Alpha Lipoic Acid Can Smash Insulin Resistance and Autoimmune Disease

[Guest guest]

 

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/05/16/This-Antioxidant-Can-Smash-Insulin-Resistance-and-Autoimmune-Disease.aspx

 

 

Alpha Lipoic Acid Can Smash

Insulin Resistance and Autoimmune Disease

Posted by Dr. Mercola | May 16 2009 | 283,917 views this a

Take a look at this video -- you'll

be amazed by what this one antioxidant can do.

I'm sure you received many valuable

health tips from this small segment of the expert interview with Dr. Burt

Berkson. To hear the full version of this and other interviews I do with world-renowned

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I first became aware of the

alpha lipoic regimen by Dr. Burt Berkson in the late 90’s. Early on in

his career, while an internist, he was given several patients who

were expected to die from hepatitis C. His job was more or less to simply baby

sit them in the ICU and watch them die.

But Dr. Berkson was a rebel at heart

and he simply couldn’t do that. Instead he called an associate at the

National Institutes of Health and found out how he could treat them. He learned

that alpha lipoic acid had some impressive experimental support. Remarkably,

although these patients were expected to die within a few weeks, they all

completely recovered!

However not all went well for Dr.

Berkson as he made his superiors look foolish and they simply could not

tolerate that so rather than embrace his findings, they actively suppressed the

results and made his life miserable for showing them up.

This was a pivotal moment in Dr.

Berskson’s career and caused him to make choices that eventually led to

where he is at now. Since then, Dr. Berkson has lectured all over the world on

this topic, and published a

study on the use of antioxidants for the treatment of hepatitis C.

His first book, The

Alpha-Lipoic Acid Breakthrough was published in

1998.

 

As many of you already know, I am not fond of recommending many supplements,

but I do believe that antioxidants make sense for many of us.

Why You

Need Antioxidants

Your entire body, including your

DNA, is under endless, daily assault from a variety of sources, from poor diets

to pollution. Think of your cells, including your brain cells, each getting hit

by free-radicals thousands of times a day. This violent process is called

" oxidation,” which damages your cells.

Enter antioxidants. They include

vitamins and other nutrients that target free radicals.

Food, particularly fruits and

vegetables, is a powerful source of these valiant protectors, and your body

produces some itself. Their role is to limit the damage to your cells, which

can slow down disease and signs of aging.

In the case of alpha lipoic acid,

your body does produce it in minute quantities, but most of it comes from your

diet. Some of the best natural sources include grass-fed red meat and organ

meats.

The

Benefits of Alpha Lipoic Acid

Alpha lipoic acid (ALA) has many functions, but it’s one

of the most effective free radical scavengers, and the only one known to easily

get into your brain.

It also has the ability to

regenerate other antioxidants such as vitamins C, E, and glutathione. So, when your body has used up these

antioxidants, if there’s ALA

around, it helps regenerate them.

You may not know this, but

glutathione is another very important antioxidant. You can get it from

supplements, but the only form that works effectively is the reduced form,

which is difficult to absorb when taken orally. It is much more cost effective

to supplement with precursors, or items like alpha lipoic acid that regenerates

glutathione.

Alpha lipoic acid also recycles

coenzyme Q10 and NAD (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide).

But, if that wasn’t enough,

this powerful antioxidant is also:

·

A great modifier of gene expression to reduce

inflammation

·

A very potent heavy metal chelator

·

An enhancer of insulin sensitivity

The benefits of ALA can appear near miraculous. For example,

according to Dr. Berkson, Russia

has successfully used ALA

intravenously to reverse ischemia reperfusion injuries by injecting it right

after a heart attack or a stroke.

And people with diabetes or

metabolic syndrome tend to do much better when taking lipoic acid, as it

enhances insulin sensitivity.

There’s even been quite a bit

of research showing it can restore T cell function. T cells are a type of white

blood cells that are of key importance to your immune system, and are

at the core of adaptive immunity, the system that tailors your body's immune

response to specific pathogens.

What

Health Conditions Can be Treated With Alpha Lipoic Acid?

Clinically, alpha lipoic acid seems

to be a useful supplement in treating hepatitis

C. It can also be used for painful nerve conditions in diabetes, and may help slow

down the aging process itself through its reduction in free radicals.

Dr. Berkson uses ALA along with low

dose naltrexone (LDN) for the reversal of a number of more serious health

conditions such as:

·

Lupus

·

Rheumatoid arthritis

·

Dermatomyositis (an inflammatory muscle disease)

·

Autoimmune diseases

Most of his patients normalize in

about one month on this combination of ALA

and LDN.

What is Low Dose Naltrexone?

Naltrexone (generic name) is

a pharmacologically active opioid antagonist, conventionally used to treat

drug- and alcohol addiction – normally at doses of 50mg to 300mg. As

such, it’s been an FDA approved drug for over two decades.

However, researchers have

found that at very low dosages (3

to 4.5 mg), naltrexone has immunomodulating properties that may be able to

successfully treat cancer malignancies and a wide range of autoimmune diseases

like

rheumatoid

arthritis, multiple sclerosis (MS), Parkinson’s,

fibromyalgia,

and Crohn’s

disease, just to name a few.

As explained on the

informative website www.lowdosenaltrexone.org,

when you take LDN at bedtime -- which blocks your opioid receptors for a few

hours in the middle of the night -- it is believed to up-regulate vital

elements of your immune system by increasing your body’s production of

metenkephalin and endorphins (your natural opioids), hence improving immune

function.

Can Alpha Lipoic Acid Help Your Workout?

Alpha lipoic acid can be a potent

aid when you exercise vigorously.

In my interview, Dr. Berkson gives

an anecdotal story about a friend – an international weight lifting

champion – who regularly uses ALA

prior to meets.

Unfortunately, there are no set

guidelines on dosage and timing. It can be highly individual, and is something

that requires a little bit of trial and error in order to get it just

right.

But if you suffer from any of the

conditions listed above or diabetes it would certainly seem like a useful

supplement to consider.