Description
Doctor's Best Alpha Lipoic Acid
Suitable for vegetarians
- Science-based nutrition
- Dietary supplement
- Defends against free radicals*
- Recycles antioxidant nutrients such as vitamin C and vitamin E*
- Helps maintain healthy blood sugar level when used as part of the diet*
Alpha-lipoic acid (ALA, thioctic acid) is a naturally occurring vitamin-like nutrient that has been intensely investigated as a therapeutic agent for a variety of conditions involving the body’s nervous, cardiovascular, immune, and detoxification systems. It exists as two enantiomers or stereoisomers: R-(+)-lipoic acid (RLA) and S-(-)-lipoic acid (SLA). It is produced in small amounts in the liver and other body tissues, where it is needed by enzymes to catalyze numerous essential chemical reactions in the body. For instance, ALA is essential inside the mitochondria of cells, where it is needed to metabolize glucose and direct calories into energy production.
ALA is considered to be a multimodal supplement because, aside from its enzymatic role in energy production, it acts by multiple mechanisms and displays diverse pharmacologic and antioxidant properties. Recently discovered is ALA’s ability to switch the regulation of several genes linked to cell survival, inflammation and oxidative stress. So in addition to its enzymatic role, ALA is a powerful antioxidant and performs a number of other vital functions related to its ability to modify the expression of various genes. ALA is therefore not so much a direct benefit to cells, but rather an indirect aid that "kick starts" declining function in cells, helping them recover the functions that came more easily and naturally in the young.
Suggested adult use: Take one or two capsules daily, or as recommended by a nutritionally-informed physician. Take with or without food.
Other Ingredients: Modified cellulose (vegetarian capsule), magnesium silicate, silicon dioxide, rice powder.
Contains nothing other than listed ingredients.
Supports the body’s defense against free radicals*
Recycles antioxidant nutrients such as Vitamin C and Vitamin E*
An ideal antioxidant would have the ability to quench a wide variety of free radicals, to support the functioning of other antioxidants, to bind or “chelate” metal ions that can generate free radicals, to function in watery and fatty environments, and to be present in tissues, cells, and extracellular spaces. Having exceeded these criteria, Lipoic Acid was termed the “universal antioxidant.”5
As a team, LA and DHLA come close to the ideal, for the following reasons:
1) LA is easily absorbed when consumed orally.
2) LA is readily converted to DHLA in various tissues.
3) As a pair, LA and DHLA neutralize superoxide, hydroxyl, peroxyl, and hypochlorus radicals.
4) LA and DHLA form stable complexes with metal ions such as iron, manganese, copper and zinc ions.
5) LA and DHLA scavenge free radicals in both fatty and watery environments.
6) DHLA recycles other important antioxidants.
Within the cell, antioxidants work as a team to keep free radicals from damaging cell structures. In order to neutralize a free radical, an antioxidant such as vitamin C must give up an electron, which means it becomes oxidized. Before it can function as an antioxidant once again, it must be regenerated back to its "reduced" form by gaining an electron to replace the donated electron. For this, it needs the help of other antioxidants. Vitamin C, vitamin E, and glutathione are key antioxidants that can be generated by cycling between their oxidized and reduced forms. This is necessary to maintain the balance between oxidation and its reverse––the neutralization of free radicals by antioxidants.
DHLA is an essential component in the interaction between these antioxidants, as well as being able to recycle coenzyme Q (CoQ). Studies show that addition of alpha-lipoic acid to liver tissues results in increased vitamin C levels. It has been found that DHLA is responsible for regenerating vitamin C, which in turn regenerates vitamin E.8 DHLA also converts glutathione from its oxidized form back into its free radical scavenging reduced form.8, 9 The LA/DHLA pair is thus vital for answering "oxidative stress," which occurs when the balance is tipped in favor of oxidation in cells.10 DHLA helps preserve antioxidants in both the watery cell interior and the fatty structure of cell membranes.5 Evidence from animal studies suggests the free radical-scavenging activity of DHLA in the mammalian brain.11
Helps maintain healthy glucose metabolism*
Alpha-lipoic acid is a key factor in the cellular process that metabolizes glucose for energy production. Researchers have noted that for a non-hormonal compound, LA is remarkable for its effect on carbohydrate metabolism—especially the R-lipoic form of alpha-lipoic acid. For example, in vitro studies have shown the ability of RLA to promote rapid uptake of glucose in muscle and fat cells.12, 13 The impact of lipoic acid administration in promoting healthy blood sugar metabolism is also evidenced in numerous animal and human studies.14, 15 In one rat study, the known benefit of exercise on glucose uptake was complimented by 30 mg of RLA per kg body weight for 2 weeks. Glucose uptake into muscle increased by 45% in sedentary rats given RLA (compared to rats not receiving RLA); when the rats combined treadmill exercise with the RLA administration, glucose uptake jumped to 124% (compared to only 68% in rats given exercise but no RLA).16 After helping to initially increase glucose uptake into cells, RLA subsequently increases glucose utilization via activation of an enzyme complex—called the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex—involved in energy production inside the mitochondria of cells.17 LA is cited especially for its ability to reduce oxidative stress in the context of the important relationship between healthy blood sugar levels and vascular health.18
