Natural Factors Alpha-Lipoic Acid 600mg With B-1 & B-2 - 60 V-Caps

ALPHA LIPOIC ACID

Alpha lipoic acid is involved in energy production. Lipoic acid works together with vitamin E and vitamin C to protect the entire cell from oxidative stress. As an antioxidant it is a very small molecule that is efficiently absorbed and easily crosses cell membranes. Alpha lipoic acid is both fat and water soluble, so it can quench free radicals both inside and outside the cell. It also directly recycles vitamins C and glutathione and indirectly recycles vitamin E.

Alpha lipoic acid is an approved drug in Germany for the treatment of diabetic neuropathy (nerve disease). Several double-blind studies have shown lipoic acid supplementation (300 to 600 mg daily) does improve diabetic neuropathy.

What Is Dual Solubility?

ALA is often referred to as having dual solubility, making it one of the most versatile antioxidants because it is both fat and water-soluble. This means that it can move into all areas of the body to deactivate harmful free radicals. Alpha lipoic acid's antioxidant properties neutralize free radicals and therefore reduce damage to tissues all over the body, including those in the eye, liver, vessels and nerves.

ALA & Your Health

Alpha lipoic acid improves the functioning of the liver, the body's chief detoxifying organ. It recycles other antioxidants, like coenzyme Q10, glutathione, vitamin E and vitamin C, all of which are used by the liver to render toxins and metabolic byproducts harmless. Alpha lipoic acid reduces free radical damage in vessels and nerves. For example diabetics often suffer from heart disease and nerve damage because the excess sugar in the blood changes into a damaging agent. Studies show improvement in nerve conduction and arterial flow when diabetics use alpha lipoic acid. This supplement also increases the uptake of sugar into cells, thus reducing blood sugar levels. Alpha lipoic acid has anti-aging properties because as an antioxidant it protects the body against environmental pollutants other substances that and lead to aging. As you can see alpha lipoic acid is an important supplement for use in many different conditions and as a preventative therapy for all individuals.

Alpha lipoic acid is produced by the body in small amounts that are generally inadequate due to the great amount of stress our bodies face each day. It can be found in formulas for enhancing liver health, preventing age related disease and balancing blood sugar. It is often combined with other antioxidants. Other names for alpha lipoic acid are alpha-lipoate and thioctic acid.

WHAT IS AN ANTIOXIDANT

Antioxidants are nutrients that help to protect your body from the damage caused by free radicals - the toxic molecules that play a role in the development of diseases from cataracts, heart disease and arthritis. While our bodies produce some of these free radicals as the "garbage" from some its natural processes, we are now exposed to more and more of them from our environment than ever before.

The chemical pollution of our air and water now leave us exposed to very powerful free radicals that we have never been exposed to in the past. In combination with the nutrient depletion of our foods from modern chemical agriculture, we now also get less of the important nutrients from it that would normally help our immune systems fight these chemical invaders. This is why many nutritional doctors recommend their patients take supplements of antioxidants.

How Antioxidants Protect Your Cells:

When a free radical enters your body, it is attracted to the cells that make up the different tissues of it just like a magnet to metal. It then bonds to parts of the cell, which causes it to deteriorate in a way similar to that which oxygen causes metal to rust. If the cell gets damaged enough, it dies. Worse yet, if the cell DNA is damaged and then the cell reproduces, it reproduces abnormally as a result. When this happens to our skin, we get wrinkles; when it happens to our oxygen carrying blood vessels, we get hardening of the arteries; when it happens to our joints, we get arthritis; in some people -if it happens enough -they may even get cell growths.

Antioxidants work by bonding with the free radical before it can bond to the cells of your body, thus neutralizing it. This now harmless substance is then deconstructed or merely excreted.