In 2009 the journal Pharmacotherapy published a review article that outlined the ADHD vitamins and supplements that were possibly helpful in the treatment of ADHD. The authors of this journal article concluded that L-Carnitine was possibly effective in the treatment of ADHD.
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| L-carnitine helps ADHD working in conjunction with other ADHD vitamins |
L-Carnitine cannot benefit ADHD on its own and appears to work in conjunction with other ADHD vitamins. Several studies have found pronounced benefits in hyperactivity and inattention using L-Carnitine and other studies have found little or no benefits. These differing results may be caused by differences in the diets of those that were tested with L-Carnitine.
The process by which L-Carnitine helps ADHD is a complicated one and other vitamin cofactors such as vitamin E levels and levels of magnesium for instance have been found, in studies, to affect the overall benefit that is seen when L-Carnitine is used in the treatment of ADHD.
As with other ADHD vitamins and the benefits they produce in the behavioral symptoms of ADHD, L-Carnitine does not work in a vacuum. L-Carnitine and the other ADHD vitamins work as only one component of a complex and interconnected machine known as the brain.
· The benefits of l-Carnitine will depend on what is going on in the rest of the brain but research studies indicate that there are a few possible ways that L-Carnitine helps the symptoms of ADHD. Among the possible benefits of L-Carnitine are the following:
- L-Carnitine plays a role in the synthesis or making of brain neurotransmitters. Many researchers believe that faulty neurotransmitter functioning is the main cause of problems in people with ADHD.
- L-Carnitine may optimize or help with the brain’s use of glucose, an important factor in all cell functioning. Several studies have shown that people with ADHD have glucose deficiencies in areas of the brain control ADHD behaviors
- L-Carnitine improves brain blood flow in certain regions of the brain that are thought to be involved in ADHD like behaviors. Studies have found that children and adults with ADHD have a reduced blood flow to these same brain regions.
- L-Carnitine helps with the brain’s make and use DHA and other essential fatty acids like the Omega-3 fatty acids. Deficiencies in the essential fatty acids have been linked to increased ADHD behaviors.
- L-Carnitine is an anti-oxidant and studies have shown that people with ADHD have abnormal oxidant levels that L-Carnitine may help.
- L-Carnitine has been found to increase energy levels and has been used for this purpose by athletes with good results. People with the Inattentive type of ADHD often have trouble regulation their arousal levels and can sometime be sluggish. L-Carnitine may increase energy levels in people with ADHD inattentive and in this way improve attention.
Some studies have reported ADHD behavioral benefits from the use of L-Carnitine in people with the Combined as well as the Inattentive type of ADHD while other studies have shown benefits only in people with a diagnosis of ADHD Inattentive type.
Published studies that have reported improvements in ADHD behaviors have cited doses of 1.5 grams daily for adults and doses of 500mg to 1.5grams two times a day in children. The dose is adjusted by weight so that a person weighing 150 pounds would take 3 grams a day and a child weighing 50 pounds would take 1 gram per day.
There appear to be many biological theories that explain how and why L-Carnitine, when combined with the appropriate levels of other ADHD vitamins, helps with the behaviors of inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity seen in people with ADHD but more studies are needed to fully understand the how and whys of L-Carnitine and ADHD behaviors.
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