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Alpha Lipoic Acid
Alpha Lipoic
Acid - The Universal Antioxidant Alpha lipoic acid has been called the universal antioxidant. It boosts glutathione levels in cells, has potent antioxidant action in almost all the tissues of the body, and is a co-factor for some of the key enzymes (alpha keto acid dehydrogenases) involved in generating energy from food and oxygen in mitochondria. Alpha lipoic acid is known by a variety of technical names including thiotic acid, 1,2-dithiolane-3-pentanoic acid, 1,2-dithiolane-3-valeric acid, and 6,8-thiotic acid. When it functions as a co-factor for energy production, it is slightly modified and usually called lipomide or lipoate. When alpha lipoic acid was first isolated in the early 1950s, it was tentatively classified as a vitamin because of its vitamin-like properties. The method by which alpha lipoic acid is synthesized within the body has not yet been fully characterized, but its precursors appear to be octanoate and the sulfur amino acid cysteine. Recent findings show that both alpha lipoic acid and its reduced form, dihydrolipoic acid (DHLA) function as potent antioxidants within the body, and that both these compounds may be effective in preventing and treating the complications of diabetes and, perhaps, aging itself.
Alpha Lipoic
Acid Meets all Antioxidant Evaluation Criteria One of the leading free radical researchers in the world is Lester Packer, who heads the Membrane Bioenergetics Group and Department of Molecular & Cell Biology at the University of California at Berkeley. Dr. Packers review article entitled Alpha-Lipoic Acid As A Biological Antioxidant (in the journal Free Radical Biology and Medicine) presents a compelling case for the universal antioxidant properties of alpha lipoic acid.
In his article,
Dr. Packer proposes that the following biochemical criteria be considered
when evaluating the antioxidant potential of a compound:
Dr. Packer
then presents other important criteria for use when considering the
preventive and therapeutic applications of an antioxidant:
After presenting these criteria, Dr. Packer makes it clear that an antioxidant need only meet a few of them to play an important role in the body. A substance need not excel in meeting all these criteria to be considered a good antioxidant. For example, vitamin E acts only in the membrane or lipid domains, its dominant action is to quench lipid peroxyl radicals, and it has little or no activity against radicals in the aqueous phase, yet it is considered one of the central antioxidants of the body. Epidemiological studies are confirming its role in the prevention of numerous oxidant-related diseases, such as heart disease.
After reviewing
hundreds of studies dealing with the antioxidant properties of alpha
lipoic acid, Dr. Packer came to the following conclusions:
Regeneration
of Other Antioxidants This ability of alpha lipoic acid to regenerate vitamin E was shown graphically in an experiment in which three groups of nude (hairless) 12-week-old mice were studied for six weeks. The first group of mice, (A), which received a normal diet during this period, developed normally. The second group of mice, (B), which were fed a vitamin E-deficient diet, showed marked signs of atrophy and degeneration. The third group of mice, (C), were fed a vitamin E-deficient diet supplemented with alpha lipoic acid. These animals showed none of the atrophy and degeneration found in the second group, indicating that the alpha lipoic acid had protected them against the degenerative effects of vitamin E deficiency.
No Adverse Side
Effects
Caution: Supplement
Facts Suggested
Use:
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These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease |