounds interact in completely opposite ways, one increasing Carnitine levels and the other reducing them, one using fatty acids as the preferred energy source and the other using glucose as the preferred energy source.

Combining both could completely neutralize the positive effects of each and even cause metabolic confusion.


Which Would I Use?

I would undoubtedly use L-Carnitine for the following reasons:

- It directly aids in fat burning.

- It is very effective at improving strength gains.

- It effectively improves endurance.

- It is not banned by WADA for doping.