This appears to be due to the fact that it is a very powerful antioxidant and that it is both water soluble and fat soluble, which provides alpha lipoic acid with the potential to reach many of our body's systems. There has been a recent surge of interest in the possible use of alpha lipoic acid for weight loss; however, few human studies have tested the effectiveness of alpha lipoic acid to date. A new weight loss study published in the American Journal of Medicine and free to download tested the possible weight loss benefits of alpha lipoic acid in 360 obese individuals[1]. For this study, volunteers were first instructed on reducing their caloric intake by about 600 calories/day. After 4 weeks to get used to the diet, study subjects were randomly assigned to receive either placebo pills, 1,200 mg alpha lipoic acid per day, or 1,800 mg alpha lipoic acid per day for 20 weeks. Changes in body weight, waist size, fat mass, and more were assessed at 4-week intervals throughout the 20 weeks of the study. The weight loss researchers reported: Body weight was significantly decreased from the start of the study within 4 weeks in subjects taking either 1,200 or 1,800 mg alpha lipoic acid daily. After 20 weeks, subjects who took 1,800 mg alpha lipoic acid per day and who completed the trial lost about 3% of their body weight on average. In comparison, individuals consuming 1,200 mg alpha lipoic per day lost only about 1.5% of their body weight and individuals taking the placebo pills lost only about 1% of their body weight after 20 weeks. Loss in waist size was substantially greater in the group taking 1,800 mg alpha lipoic acid compared to the group taking the placebo pills. Individuals taking the 1,200 mg alpha lipoic acid dose had an intermediate loss of inches. A similar pattern was also observed for fat mass loss. Additionally, the proportion of volunteers who lost more than 5% of their body weight was greater in the group taking 1,800 mg alpha lipoic acid daily compared to the placebo group. This is a very interesting study that suggests alpha lipoic acid might have promise as an effective weight loss supplement. However, there are a couple of questions that probably need to be explored further before jumping on the alpha lipoic acid bandwagon. First, a 3% weight loss after 20 weeks in individuals who completed the study is not a lot. Study participants weighed about 195 lbs on average at the start of the study. A weight loss of 3% means that on average the study subjects taking 1,800 mg alpha lipoic acid daily lost only about 6 lbs (or about one-third of a pound per week). While any weight loss is a good thing, this is definitely a bit slower than many people will consider satisfactory. This will make it difficult for many people to stick to a diet plan. Additionally, it was somewhat surprising that weight loss was so slight in the control group. All study subjects were instructed to reduce their caloric intake by 600 calories per day, which would be 4,200 calories per week. It has been reported that we have to burn 3,500 calories to burn 1 pound of fat, so one might have thought that even the placebo group would have lost much more than they did (2 pounds over the 20 week diet period) if they were closely following the recommended diet plan. Despite these questions, we can only assume that adherence to the reduced-calorie diet plan was similar in each study group, making the comparisons between alpha lipoic acid doses valid. In that case, alpha lipoic acid at a dose of 1,800 mg/day appears to offer modest weight loss benefits when combined with a reduced calorie diet plan.
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Alpha lipoic acid has become a very popular dietary supplement over the last several years.
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