Doctor’s Best Alpha Lipoic Acid

• Alpha-lipoic acid is a sulfur-containing fatty acid that performs vitamin-like roles in the body.
• It functions as a coenzyme in carbohydrate metabolism and is required for the synthesis of acetyl CoA, a key metabolite in the cellular process that converts glucose (blood sugar) into energy.
• Because the body produces alpha-lipoic acid itself, it is not classified as a true vitamin. But as with other non-essential nutrients, internal production may not always be optimal.
• Thanks to the high metabolic rate, the brain is particularly sensitive to oxidative stress. Since alpha-lipoic acid interrupts cellular oxidation processes in both oxidized and reduced form, it plays a modulating role in the brain and nervous system.
• The ideal antioxidant should have the ability to quench a wide range of free radicals, support the functioning of other antioxidants, bind or “chelate” metal ions that can create free radicals, function in the water and fat environment in tissues, cells and extracellular spaces.
• Alpha-lipoic acid has been described as a “universal antioxidant”. As we age, our ability to synthesize alpha-lipoic acid decreases and levels of oxidized proteins that interfere with mitochondrial efficiency increase. Supplementation with alpha-lipoic acid, the “mitochondrial nutrient”, solves this situation.