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Use Of Alpha-Lipoic Acid In Weight Loss
Alpha-lipoic acid(ALA) is a powerful antioxidant produced within the body and located in each cell. It assists the body in producing ATP from glucose. ATP (adenosine tri-phosphate) is the utilized in the body as the fundamental energy source and all metabolic activities require it. Antioxidants are substances that attack free radicals. Free radicals are harmful waste products created when the body turns food into energy. Free radicals can damage body cells, decrease the effectiveness of the immune system, and cause cancer. They also damage body organs and are carcinogenic.
ALA has also proven itself effective for weight reduction. ALA is not normally used for rapid weight loss. However, if you use it on a regular basis, it will assist you with weight reduction and provide additional health benefits. It will increase the rate the glucose is taken into your cells and increase your metabolic rate. This will result in energy being consumed more rapidly in your cells and allow less energy to be left over for storage as fat. Furthermore, the enhanced glucose metabolism with resultant decreases in blood sugar levels will certainly help prevent the storage of belly fat. The decrease in fat storage occurs because inadequate glucose uptake results in increased insulin production. Insulin is a highly anabolic hormone, which causes fat storage.
Alpha-lipoic acid also assists with a condition known as autonomic neuropathy, which effects the nerves in the heart and other organs. A clinical study determined that people with autonomic neuropathy, which is very common in diabetics, improved when taking 800mg of alpha-lipoic acid daily, compared to a control group which took a placebo.
Alpha-lipoic acid can lower blood sugar levels, and its ability to kill free radicals may help reduce pain, burning, itching, tingling, and numbness in people who have nerve damage caused by diabetes (called peripheral neuropathy). Europeans have used ALA for the purpose for many years. In a clinical study performed in Europe, 12 subjects with normal blood glucose tolerance constituted a control group. At the end of the treatment period, insulin sensitivity of diabetic patients was significantly increased: short-term oral alpha-lipoic acid treatment increases peripheral insulin sensitivity in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.
It is helpful to note that alpha-lipoic acid is different that alpha linolenic acid, which is an omega-3 fatty acid. These two are frequently confused because both can be called ALA.
Unlike other antioxidants, alpha-lipoic acid is both fat and water soluble. This allows it to be effective in all body spaces. Another benefit of ALA is that it helps regenerate other anti-oxidants after they are depleted subsequent to attacking free radicals. Researchers think that ALA works with vitamins C, E, and glutathione to recycle them when they are depleted.
Many studies have been conducted confirming the health benefits of alpha-lipoic acid, including recent findings that ALA offers neuroprotective and possibly cognitive enhancing effects. ALA is also useful as a supplement in our quest for quick weight loss.
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