Anti-Aging Breakthrough Research at UC Berkeley
Shows These Two Nutrients -- In Combination -- Actually Reverse Signs of Aging!!!
Thanks to new scientific discoveries of anti-aging
nutrients, we can expect our mature years to be livelier and more enjoyable
than ever before!
Longevity supplementation: Improve your odds of living
longer and healthier
Last week we discussed the unique antioxidant and
cellular protective properties of Lipoic Acid and how they have been proven
to slow down the aging process.
In today's conclusion of a four-part series on longevity, we'll look at how
the combination of Lipoic Acid and Acetyl-L-Carnitine supercharges our cells'
mitochondria … and the tremendous impact it will have on human life.
The breakthrough discovery of combining two power-packed
nutrients Lipoic Acid and Acetyl-L-Carnitine: Mitochondria Superchargers
In the previous three issues, we reviewed the most
recent discoveries of the role that mitochondria play in maintaining energy
levels within a cell … in order to promote optimum health and longevity.
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 study 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 increase in free radicals limits ALC’s potential benefits
and will cause more damage to the cell and mitochondria.
• Lipoic Acid (LA) is better at restoring
cellular and mitochondria free radical protection, and has be shown to restore
levels 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. And it
did—and is now being used as 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 chemicals, 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 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 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—S
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 enhance glucose uptake for diabetics.
The synthetic form contains both R and S Lipoic Acid. But 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 more 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.
Pure R Lipoic Acid is finally available to consumers,
and we are proud to be able to introduce it.
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 research showed that the R form is more effective at promoting energy
production, chelating metals, preventing cataract formation, and increasing
glucose uptake into cells. 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 metabolic function,
but at the same time lower oxidative stress and free radical production
2) Restored age-related enzyme dysfunction of a
key mitochondria enzyme used in energy production, while lowering free radical
damage and improving mitochondria function
3) Improved memory in old rats
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.
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 them determining 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. And for everyone who wants to live long
and live better with: