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 attention to lipoic acid: it promotes weight loss, gives the body extra energy, protects the brain and, perhaps, is the key that will open the door. for humanity in the land of eternal youth. . . Intrigued?
Lipoic acid is known to increase the effectiveness of weight loss exercises from time to time. How else can it help the body?
Lipoic Acid: Cleanser or Special Forces?
Lipoic acid, also known as LA, is also thioctic acid, it is also lipamide, it is also vitamin N which often appears under the name of a semi-vitamin or vitamin-like substance.
The fact that LA is synthesized by the human body prevented it from becoming a "complete" vitamin. It is also interesting that lipoic acid is soluble in both fat and water, while its other counterparts in "vitamin activity" can boast only of a comfortable habitat.
Lipoic acid is the real Figaro: it's here, it's there. By accompanying enzymatic reactions in the mitochondria, it helps to make the process of receiving energy from the cells as efficient as possible.
Lipoic acid molecules - miniature recycling plants. The substance "collects" the decomposition products of amino acids and allows you to squeeze from them the absolute maximum of substances needed by our body, and then removes all the "waste rock" from the body.
In recent years, doctors have begun to seriously talk about lipoic acid as the next elixir of eternal youth, as it was this substance that during experiments proved its ability to prevent DNA damage, which is known to be the real cause ofcellular aging and loss of vital functions.
Lipoic acid and weight loss: why it works
Lipoic acid is able to "soften" the forces that make us gain weight and retain excess fat. Its activity in this quality is multifaceted. So when you lose 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 tendency of the liver 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 flow" of the diet, chemical changes occur in the body (most pronounced when you follow a protein diet, paleo or keto, which give the fastest result and the most obvious side effects), and with increasing strength andcardio exercises, microtraumas occur in muscles.
Because of this, oxidative processes intensify in the body, causing an "increase" in the formation of free radicals, damaged molecules.
So lipoic acid is able not only to neutralize them, but also to absorb them, and then - to recover and rush back 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 tendency: lipoic acid is able to cooperate with other substances that fight free radicals (vitamins C and E, as well as glutathione) and even improve the action of its allies.
Is alpha lipoic acid the first?
For the first time, researchers were able to extract lipoic acid from calf liver cells in the 1950s. Therefore, alpha-lipoic acid for weight loss began its "medical career" as a hepatoprotector. However, scientists began to discover more and more new properties of an amazing substance and, in addition, learned to synthesize it quite qualitatively under laboratory conditions.
Today chemists produce for different purposes two chemically "mirror-like" variants of lipoic acid - R ("right isomer") and S ("left isomer"). There are some changes in their molecular composition, and the human body efficiently and almost completely assimilates only type R of lipoic acid.
The latest methods make it possible to achieve the greatest purity of the herb and a high concentration of R-lipoic acid. It is clear that such a substance has great potential for all the natural properties in LA; in addition, it has been experimentally proven to be the R-isomer that increases cell sensitivity to insulin. However, producing 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 most affordable alpha-lipoic acid, in which the "right isomer" and the "left isomer" are in equal proportions.
Products containing natural lipoic acid
Underwear: kidneys, heart, liver;
Vegetables: broccoli, spinach, Brussels sprouts, peas, tomatoes;
Other sources: beer yeast, brown rice.
When your strength is not enough
Many living organisms (including humans) are able to synthesize a certain amount of lipoic acid on their own - this explains the fact that a high concentration of this beneficial substance is found in the internal organs of animals.
Sadly, you do not have to rely entirely on LA food resources: as the American functional nutritionist Dr. explains. in whose company lipoic acid travels through the gastrointestinal tract in the form of food. Therefore, from a dinner rich in ALA, we will only get crumbs of valuable substance.
The question arises: if humans are able to produce only a modest amount of lipoic acid and with food can take even less, as we have lived so far, 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 withstanding the amount of free alpha-lipoic acid. But the deteriorating ecological situation and the rapid degradation of dietary habits in the 21st century brought lipoic acid out of the shadows.
If you need the help of a substance that is both 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 takingof an alpha-lipoic acid supplement as a dietary supplement.
Lipoic acid: enough to take
The standard recommendation your doctor may give you for alpha-lipoic acid as a supportive and tonic medicine is 25 to 50 mg per day. But it can vary depending on the purpose of using the vitamin-like substance and the "host"'s health status.
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 rejection of the body. to produce these substances themselves.
Because lipoic acid has the ability to maintain the action of insulin and even partially take over its functions in certain processes and reactions, diabetics are often prescribed higher doses, from 400 mg LA per day.
Renowned neuroscientist David Perlmutter, author of The Brain Nutrition Diet, believes that 600 mg of alpha lipoic acid is a must for anyone interested in preventing neurodegenerative diseases and clearing up the effects of rapid carbohydrate abuse for years. .
In recent American experiments, alpha-lipoic acid, taken at a dose of 1800 mg per day for 20 weeks, helped lose 9% of body weight without changing the diet of patients with severe obesity.
In case you decide to spend money on the most progressive and expensive R-isomer of lipoic acid, the dose should be halved due to its high bioavailability.
It should be noted that despite the benefits of lipoic acid, its overdose can cause indigestion and vomiting, increased skin sensitivity and muscle pain, as well as a strong decrease in blood sugar level with all the accompanying "surprises" as weakness, dizziness. and strong hunger.
Therefore, be sure to consult your doctor before running to the pharmacy for a large can of lipoic acid for rapid weight loss: a specialist will help determine its effective and safe dose for you, weakness andyour health.
Throughout the period of taking lipoic acid, alcohol is strictly contraindicated. For best absorption, the supplement should be taken 60-30 minutes before a meal or at least an hour after a meal.
Visible and tangible results of taking the substance appear no earlier than after eight weeks.