Please Scroll Down to See Forums Below 
therookie
New member
Lipoic Acid Update
The Ideal Antioxidant Gets Even Better
Lipoic acid (aka alpha-lipoic acid, thiotic acid) has been variously called the "universal antioxidant" or the "ideal antioxidant," and with good reason. First, lipoic acid acts as a kind of "wild card" antioxidant. This means that it can substitute for other antioxidants, such as vitamins C or E. So if you're not getting enough of these substances in your diet, lipoic acid supplements can make up at least part of the deficit.
While it acts as a powerful antioxidant in its own right, lipoic acid also plays an important role in controlling blood sugar. Evidence is accumulating rapidly that both of these mechanisms may contribute to preventing many of the serious side effects of diabetes, such as nerve damage, pain, blindness, heart disease, and accelerated aging. It may also repair existing nerve damage by encouraging new nerve sprouting.
Recent studies have demonstrated that lipoic acid can also help improve muscle strength and energy levels, protect extracellular LDL cholesterol and intracellular DNA from damage by free radicals, discourage the formation and growth of cancer cells, and possibly even improve memory.
Lipoic acid is also a talented chelator, capable of removing from the blood stream excess iron and copper as well as toxic molecules of cadmium, lead and mercury.1
What Is Lipoic Acid?
Lipoic acid is considered a conditionally essential antioxidant nutrient. This means that although the body makes some of its own lipoic acid, you still need to get most of it through your diet, either from food or supplements. As with other vital substances, like melatonin, DHEA, pregnenolone, estrogen, testosterone, coenzyme Q10, and growth hormone, your body's ability to make lipoic acid declines with age. This means that, as you grow older, you become more dependent on dietary sources. Unfortunately, the best dietary sources of lipoic acid are red meats, which makes supplements a better choice for many people.
Why Lipoic Acid Is Considered the "Ideal Antioxidant"
According to Dr. Lester Packer of the University of California, Berkeley, a leading lipoic acid researcher for many years, the "ideal antioxidant" should meet all of the following criteria:2
Neutralize free radicals
Be absorbed and utilized rapidly and easily by the body
Be highly concentrated in cells, tissues, and extracellular fluid
Be capable of enhancing the effects of other antioxidants
Chelate free metal ions
Promote normal gene expression
Lipoic acid, in combination with its metabolite, dihydrolipoic acid, is the only known antioxidant that meets all these criteria. It might be termed a "broad-spectrum" antioxidant, with actions against a wide range of free radical species, including the superoxide anion, hydroxyl radical, hypochlorous acid, singlet oxygen, hydrogen peroxide, and transition metals (e.g., iron, copper, cadmium, lead, and mercury).
Its unique size (larger than vitamin C, but smaller than vitamin E) gives the lipoic acid molecule an important structural advantage. Unlike any other antioxidant, it can dissolve in both water and fats. This unique ability to go "both ways" gives lipoic acid access to virtually all body systems.2 Its water solubility lets it move throughout the blood and other extracellular fluids, which are mainly composed of water. At the same time, its fat solubility opens the doors to cell membranes and nuclear membranes, which are largely made of lipids, where it can prevent lipid peroxidation.
Besides its ability to scavenge free radicals on its own, lipoic acid also enhances the actions of its fellow antioxidant molecules, such as vitamin E and glutathione, by either substituting for them when they are deficient or by helping recycle them for further use after they have neutralized free-radical molecules.3,4
Lipoic Acid Inhibits Glycation
Lipoic acid is good news for people with diabetes for several reasons: Glycation is a reaction in which blood sugar reacts spontaneously and directly with proteins such as collagen, found in skin, blood vessels, connective tissue, and myelin (which surrounds nerve cells), and other tissues to form cross-linked sugar-damaged proteins.5 It is similar to the process of glycoslyation except that it is not driven by enzymes. Glycation is a serious problem in people with diabetes, because they have higher than optimal levels of blood sugar due to low insulin production (type I, or juvenile-onset diabetes) or high insulin resistance (type II, or adult-onset diabetes). Over many years, glycation accelerates tissue aging and may promote kidney damage, atherosclerosis, and loss of vision, all of which are common diabetic complications.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A powerful antioxidant, lipoic acid also plays an
important role in controlling blood sugar (and
may help prevent) many of the serious side
effects of diabetes, such as nerve damage, pain,
blindness, heart disease, and accelerated aging.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lipoic acid reduces glycation by enhancing the movement of blood sugar into cell interiors.6,7 This is what insulin is supposed to do. But when insulin falls down on the job, lipoic acid can pick up the slack, just as it does when vitamin C or vitamin E levels drop too low. Not only does this action reduce dangerous levels of blood sugar, by increasing the amount of blood sugar available to muscle cells, it also promotes greater energy production by muscles and reduces the amount stored as fat. In one study using laboratory rats with a form of type II diabetes, lipoic acid increased insulin sensitivity and glucose disposal by 30% to 50% and reduced plasma insulin and free fatty acids by 15% to 17%.8
Lipoic Acid Prevents Free-Radical Damage
Diabetics are exceptionally susceptible to free radicals that over time cause cataracts, damage the retina, contribute to atherosclerosis, deprive heart muscle of oxygen and nutrients, and destroy nerves. By scavenging free radicals, lipoic acid, along with other antioxidants, including vitamin E and selenium, can reduce oxidative stress, thus minimizing many of the major complications of diabetes.9-12
Lipoic Acid Improves Neurologic Function
By inhibiting glycation and scavenging free radicals - thus preventing lipid peroxidation in nerve cell membranes - lipoic acid has been shown to slow the progression of diabetic neuropathy, which, if unchecked, can lead to numbness in the feet, infection, and, eventually, the need for amputation.13-16
Recent studies have shown that long-term treatment with lipoic acid can even result in "sprouting," or regeneration, of new nerve fibers to replace those that might have been destroyed by diabetes-related pathologies. In one such study, lipoic acid was found to be superior to recombinant human nerve growth factor (rhNGF) in promoting nerve growth in diabetic rats.17
Lipoic Acid Protects Brain Tissue
Reactive oxygen-free radicals are thought to be involved in a number of types of acute and chronic pathologic conditions in the brain and neural tissue. Lipoic acid may be capable of offering important protection against these damaging free radicals, because it is easily absorbed via the GI tract and crosses the blood-brain barrier. Once in the brain, it can be taken up by brain cells and tissue and reduced to dihydrolipoate, offering both intracellular and extracellular protection.
According to Dr. Lester Packer, this makes lipoic acid "an ideal substance in the treatment of oxidative brain and neural disorders involving free radical processes." Packer observes that lipoic acid provides significant protection in cases of cerebral ischemia-reperfusion, excitotoxic amino acid brain injury, mitochondrial dysfunction, diabetes and diabetic neuropathy, inborn errors of metabolism, and other causes of acute or chronic damage to brain or neural tissue.
Noting that very few pharmacological intervention strategies are currently available for treating stroke and other disorders involving free-radical injury to the brain, Dr. Packer proposes that lipoic acid, in part because it increases intracellular levels of glutathione, may be extremely valuable. "The most important thiol antioxidant, glutathione, cannot be directly administered, whereas alpha-lipoic acid can," he writes. "In vitro, animal and preliminary human studies indicate that alpha-lipoate may be effective in numerous neurodegenerative disorders.18
Lipoic acid's ability to protect brain tissue was clearly demonstrated in a recent German study in which mouse brains were subjected to focal infarct injury by blocking the flow of blood to a specific region. Those animals pretreated with subcutaneous injections of lipoic acid were found to have smaller infarct areas than untreated animals.19
Preventing Cardiovascular Disease
As most people know by now, one of the primary villains in cardiovascular disease is the low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol particle, whose job it is to carry fatty acids, cholesterol, and triglycerides to destinations all over the body. The trouble begins when LDL is damaged by oxidation or free radicals, which begins a process that ends up with the formation of fatty deposits on the inner walls of arteries, reduced blood flow, heart attacks, and strokes.
Antioxidants like vitamin E protect LDL from oxidation and free radicals. The problem is that in the process of protecting LDL, vitamin E itself is consumed. Here's where lipoic acid comes in. First, lipoic acid helps recycle vitamin E molecules, so they can rise and join the antioxidant battle again and again. Second, lipoic acid itself provides antioxidant protection for LDL.
Studies in laboratory animals have shown that lipoic acid reduces blood cholesterol by 40% and LDL levels by 42%. This results in a 72% increase in the amount of oxygen reaching the heart muscle and a 128% increase in oxygen reaching the liver.5
The Ideal Antioxidant Gets Even Better
Lipoic acid (aka alpha-lipoic acid, thiotic acid) has been variously called the "universal antioxidant" or the "ideal antioxidant," and with good reason. First, lipoic acid acts as a kind of "wild card" antioxidant. This means that it can substitute for other antioxidants, such as vitamins C or E. So if you're not getting enough of these substances in your diet, lipoic acid supplements can make up at least part of the deficit.
While it acts as a powerful antioxidant in its own right, lipoic acid also plays an important role in controlling blood sugar. Evidence is accumulating rapidly that both of these mechanisms may contribute to preventing many of the serious side effects of diabetes, such as nerve damage, pain, blindness, heart disease, and accelerated aging. It may also repair existing nerve damage by encouraging new nerve sprouting.
Recent studies have demonstrated that lipoic acid can also help improve muscle strength and energy levels, protect extracellular LDL cholesterol and intracellular DNA from damage by free radicals, discourage the formation and growth of cancer cells, and possibly even improve memory.
Lipoic acid is also a talented chelator, capable of removing from the blood stream excess iron and copper as well as toxic molecules of cadmium, lead and mercury.1
What Is Lipoic Acid?
Lipoic acid is considered a conditionally essential antioxidant nutrient. This means that although the body makes some of its own lipoic acid, you still need to get most of it through your diet, either from food or supplements. As with other vital substances, like melatonin, DHEA, pregnenolone, estrogen, testosterone, coenzyme Q10, and growth hormone, your body's ability to make lipoic acid declines with age. This means that, as you grow older, you become more dependent on dietary sources. Unfortunately, the best dietary sources of lipoic acid are red meats, which makes supplements a better choice for many people.
Why Lipoic Acid Is Considered the "Ideal Antioxidant"
According to Dr. Lester Packer of the University of California, Berkeley, a leading lipoic acid researcher for many years, the "ideal antioxidant" should meet all of the following criteria:2
Neutralize free radicals
Be absorbed and utilized rapidly and easily by the body
Be highly concentrated in cells, tissues, and extracellular fluid
Be capable of enhancing the effects of other antioxidants
Chelate free metal ions
Promote normal gene expression
Lipoic acid, in combination with its metabolite, dihydrolipoic acid, is the only known antioxidant that meets all these criteria. It might be termed a "broad-spectrum" antioxidant, with actions against a wide range of free radical species, including the superoxide anion, hydroxyl radical, hypochlorous acid, singlet oxygen, hydrogen peroxide, and transition metals (e.g., iron, copper, cadmium, lead, and mercury).
Its unique size (larger than vitamin C, but smaller than vitamin E) gives the lipoic acid molecule an important structural advantage. Unlike any other antioxidant, it can dissolve in both water and fats. This unique ability to go "both ways" gives lipoic acid access to virtually all body systems.2 Its water solubility lets it move throughout the blood and other extracellular fluids, which are mainly composed of water. At the same time, its fat solubility opens the doors to cell membranes and nuclear membranes, which are largely made of lipids, where it can prevent lipid peroxidation.
Besides its ability to scavenge free radicals on its own, lipoic acid also enhances the actions of its fellow antioxidant molecules, such as vitamin E and glutathione, by either substituting for them when they are deficient or by helping recycle them for further use after they have neutralized free-radical molecules.3,4
Lipoic Acid Inhibits Glycation
Lipoic acid is good news for people with diabetes for several reasons: Glycation is a reaction in which blood sugar reacts spontaneously and directly with proteins such as collagen, found in skin, blood vessels, connective tissue, and myelin (which surrounds nerve cells), and other tissues to form cross-linked sugar-damaged proteins.5 It is similar to the process of glycoslyation except that it is not driven by enzymes. Glycation is a serious problem in people with diabetes, because they have higher than optimal levels of blood sugar due to low insulin production (type I, or juvenile-onset diabetes) or high insulin resistance (type II, or adult-onset diabetes). Over many years, glycation accelerates tissue aging and may promote kidney damage, atherosclerosis, and loss of vision, all of which are common diabetic complications.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A powerful antioxidant, lipoic acid also plays an
important role in controlling blood sugar (and
may help prevent) many of the serious side
effects of diabetes, such as nerve damage, pain,
blindness, heart disease, and accelerated aging.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lipoic acid reduces glycation by enhancing the movement of blood sugar into cell interiors.6,7 This is what insulin is supposed to do. But when insulin falls down on the job, lipoic acid can pick up the slack, just as it does when vitamin C or vitamin E levels drop too low. Not only does this action reduce dangerous levels of blood sugar, by increasing the amount of blood sugar available to muscle cells, it also promotes greater energy production by muscles and reduces the amount stored as fat. In one study using laboratory rats with a form of type II diabetes, lipoic acid increased insulin sensitivity and glucose disposal by 30% to 50% and reduced plasma insulin and free fatty acids by 15% to 17%.8
Lipoic Acid Prevents Free-Radical Damage
Diabetics are exceptionally susceptible to free radicals that over time cause cataracts, damage the retina, contribute to atherosclerosis, deprive heart muscle of oxygen and nutrients, and destroy nerves. By scavenging free radicals, lipoic acid, along with other antioxidants, including vitamin E and selenium, can reduce oxidative stress, thus minimizing many of the major complications of diabetes.9-12
Lipoic Acid Improves Neurologic Function
By inhibiting glycation and scavenging free radicals - thus preventing lipid peroxidation in nerve cell membranes - lipoic acid has been shown to slow the progression of diabetic neuropathy, which, if unchecked, can lead to numbness in the feet, infection, and, eventually, the need for amputation.13-16
Recent studies have shown that long-term treatment with lipoic acid can even result in "sprouting," or regeneration, of new nerve fibers to replace those that might have been destroyed by diabetes-related pathologies. In one such study, lipoic acid was found to be superior to recombinant human nerve growth factor (rhNGF) in promoting nerve growth in diabetic rats.17
Lipoic Acid Protects Brain Tissue
Reactive oxygen-free radicals are thought to be involved in a number of types of acute and chronic pathologic conditions in the brain and neural tissue. Lipoic acid may be capable of offering important protection against these damaging free radicals, because it is easily absorbed via the GI tract and crosses the blood-brain barrier. Once in the brain, it can be taken up by brain cells and tissue and reduced to dihydrolipoate, offering both intracellular and extracellular protection.
According to Dr. Lester Packer, this makes lipoic acid "an ideal substance in the treatment of oxidative brain and neural disorders involving free radical processes." Packer observes that lipoic acid provides significant protection in cases of cerebral ischemia-reperfusion, excitotoxic amino acid brain injury, mitochondrial dysfunction, diabetes and diabetic neuropathy, inborn errors of metabolism, and other causes of acute or chronic damage to brain or neural tissue.
Noting that very few pharmacological intervention strategies are currently available for treating stroke and other disorders involving free-radical injury to the brain, Dr. Packer proposes that lipoic acid, in part because it increases intracellular levels of glutathione, may be extremely valuable. "The most important thiol antioxidant, glutathione, cannot be directly administered, whereas alpha-lipoic acid can," he writes. "In vitro, animal and preliminary human studies indicate that alpha-lipoate may be effective in numerous neurodegenerative disorders.18
Lipoic acid's ability to protect brain tissue was clearly demonstrated in a recent German study in which mouse brains were subjected to focal infarct injury by blocking the flow of blood to a specific region. Those animals pretreated with subcutaneous injections of lipoic acid were found to have smaller infarct areas than untreated animals.19
Preventing Cardiovascular Disease
As most people know by now, one of the primary villains in cardiovascular disease is the low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol particle, whose job it is to carry fatty acids, cholesterol, and triglycerides to destinations all over the body. The trouble begins when LDL is damaged by oxidation or free radicals, which begins a process that ends up with the formation of fatty deposits on the inner walls of arteries, reduced blood flow, heart attacks, and strokes.
Antioxidants like vitamin E protect LDL from oxidation and free radicals. The problem is that in the process of protecting LDL, vitamin E itself is consumed. Here's where lipoic acid comes in. First, lipoic acid helps recycle vitamin E molecules, so they can rise and join the antioxidant battle again and again. Second, lipoic acid itself provides antioxidant protection for LDL.
Studies in laboratory animals have shown that lipoic acid reduces blood cholesterol by 40% and LDL levels by 42%. This results in a 72% increase in the amount of oxygen reaching the heart muscle and a 128% increase in oxygen reaching the liver.5
