The benefits of Acetyl-L-Carnitine supplementation

ALC has been shown to:

• Protect the brain from the effects of aging
• Improve performance in normal healthy humans⁷
• Improve cognition by enhancing the production of acetylcholine
• Delay the progression of Alzheimer's Disease and enhance overall performance in some individuals with Alzheimer's Disease⁸-⁹
• Improve cerebral blood flow to the brain¹⁰-¹¹
• Counteract depression in the elderly¹²

We've examined how it's possible to increase mitochondria function with supplementation of Acetyl-L-Carnitine. But since we know that mitochondria are also the source of free radical production, the question remaining is this:

How is it possible to re-energize the mitochondria without increasing free radical production?

Many of the damaging free radicals generated within cells are formed in the mitochondria during energy production. As you restore their energy producing capacity with ALC, a dramatic increase in free radical activity follows.

This increases the amount of damage occurring within the cells and reduces any long-term benefit. Thus, while the amazing properties of ALC are truly a revolution in dietary supplements, the most desired anti-aging strategy would be to restore mitochondria function AND lower the level of free radical production coming from the mitochondria.

Reaping the full benefits of Acetyl-L-Carnitine

Recently, it was discovered that there are some antioxidants that could partially restore mitochondrial function in old animals and decrease free radical production at the same time, even when taken together with ALC. Unfortunately, most of them are synthetic chemicals that aren't safe for human consumption. All of them except one! Luckily this natural antioxidant is very well researched and safe and approved for human consumption.

Lipoic Acid's unique antioxidant and cellular protective properties have been proven to slow down and reverse the aging process.

What is Lipoic Acid?

Lipoic Acid is produced by the body in trace amounts. It's a vitamin-like compound, which is often called the "universal antioxidant". This is because, unlike most other antioxidants that offer protection only for specific water-soluble or fat-soluble environments, Lipoic Acid offers protection in both cellular environments, providing antioxidant protection to all parts of our cells and body.¹³

What's special about Lipoic Acid?

In the body, Lipoic Acid is converted to its reduced form, DihydroLipoic Acid. DihydroLipoic Acid is a powerful antioxidant which makes Lipoic Acid invaluable in recycling or restoring other oxidized forms of antioxidants—including vitamin C, vitamin E, glutathione, and CoQ10—back to their active states. Lipoic Acid also crosses cell membranes and works as an antioxidant in both water and lipid parts of the body, including the brain.¹⁴

Lipoic Acid's antioxidant benefits

Because of Lipoic Acid's unique abilities as a natural, broad-spectrum antioxidant, research into its effects quickly branched out after its development in Germany in the 1970s as a treatment for diabetic complications. For this use Lipoic Acid has been found to be highly effective and is routinely given to diabetics in Europe.

Some of the findings from this extensive research concluded that Lipoic Acid has the potential to:

• Lower body levels of toxic metals, especially mercury.¹⁵
• Help prevent heart disease by protecting LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol) from oxidation by copper.¹⁶
• Promote brain and nerve cell health by stimulating Nerve Growth Factor (NGF).¹⁷

But the most intriguing discovery was Lipoic Acid's anti-aging effects in old animals. Lipoic Acid was also found to:

• Improve memory in aged animals by reversing age-related brain cell receptor defects.¹⁸{19}
• Protect brain cells from damage caused by toxins and chemicals.²⁰
• Recycle CoQ10 back to its antioxidant form in the body. This enhances its antioxidant protection.²¹
• Normalize elevated lipid peroxide levels in aged animals, reducing the risk of oxidation damage, cardiovascular disease, and cancer.²²
• Restore antioxidant protection in old animals to normal, young animal levels.²²

Breakthrough research proves Lipoic Acid has the potential to reverse some of the fundamental signs of aging and arrest degenerative conditions.

As you recall from our earlier discussion, an important factor in the aging process is the deterioration of mitochondrial function. The mitochondria are the powerhouses inside all cells. They produce the energy that enables cells to function, repair, and maintain themselves. As we age, mitochondria start to lose their ability to efficiently generate energy, and since our energy comes from this source within our cells, we begin to lose our energy. Therefore, our remaining mitochondrial function becomes less efficient, and our health begins to suffer.

The most exciting results from recent experiments done on aging animals have shown that Lipoic Acid:

• Improves age-related hearing loss.²³
• Increases tissue levels of nucleic acids and proteins, both of which decrease with aging.²⁴
• Restores mitochondrial and cellular antioxidant protection—which are greatly diminished as a result of aging.²⁵
• Prevents the toxicity of beta-amyloid peptide, a prime culprit in the development of Alzheimer's Disease.²⁶

While decades of research have shown Lipoic Acid to be a "universal antioxidant" with expected beneficial effects, the discoveries that Lipoic Acid can restore numerous biological functions that are diminished with aging are truly unexpected.

If Lipoic Acid is indeed able to help preserve hearing, slow Alzheimer's Disease, restore mitochondrial function, and exert its powerful and unique antioxidant protection throughout the body, just imagine the range of possibilities that this amazing nutrient can offer all of us concerned with maintaining and preserving our health as we age.

The breakthrough discovery of combining two power-packed nutrients...

Lipoic Acid and Acetyl-L-Carnitine:
Mitochondria Superchargers

Inevitably, with independent researchers working on the effects of Acetyl-L-Carnitine and Lipoic Acid, it was only a matter of time before someone would discover that the complementary actions of the two nutrients go hand in hand, making them an ideal supplement to take together.

Just recently, in February 2002, Dr. Bruce Ames and colleagues at the University of California, Berkeley, published a series of groundbreaking studies that show how:

Lipoic Acid and Acetyl-L-Carnitine work together to supercharge our cells' mitochondria…so that we now have the capability to live a long, productive life with energy to spare!

How do Lipoic Acid (LA) and Acetyl-L-Carnitine (ALC) work together?

The first studies to examine this relationship didn't even use the two supplements together. Instead, it looked at the effects of taking them individually. Both ALC and LA seem to work by improving mitochondria function, but they differ in how they do it:

Acetyl-L-Carnitine (ALC) is more potent at restoring mitochondria energy production. The problem is, it doesn't prevent the increase in free radicals that accompanies the energy production. In the long run, this increased free-radical production limits ALC's potential benefits and will cause more damage to the cell and mitochondria.

Lipoic Acid (LA) is better at reducing cellular and mitochondria free radical protection and has been shown to restore antioxidant protection in old animals to the levels found in young animals.

However, scientists were interested in combining ALC and LA to see if this combination would have powerful results. It did—and has now been shown to be a breakthrough anti-aging dietary supplement!

In order to understand how the two supplements work together, it's important to first understand how Lipoic Acid works.

The different forms of Lipoic Acid

Like many dietary supplements, Lipoic Acid exists in different forms. In the body, Lipoic Acid is found only in its "R" form. Because only tiny quantities of Lipoic Acid are found naturally in animals and plants, the form that has always been manufactured, researched and sold is made synthetically and contains equal amounts of the "R" and "S" forms.

Vitamin E is another example of a vitamin that's sold both in a natural form and a synthetic form. While the natural and synthetic forms are mirror images of each other and usually have similar functions in the body, they can differ in their biological actions. For example, it is now known that natural vitamin E is utilized by the body more efficiently than synthetic vitamin E, even though they both have the same antioxidant power. Early on in Lipoic research, it became apparent that the natural and synthetic forms of Lipoic Acid did have different effects in the body.

Think of it this way: you can't fit your right hand into a left-handed glove. If you wore your gloves on the wrong hands, you wouldn't be able to function normally-simply because the gloves wouldn't fit.

The same thing happens in the body. Your body will not accept a left-handed compound to do the job a right-handed one is designed to do, and vice versa. A compound that's the wrong shape cannot work as well in your body as one that's the right shape. And the right shape is the one that the body recognizes and fully utilizes.

Natural Lipoic Acid vs. Synthetic Lipoic Acid

For years, the manufacturers of nutritional supplements and pharmaceuticals have produced a synthetic form of Lipoic Acid. The vast majority of research in the past 30 years has used this synthetic form, and this is the type of Lipoic Acid used as a pharmaceutical in Europe to prevent and treat nerve damage in diabetics.

The synthetic form contains both R and S Lipoic Acid. However it was discovered that in enhancing glucose uptake, all the activity was found only in the natural R form of LA, and the S form could actually INHIBIT glucose uptake.

The synthetic form of LA containing both R and S Lipoic Acid had a beneficial effect, but not as much as the R form alone. Eventually, pure R-Lipoic Acid became available to researchers, and scientists discovered that it is a better form of the nutrient all around, which makes it the logical choice as a dietary supplement. In fact, almost all of the most recent studies on the anti-aging properties of Lipoic Acid and Lipoic Acid/Acetyl-L-Carnitine have used only the R form of Lipoic Acid.

The recent groundbreaking study of combining R-Lipoic Acid and Acetyl-L-Carnitine

In the late 1990s, Dr. Bruce Ames and colleagues at the University of California, Berkeley began examining the effects of combining R-Lipoic Acid and Acetyl-L-Carnitine.

The researchers chose the natural R form of Lipoic Acid for these studies because of previous research showing that it is more effective at promoting energy production, chelating metals, preventing cataract formation, and increasing glucose uptake into cells than synthetic LA. This initial research set the stage for Dr. Ames' team to continue with their groundbreaking studies which showed that the combination of R-Lipoic Acid and Acetyl-L-Carnitine:

1. Could significantly improve mitochondrial function, but at the same time lower oxidative stress and free radical generation ²⁷
2. Could restore age-related dysfunction of a key mitochondria enzyme used in energy production, while lowering free radical damage and improving mitochondria function and energy production ²⁸
3. Improved memory in old rats ²⁹

These studies concluded that the combination of R- Lipoic Acid and Acetyl-L-Carnitine is indeed complementary, raising mitochondria function while lowering free radical production. A true breakthrough in our quest for longevity enhancing nutritional supplements!

Thus, it appears that the combination of R-LA and ALC may be the first nutritional supplement proven to significantly reverse signs of aging on a molecular level. While scientists have many years ahead of themto determine the exact mechanisms of how ALC and LA work their magic, the combination of these nutritional supplements is available today for everyone who wants to keep their dietary supplement program at the cutting edge of nutrition and anti-aging research—for everyone who wants to live long and live better! 

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References

Articles of Interest from Smart Publications Health & Wellness Update

• Restore Mitochondrial Function with Acetyl-L-Carnitine (ALC) and Lipoic Acid
• Resveratrol’s Health Benefits Go Beyond Anti-Aging
• Lipoic Acid and Acetyl-L-Carnitine:  Mitochondria Superchargers!