What is Lipoic Acid? It is a light yellow powder with a bitter taste that can be easily confused with hundreds of other chemicals. However, the unique qualities of an unusual combination of fatty acid and sulfur make you pay close attention to lipoic acid: it promotes weight loss, gives the body additional energy, protects the brain, and, possibly, is the key that will open the door for humanity to the land of eternal youth . . . Intrigued?
Lipoic acid is known to enhance the effectiveness of exercise for weight loss at times. How else can it help the body?
Lipoic Acid: Cleaner or Special Forces?
Lipoic acid, also known as LA, it is also thioctic acid, it is also lipamide, it is also vitamin N that often appears under the name of a semi-vitamin or vitamin-like substance.
The fact that LA is synthesized by the human body prevented her from becoming a "full" vitamin. It is also interesting that lipoic acid dissolves in both fat and water, while its other colleagues in "vitamin activity" can boast of only one comfortable habitat.
Lipoic acid is real Figaro: it is here, it is there. By accompanying enzymatic reactions in mitochondria, it helps to make the process of obtaining energy by cells as efficient as possible.
Lipoic acid molecules - miniature recycling plants. The substance "picks up" the decomposition products of amino acids and allows you to squeeze out of them the absolute maximum of the substances our body needs, and then removes all the "waste rock" from the body.
In recent years, physicians have seriously started talking about lipoic acid as the future elixir of eternal youth, since it was this substance that during experiments proved its ability to prevent DNA damage, which is recognized as the true cause of cellular aging and the extinction of vital functions.
Lipoic acid and weight loss: why it works
Lipoic acid is able to "tame" the forces that make us gain weight and retain excess fat. Its activity in this capacity is multifaceted. So, when losing weight, lipoic acid:
affects the areas of the brain responsible for appetite, reducing hunger;
stimulates energy consumption;
increases insulin sensitivity;
qualitatively improves the absorption of glucose by cells, reducing its level in the blood;
reduces the liver's tendency to accumulate fat.
Practice shows that lipoic acid gives the best results in weight loss in combination with dietary changes and physical activity. There is a logical explanation for this. With a "change in the course" of the diet, chemical changes occur in the body (the most pronounced when following a protein, paleo or keto diet, which give the fastest result and the most noticeable side effects), and with increased strength and cardio exercises, microtraumas occur in the muscles.
Because of this, oxidative processes are intensified in the body, causing a "surge" in the formation of free radicals, damaged molecules.
So lipoic acid is capable of not only neutralizing them, but also absorbing them, and then recovering and again rushing into the antioxidant battle.
This is another unique quality of lipoic acid: it is the only "reusable" antioxidant.
In addition, vitamin N has a friendly disposition: lipoic acid is able to cooperate with other substances that fight against free radicals (vitamins C and E, as well as glutathione) and even enhance the action of its allies.
Is alpha lipoic acid the first?
For the first time, researchers managed to extract lipoic acid from beef liver cells in the fifties of the last century. Therefore, alpha-lipoic acid for weight loss began her "medical career" as a hepatoprotector. However, scientists began to discover more and more new properties of an amazing substance and, in addition, learned how to synthesize it quite qualitatively in laboratory conditions.
Today chemists produce two chemically "mirror-like" versions of lipoic acid - R ("right isomer") and S ("left isomer") for different purposes. There are some differences in their molecular composition, and the human body efficiently and almost completely assimilates only the R-type of lipoic acid.
The latest methods make it possible to achieve greater purity of the drug and a high concentration of R-lipoic acid. It is clear that such a substance has a great potential for all the properties inherent in LA; in addition, it has been experimentally proven that it is the R-isomer that increases the sensitivity of cells to insulin. However, the production of a pure R-variant of the substance is quite costly, which, of course, affects the cost of the product.
The most popular has become the more affordable alpha-lipoic acid, in which the "right isomer" and "left isomer" are in equal proportions.
Products containing natural lipoic acid
Offal: kidneys, heart, liver;
Vegetables: broccoli, spinach, Brussels sprouts, peas, tomatoes;
Other sources: brewer's yeast, brown rice.
When your strength is not enough
Many living organisms (and humans among them) are able to synthesize a certain amount of lipoic acid on their own - this explains the fact that a high concentration of this useful substance is found in the internal organs of animals.
Alas, you don't have to completely rely on food sources of LA: as the American specialist in functional nutrition Dr. Jeffrey Webb explains, our enzymes are not able to "break" the bond between alpha lipoic acid and the amino acid lysine, in the company of which lipoic acid travels aroundthe gastrointestinal tract in the form of food. Therefore, from a dinner rich in ALA, we will receive only crumbs of the valuable substance.
The question arises: if people are able to produce only a modest amount of lipoic acid, and with food they are able to get even less, as we have lived until now, until doctors have learned to synthesize it?
The answer is simple: those happy organisms that do not suffer from metabolic disorders, are not prone to obesity and have not accumulated a whole load of free radicals, are quite capable of getting by with the amount of free alpha-lipoic acid that is. But the deterioration of the ecological situation and the rapid degradation of dietary habits in the 21st century brought lipoic acid out of the shadows to the fore.
If you need the help of a substance that is simultaneously an antioxidant, a water- and fat-soluble vitamin, a stimulant of lipid metabolism and, as a bonus, a protector against degenerative brain diseases - discuss with your doctor the possibility of taking an additional alpha-lipoic acid as a food supplement.
Lipoic acid: how much to take
The standard recommendation your doctor can give you for alpha-lipoic acid as a supportive and tonic is 25 to 50 mg per day. But it can vary depending on the purpose of using the vitamin-like substance and the state of health of the "host".
Those who practice increased sports loads for weight loss may be prescribed to "eat" 100-200 mg of alpha-lipoic acid, often as part of complex preparations that also contain L-carnitine (levocarnitine). LA enhances the "fat burning" effect of this natural anabolic.
It should not be forgotten that such supplements are taken in strictly time-limited courses, so as not to "accustom" the body to the constant intake of substances that stimulate metabolism and not to cause a withdrawal syndrome, fraught with the refusal of the body to produce these substances on its own.
Since lipoic acid has the ability to maintain the action of insulin and even partially take over its functions in some processes and reactions, diabetics are often prescribed higher doses, from 400 mg of LA daily.
Famed neuroscientist David Perlmutter, author of The Brain Nutrition Diet, considers 600 mg of alpha lipoic acid to be a must for anyone interested in preventing neurodegenerative diseases and cleaning up the effects of years of fast carbohydrate abuse.
In recent American experiments, alpha-lipoic acid, taken at a dosage of 1, 800 mg per day for 20 weeks, helped to lose 9% of body weight without changing the diet in severely obese patients.
In the event that you decide to spend money on the more progressive and expensive R-isomer of lipoic acid, the dosage should be halved due to its high bioavailability.
It should be noted that for all the usefulness of lipoic acid, an overdose of it can cause indigestion and nausea, increased skin sensitivity and muscle pain, as well as a strong decrease in blood sugar levels with all the accompanying "surprises" such as weakness, dizziness and severe hunger.
Therefore, be sure to consult with your doctor before running to the pharmacy for a huge can of lipoic acid for quick weight loss: a specialist will help determine its dose that is effective and safe for you, your slimness and your health.
During the entire period of taking lipoic acid, alcohol is strictly contraindicated. For best absorption, the supplement should be drunk 60-30 minutes before a meal or at least an hour after a meal.
Noticeable and tangible results of taking the substance appear no earlier than after eight weeks.