Results from a recent animal study indicates that lipoic acid supplements can improve conditions that contribute to cardiovascular disease risk such as formation of arterial lesions, lower triglycerides, and reduce blood vessel inflammation and weight gain.
Although the results cannot be directly extrapolated beyond the laboratory, researchers report that “they strongly suggest that lipoic acid supplementation may be useful as an inexpensive but effective intervention strategy . . . reducing known risk factors for the development of atherosclerosis and other inflammatory vascular diseases in humans.”
Although lipoic acid is naturally occurring in foods such as green leafy vegetables, potatoes and meats, particularly …read more

Two antioxidant dietary supplements — acetyl-l-carnitine and alpha lipoic acid — have been demonstrated to improve the memory, ability to learn and cognitive function of old dogs.
“We’ve shown in some previous animal work that these supplements could improve memory and energy level,” Hagen said. “Now we’re seeing that animals receiving supplements are much more readily able to learn new things as well, even at an advanced age.”
In these tests, the effects of supplementation with these compounds appeared to work fairly quickly, in a matter of days or weeks, the scientists said. Some other studies, however, have required much longer periods …read more