Hear more and more docs saying that l-carnitine is actually good for you (particularly in the cardiology world). what about the whole evil tmao thing? has that association been debunked?

Poison in the dose: Good question! A famous saying is "the poison is in the dose." The role of TMAO in cardiovascular disease is still unclear but research shows one needs to take at least 6 grams of L-carnitine to increase TMAO levels and therapeutic doses tend to be 3 grams or less. See https://tinyurl.com/uzkwgk6 and https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6213249/ for more detailed discussions.