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FACT SHEET: DRINKBE
CAFFEINE & CARNITINE 2012


Caffeine
Caffeine is unusual in that it is a widely consumed foodstuff, but it is also a drug (that is not currently
banned). In fact it is the most widely consumed drug in the world, being found in plant extracts of
coffee beans, tea leaves, cocoa beans, cola nuts. It is also added to some soft drinks and
medications.
L-Carnitine
The dietary supplement L-carnitine often known as the ‘energy nutrient’ is very popular amongst
people who exercise or who use it for weight management purposes or who take it for beneficial
effects on heart health. Indeed, L-Carnitine is also used variously by vegetarian’s elderly; infants and
women during pregnancy such is its universal appeal. So there is good logic to support the use of
both supplements synergistically providing that there is a shared purpose for this. The b metabolic
bullet supports sound scientific based ideas and provides a unique dietary supplement to combine
caffeine and carnitine to achieve a synergy of benefits for enhancing exercising performance,
cognitive functioning, and more effective weight loss gains and for optimising metabolism.

Caffeine and performance
It is without doubt that caffeine can have a positive effect on exercise performance and in a wide
range of sporting situations, e.g. in power events lasting as short as 60 s and endurance events
lasting as long as 3 hrs. The mechanism(s) by which caffeine achieves its positive performance
effects is not wholly clear, but, given the widely differing demands of the sporting conditions it is
known to positively affect; it is likely to be the result of a combination of several of its known
physiological actions. For example, caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant and as a result
improves alertness, reaction times and attention, which could clearly improve performance in a
number of different sporting conditions. Caffeine also stimulates the liberation of fat from our body fat
stores (biolysis), which results in the sparing of muscle and liver carbohydrate stores during prolonged
exercise, thereby improving endurance performance. Perhaps of importance to repeated sprint type
activities, caffeine is known to facilitate calcium release and re-uptake by muscle, thereby improving
contraction function. Finally, caffeine is known to influence the cardiovascular system by increasing
blood pressure.
Muscle carnitine and performance
The body’s carnitine store is found almost exclusively in skeletal muscle, where it plays an essential
role in the transport of fat into our mitochondria so it can then be used for energy production. The
muscle total carnitine pool is about 25 mmol/kg dry muscle, and this pool is known to be important in
dictating the proportions of fat and carbohydrate used by muscle for energy production during
exercise. In particular increasing carnitine in muscle enhances fat burning up to medium intensity
exercise levels and cuts lactic accumulation significantly at high intensity activity.

Despite many claims to the contrary, neither oral nor intravenous L-carnitine administration by itself
increases skeletal muscle carnitine content by a measurable amount in humans with normal muscle
carnitine content. This is because carnitine is transported into skeletal muscle against a considerable
concentration gradient, such that it prevents muscle carnitine transport and storage. The vast majority
of studies in which muscle carnitine has been measured support this stance. For example, feeding 2
g/day of L-carnitine for 3 or 6 months or administering a 30 mg/kg body mass intravenous L-carnitine
bolus failed to increase muscle carnitine content or improve exercise capacity in healthy human
subjects. Furthermore, studies that have reported positive effects of L-carnitine supplementation on
muscle metabolism have simply not measured muscle carnitine content, leading to questions being
raised regarding the validity of the findings. It is clear therefore that if an increase in muscle carnitine
content is to be achieved, then an alternative strategy to simply ingesting L-carnitine is required.

Optimising Caffeine intake & muscle carnitine retention
Caffeine seems to be most effective when consumed as pure caffeine, rather than coffee. Following
ingestion, almost 100% is absorbed, and it can be detected in the blood stream within 5 min, although
it usually takes about 1 hour to peak in concentration. It is sensible therefore to consume caffeine
approximately 1 hour before competition. Amounts of 2 to 3 milligrams per kilogram bodyweight have
been shown to optimise performance. The magnitude of the performance effects of caffeine will vary
from person to person (e.g. habitual caffeine intake, weight, body size, metabolic rate, hydration and
what you have eaten recently will all affect the level of caffeine in the body.) and on how much has
been ingested. Its effects however can be expected to last for between 3 to 10 hours and will be the
same for males and females.
It is now known that insulin has a potent stimulatory effect on carnitine accumulation in human
muscle. The elevation of blood insulin to a physiologically high concentration will augment muscle
carnitine accumulation by more than 15%. Therefore, ingesting caffeine and L-carnitine in
combination with B metabolic technology will significantly increase the synergistic effect of combining
caffeine intake and carnitine accumulation. Until now no supplement in the world contained the
correct efficacious and palatable mix of ingredients to bring about the dual performance effects of
combining caffeine and carnitine.

BULLET TECHNOLOGY DRINK
Our liver carbohydrate store is broken down continuously (even when we rest) to maintain our blood
glucose levels, and therefore the ingestion of BULLET 1-3 hours before undertaking exercise will
ensure that liver glycogen levels are 'optimal' prior to exercise, mental attributes are maximised
through optimal stimulation of the central nervous system and metabolism primed for enhanced fat
burning and maximal performance.

Scientific References
Arenas, J., Ricoy, J.R., Encinas, A.R., Pola, P., D'Iddio, S., Zeviani, M., Didonato, S., and Corsi, M. 1991 Carnitine in muscle,
serum, and urine of nonprofessional athletes: effects of physical exercise, training, and L-carnitine administration. Muscle
Nerve 14, 598-604.
Brass, E.P., Hoppel, C.L., and Hiatt, W.R. (1994) Effect of intravenous L-carnitine on carnitine homeostasis and fuel
metabolism during exercise in humans. Clin Pharmacol Ther 55, 681-692.
Casey A., Constantin-Teodosiu D., Howell S., Hultman E. and Greenhaff P.L. Creatine ingestion favourably affects
performance and muscle metabolism during maximal exercise in humans. Am. J. Physiol. 271: E31-E37, 1996.
Fritz, I.B., and McEwen, B. (1959) Effects of carnitine on fatty-acid oxidation by muscle. Science 129, 334-335.
Roepstorff, C., Halberg, N., Hillig, T., Saha, A.K., Ruderman, N.B., Wojtaszewski, J.F., Richter, E.A., and Kiens, B. (2005)
Malonyl-CoA and carnitine in regulation of fat oxidation in human skeletal muscle during exercise. Am J Physiol 288, E133-
E142.

Stephens, F.B., Constantin-Teodosiu, D., Laithwaite, D., Simpson E.J., and Greenhaff P.L. Insulin stimulates L-carnitine
accumulation in human skeletal muscle. FASEB J. (2005) 20: 377-9.
van Loon, L.J., Greenhaff, P.L., Constantin-Teodosiu, D., Saris, W.H., and Wagenmakers, A.J. (2001) The effects of increasing
exercise intensity on muscle fuel utilisation in humans. J Physiol 536, 295-304.

Wächter, S., Vogt, M., Kreis, R., Boesch, C., Bigler, P., Hoppeler, H., and Krähenbühl, S. (2002) Long-term administration of L-
carnitine to humans: effect on skeletal muscle carnitine content and physical performance. Clin Chim Acta 318, 51-61.
Graham T.E. Canadian J. Applied Physiology, 2001, 26 Suppl: S103-19.
Graham T.E. Sports Medicine, 2001, 31: 785-807.
Spriet L.L. International J. Sport Nutrition, 1995, 5 Suppl: S84-99.

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