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Do you have unexplained weight loss, brittle bones (osteoporosis), difficulty sleeping, and muscle weakness?
If so, you may be suffering from hyperthyroidism, a serious medical condition characterized by an overactive thyroid gland. One of the most feared complications of undiagnosed and untreated hyperthyroidism is the dreaded thyroid storm—a medical emergency characterized by a racing heart beat and sky-high blood pressure.
Benefits: - Fights against Diabetes
- Thyroid Disease
- Helps Prevent Cognitive Decline
- Keeps Cardiovascular Disease in check
- Support for Energy, Muscle Recovery and Weight Loss
The powerful synergistic abilities of lipoic acid and acetyl-l-carnitine to significantly combat aging.
Together, these two nutrients are shown to help combat diabetes, maintain proper cognitive function, support heart health, support energy production, protect the body from radiation and chemical toxins, and maintain immunity.
Alpha Lipoic Acid & Acetyl-L-Carnitine go straight to the root of the problem of diabetes to control blood sugar levels. One recent study found that ALA increased glucose uptake from 40% (approximately the same amount as insulin) up to an impressive 300% (in insulin resistant muscles) in obese diabetic mice.1 Leading antioxidant authority Lester Packer2 notes that ALA works against insulin resistance by increasing the permeability of cell membranes, which is decreased by hyperglycemia and prevents uptake of glucose.
One side effect of high sugar levels is damage to the nervous system, called neuropathy. Packer claims ALA can prevent or slow neuropathy experienced by up to 70% of diabetics5 and it has been used in Germany for over 30 years for this application. ALA and evening primrose oil were found to improve blood flow and nerve function by lowering blood lipid risk factors in a recent study.6 ALA improves circulation to the sciatic nerve, which is crucial for nerve function but is reduced in neuropathy by impaired acetylcholine-mediated vascular relaxation and accumulation of superoxide radicals.7 ALA provides 85% protection against the 31% reduction in maximum endothelium relaxation to acetylcholine that occurs in diabetes by improving nitric oxide levels, vasodilation and cervical ganglion blood flow.8
High sugar levels can cause extensive damage to other body systems as well. For example, people with diabetes often suffer from a high incidence of eye cataracts (free radical damage to the non renewable proteins of the eye lens) since the cells of the eye lens are very susceptible to glucose damage. Eye lens cells use slower anaerobic (without oxygen) metabolism as transparent structures without mitochondria which puts them at greater risk for free radical damage. Fortunately, ALA can help this condition. Packer and his team suggest that about 60% of diabetes related cataracts can be prevented with ALA.12 ALA works by recharging levels of the potent antioxidant glutathione, which is essential for protecting the eye lens. ALA can also help protect other organs from sugar damage. A recent study found that long term ALA supplementation in rats (30 milligrams per kilogram of body weight per day) prevented kidney injury (depletion of glutathione and accumulation of malondialdehyde) due to high blood sugar levels in people with diabetes.13
Preventing Cognitive Decline
Besides diabetes the other frontline application of ALA, ALC and carnosine has been in preventing disorders of cognitive decline.
Chemical messengers like neurotransmitters are vital to maintaining cognitive function yet often decline with age. Fortunately, a new study shows that ALC improves synthesis of neurotransmitters such as acetylcholine and uptake of choline, both of which increases learning capacity (maze learning was used in this study).18 ALC improves Alzheimer’s by helping to maintain brain energy production, phospholipid metabolism and acetylcoenzyme A levels, the latter being used by the body to re-synthesize acetylcholine.19 Degenerative ataxias are also slowed by ALC due to improved mitochondrial energy production, synthesis of acetylcholine, and antioxidant metabolism.20 ALA also controls excitotoxicity (a condition of excess glutamate, the main excitatory neurotransmitter) and improves survival in animal models of Huntington’s disease.21
CAUTION: Do not exceed recommended dose. Pregnant or nursing mothers, children under 18, and individuals with a known medical condition should consult a physician before using this or any dietary supplement.
References:
1. Liu J, et al. Memory loss in old rats is associated with brain mitochondrial decay and RNA/DNA oxidation: partial reversal by feeding aceyl-l-carnitine and/or R-alpha- lipoic acid. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2002 Feb 19;99(4):2356-61.
2. Hagen TM, et al. Feeding acetyl-l-carntine and lipoic acid to old rats significantly improves the metabolic function while decreasing oxidative stress. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2002 Feb 19;99(4):1870-5.
3. Giancaterini A, et al. Acetyl-L-carnitine infusion increases glucose disposal in type 2 diabetic patients. Metabolism 2000 Jun;49(6):704-8. 5. Packer L, et al. Molecular aspects of lipoic acid in the prevention of diabetes complications. Nutrition 2001 Oct;17(10):888-95.
6. Ford I, et al. The effects of treatment with alpha-lipoic acid or evening primrose oil on vascular hemostatic and lipid risk factors, blood flow, and peripheral nerve conduction in the streptozotocin-diabetic rat. Metabolism 2001 Aug;50(8):868-75.
7. Coppey LJ, et al. Effect of antioxidant treatment of streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats on endoneurial blood flow, motor nerve conduction velocity and vascular reactivity of epineurial arterioles of the sciatic nerve. Diabetes 2001 Aug;50(8):1927-37.
8. Cameron NE, et al. Effect of alpha-lipoic acid on vascular responses and nociception in diabetic rats. Free Radic Biol Med 2001 Jul 1;31(1):125-35.
9. Heitzer T, et al. Beneficial effects of alpha-lipoic acid and ascorbic acid on endothelium-dependent, nitric oxide-mediated vasodilation in diabetic patients: relation to parameters of oxidative stress. Free Radic Biol Med 2001 Jul 1;31(1):53-61.
12. Packer Let al. Molecular aspects of lipoic acid in the prevention of diabetes complications. Nutrition 2001 Oct;17(10):888-95.
13. Melhem MF, et al. Alpha-lipoic acid attenuates hyperglycemia and prevents glomerular mesangial matrix expansion in diabetes. J Am Soc Nephrol 2002 Jan;13(1):108-16.
18. Ando S, et al. Enhancement of learning capacity and cholinergic synaptic function by carnitine in aging rats. J Neurosci Res 2001 Oct 15;66(2):266-71.
19. Pettegrew JW, et al. Acetyl-L-carnitine physical-chemical, metabolic, and therapeutic properties: relevance for its mode of action in Alzheimer’s disease and geriatric depression. Mol Psychiatry 2000 Nov;5(6):616-32.
20. Sorbi S, et al. Double-blind, crossover, placebo-controlled clinical trial with L-acetylcarnitine in patients with degenerative cerebellar ataxia. Clin Neuropharmacol 2000 Mar-Apr;23(2):114-8.
21. Andreassen OA, et al. Lipoic acid improves survival in transgenic mouse models of Huntington’s disease. Neuroreport 2001 Oct 29;12(15):3371-3.  |
