Alpha Lipoic Acid - The Universal Antioxidant

Alpha-lipoic acid has been called the "universal antioxidant," but the benefits of this vitaminlike nutrient go far beyond its role as an antioxidant. Alpha-lipoic acid is found in every cell of the body, and supplements have shown benefits in treating pre-diabetes and type-2 diabetes, nerve diseases, increasing energy metabolism, and slowing the aging process. It may even dampen appetite and help in weight loss.

The body converts some alpha-lipoic acid to dehydrolipoic acid, an even more powerful antioxidant. Both types of lipoic acid form the hub of the body’s antioxidant recycling network, according to research by Lester Packer, PhD, an antioxidant expert at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. This antioxidant network helps recycle "used up" antioxidants like vitamins C and E back to full strength.

Benefits in Nerve Disease

In the 1970s, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania discovered that alpha-lipoic acid increases the movement of glucose from the blood to cells, where it is burned for energy—important in maintaining normal glucose tolerance. German researchers picked up on this research, and by the early 1990s, that nation approved alpha-lipoic acid as a prescription drug for treating nerve disorders in people with diabetes.

Researchers around the world have continued to document the benefits of alpha-lipoic acid in reversing diabetic nerve disease, which can have a range of symptoms including pain, numbness, and warm and cold sensations. In a recent study, published in the Journal of Diabetes and Its Complications, doctors asked 61 diabetic patients to take 600 mg of alpha lipoic acid daily for eight weeks. By the end of the study, physicians rated the effectiveness of alpha-lipoic acid at 87 percent. Some research also suggests that alpha-lipoic acid may reduce nerve pain related to sciatica.

Can Help in Diabetes

Alpha-lipoic acid has additional benefits for people with diabetes. Studies in both humans and animals have consistently found that alpha-lipoic acid reverses insulin resistance, the hallmark of type-2 diabetes, and improves insulin sensitivity. Greater insulin sensitivity means the body can use less insulin more efficiently—and being able to do so protects against diabetes.

One of the risk factors for developing diabetes is having fat intertwined in muscle fibers, where most blood sugar is burned. When a lot of fat is present in muscles, normal glucose metabolism can decrease by 60 percent; however, alpha-lipoic acid can block the accumulation of fat in muscles, according to a study published in Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications.

May Reduce Appetite

Alpha-lipoic acid may also help reduce appetite and weight while increasing the body’s metabolic rate, if the findings of an animal study can be applied to humans. Ki Up-Lee, MD, from the University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea, and his colleagues reported in Nature Medicine that alphalipoic acid regulates “AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK),” an enzyme that influences appetite.

When cells need more energy—that is, carbohydrates or fat—AMPK levels rise in the brain and increase feelings of hunger. But Lee found that supplemental alpha-lipoic acid reduced brain levels of AMPK. The supplemental alpha-lipoic acid led to decreased food intake and a reduction in body weight in lab rats after just two weeks.

Heart Benefits

A study published in Circulation, a journal published by the American Heart Association, found that alpha-lipoic acid might prevent atherosclerosis, also known as hardening of the arteries. In the study, researchers at the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University, Corvallis, reported that supplemental alpha-lipoic acid significantly reduced the formation of atherosclerotic lesions by about 40 to 50 percent in the arteries of mice. Alpha-lipoic acid also reduced triglyceride levels and indicators of inflammation. Additionally, the animals gained almost 40 percent less weight during the study, compared with animals not receiving the antioxidant.

Potential for Reversing Aging

Professors of biochemistry Bruce N. Ames, PhD, of the University of California, Berkeley, and Tory Hagen, PhD, of Oregon State University, Corvallis, conducted a series of animal and human studies to explore the combined benefits of alpha-lipoic acid and another nutrient, acetyl-L-carnitine.

In one of the animal studies, Ames and Hagen fed alpha-lipoic acid and acetyl-L-carnitine to groups of young and old rats. Old rats are typically lethargic and have only about one-third the energy of young rats. After several weeks of supplementation, the two nutrients had a dramatic rejuvenating effect on the older rats. According to the researchers, the improvements were comparable to giving a 75-year old person the vigor of someone half their age. Ames and Hagen also reported comparable improvements in the animals’ memory. The human studies have not yet been published.

Restores Liver Health

The liver is the body’s chemical processing organ and has many important functions—it secretes bile; metabolizes proteins, carbohydrates, and fats; stores glycogen, vitamins, and other substances; synthesizes coagulation factors; removes wastes and toxic matter from the blood; regulates blood volume; and destroys old red blood cells. Alpha-lipoic acid is particularly important for protecting the liver.

Burt Berkson, MD, PhD, a nutritionally-oriented physician in Las Cruces, New Mexico, has used alpha-lipoic acid to successfully treat patients who developed liver failure after eating poisonous Amanita mushrooms. He has also developed what he calls a “triple antioxidant cocktail” to treat hepatitis C. The antioxidant cocktail consists of 200-300 mg of alpha-lipoic acid three times daily, 300 mg of silymarin four to six times daily, and 200 mcg of selenium three times daily.

Given the broad research and uses of alpha-lipoic acid, this vitamin-like nutrient is a remarkable supplement. For general antioxidant protection, 50 mg daily should suffice. Larger amounts—300 to 600 mg daily—may be needed to help with specific health problems. If you opt for these larger amounts, divide into two or three smaller doses over the course of a day.