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| Alternative Names: Thiotic Acid or Thioctic Acid. Only recently has its therapeutic potential been realized. Lipoic acid is considered a conditionally vital antioxidant nutrient. The supplemental use of lipoic acid is expected to have huge impacts on health in the future. Almost any portion of the body can use increased levels of lipoic acid. Source Alpha Lipoic Acid can be found in potatoes, carrots, broccoli, yeast, beets, yams and kohlrabi, and is also abundant in red meat. It is also supplied in 25, 50, 100, and 200mg capsules. This property has made it a perfect electron transporter for both oxidized ascorbic acid (water-soluble) and vitamin E (fat-soluble); it is easily absorbed and transported across cell membranes. A recent study showed that when lipoic acid was missing, other antioxidants did not interact well, thereby reducing their ability to protect cells. [Packer, L., et al. "Alpha-lipoic acid as a biological antioxidant," Free Radical Biol & Med. 19(2): pp.227-50, 1995]. Lipoic acid contains two thiol (sulfur) groups which allows it to reduce oxidized glutathione. Through both of these mechanisms, it may help prevent the negative effects of having an even slightly elevated blood sugar causing some of the serious side-effects of diabetes (nerve damage, pain, blindness, heart disease and accelerated aging). It is medically approved in Germany for treating adult-onset type II diabetes and its complications. Ironically, the research that demonstrated its increased blood sugar utilization was done in the United States. Because of its unique characteristics ALA is likely to have therapeutic application in a wide range of additional clinical conditions. Lipoic acid is used therapeutically for a variety of conditions including chemical hypersensitivity syndrome, heavy metal toxicity, diabetic neuropathy, chronic aggressive hepatitis, elevated liver enzymes and liver toxicity. The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) considers α-lipoic acid to be the only approved antidote for mushroom (Amanita) poisoning (although milk thistle extracts are a much more proven natural product for this use). While some human studies involve doses as high as 1,000mg daily, 100mg is sufficient to obtain the antioxidant effects in most cases. |
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