Alpha Lipoic Acid

Alpha lipoic acid is a fatty acid found naturally inside every cell in the body. It's needed by the body to produce the energy for our body's normal functions. Alpha lipoic acid converts glucose into energy.
Alpha Lipoic Acid is also a poweful anti-oxidant.

Lipoic acid is easily absorbed by cell membranes. This means that it can cross the blood-brain barrier; therfore, it can have a protective effect against neurological and cognitive diseases. Moreover, it can work in both water-soluble and fat-soluble enviroments in the body, so that it can access easily to all parts of body cells and neutralize damaging free radicals.

According to free radical theory of aging, every second free radicals cause oxidative damage that is believed to be the main responsible for aging and degenerative diseases linked to aging (such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, immune-system decline, brain dysfunction, and cataracts).

So far, lipoic acid has been found to be helpful to:

• improve insuline sensitivity
• prevent high blood pressure and high blood glucose development
• decrease body fat
• protect brain cells from oxidative stress
• prevent cataract formation
• inhibit cancer cell proliferation
• rejuvenate skin.

Lately, lipoic acid has become very popular in the cosmetic field, where it's employed in anti-aging treatments. A study was conducted on 33 women of average age of 54 years to test the effectiveness of a gel containing 5% lipoic acid on phtoaging damaged skin cmompared to a placebo. The alpha lipoic acid gel and placebo were applied twice daily for 12 weeks. At the end, it appeared evident that lipoic acid did improve skin appearance.




References:

Ames BN, Shigenaga MK, Hagen TM. Oxidants, antioxidants, and the degenerative diseases of aging. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 1993 Sep 1;90(17):7915-22.
Miquel J. Can antioxidant diet supplementation protect against age-related mitochondrial damage? Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2002
Apr;959:508-16.
Liu J, Head E, Gharib AM, Yuan W, et al. Memory loss in old rats is associated with brain mitochondrial decay and RNA/DNA oxidation: partial reversal by feeding acetyl-L-carnitine and/or R-alpha -lipoic acid. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2002 Feb 19;99 (4):2356-61.
Ceriello A. New insights on oxidative stress and diabetic complications may lead to a “causal” antioxidant therapy. Diabetes Care. 2003 May;26(5):1589-96.
Liu J, Killilea D, Ames BN. Age-associated mitochondrial oxidative decay: Improvement of carnitine acetyltransferase























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