Alpha lipoic acid (ALA) is a powerful antioxidant derived from plant or animal tissue. But since red meat is one of the richest sources of ALA, this substance may be an important supplement for vegetarians and anyone who avoids animal products.
While alpha lipoic acid is utilized in cellular metabolism and energy production, excess (higher amounts than normal), act as antioxidants protecting the body from nasty free radicals that damage cell structures. Free radicals, waste products of our internal metabolism, are highly reactive and can damage cell membranes, DNA and proteins. These rogue molecules can impair the immune system and have been blamed for exacerbating a wide range of illness including heart disease, cancer and certain forms of blindness.
Researchers believe that antioxidants such as vitamins C and E and the carotenoids, as well as alpha lipoic acid, work most effectively in a synergistic manner-in combination with each other, as a team. Consequently some experts now recommend supplementation with an "antioxidant network." Apparently, these antioxidants work in conjunction with each other to produce an antioxidant effect greater than the sum of their antioxidant parts. For instance, it is now thought that vitamin C helps recycle vitamin E as it disarms free radicals in the body. For as vitamin E renders free radicals harmless, the vitamin E itself becomes damaged and assumes free radical characteristics. By absorbing excess electrons from the altered vitamin E, vitamin C normalizes vitamin E and puts it back to work rendering free radicals harmless. (In this process, the vitamin C becomes a free radical, but it too, in turn, is deradicalized by other compounds present in the body.)
Within this teamwork approach to the neutralization of free radicals, ALA acts as a potent antioxidant, and also is used in the synthesis of a substance called glutathione .
Glutathione is one of the most important antioxidants present inside the body's cells.
As an antioxidant, ALA possesses an important advantage over vitamins: it is soluble in both water and fat. While vitamins are generally either fat soluble (vitamins A, D and E) or water soluble (the B complex and C), alpha lipoic acid is a relatively small molecule that can travel virtually anywhere in the body. On the other hand, vitamin C is usually restricted to the cell's watery interior (the cytoplasm), while vitamin E clings to fatty cellular membranes. As an added antioxidant advantage, ALA assumes two different forms within the body, both forms taking an active role against free radicals. (Most antioxidants are only potent in what is called their reduced form, before absorbing excess electrons. ALA retains its protective function in both its reduced and oxidized forms.)
ALA plays an essential role in cellular and muscular energy production.
In so doing, it helps the body burn sugar: it functions as a cofactor for a number of enzymes responsible for the conversion of glucose (blood sugar), fatty acids and other molecules into energy.
ALA's role in the body's uptake of glucose has excited medical experts who believe ALA supplements may be beneficial for victims of diabetes. By hastening the removal of glucose from the bloodstream and improving insulin function (the pancreatic hormone that enables cells to take in and use blood sugar) ALA decreases insulin resistance, a condition that is often the forerunner of full-blown diabetes. In Europe, ALA is frequently prescribed for peripheral neuropathy, damage to the peripheral nerves caused by diabetes. The gathering evidence for ALA'S importance to those with diabetes has led the American Diabetes Association to endorse ALA use, in conjunction with vitamin E, to help prevent life-threatening diabetic complications, such as heart disease, blindness, nerve damage and kidney disease.
Because of its broad range of activity and uses, ALA is likely to continue to be acknowledged as a vital component of any supplemental antioxidant program. According to Lester Packer, Ph.D, a leading scientist who has researched free radicals, "Alpha-lipoic acid could have far-reaching consequences in the search for prevention and therapy of chronic degenerative diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease." Dr. Packer, professor at the University of California at Berkeley, believes ALA may help stroke victims. "Because it's the only antioxidant that can easily get into the brain, it could be useful in preventing damage from a stroke," he says.
