| The natural products market in North America is | | | | L-carnitine a day may protect diabetic brain tissue. |
| saturated with products that claim to boost the | | | | And it was brain specialists at the University of |
| metabolism to take off the pounds. You can find a | | | | California at Irvine and Shanghai's Institutes of |
| hydroxycut caffeine-free fat burner, a liquid gel green | | | | Biological Sciences in China who seem to have |
| tea product, and a variety of supplements that claim | | | | uncovered the potential for a combination of lipoic |
| to correct "glucose intolerance" (the mainstream term | | | | acid and L-carnitine to aid weight control |
| is "insulin resistance") specifically to help diabetics lose | | | | In research just published in February 2008, the |
| weight. A research study published just in February | | | | scientists exposed adipose cells to lipoic acid, |
| 2008, however, suggests that a combination of two | | | | L-carnitine, or a mixture of the two. Neither lipoic acid |
| safe and inexpensive supplements may: | | | | nor L-carnitine by itself had much effect on the |
| - Enlarge and activate the mitochondria ("energy | | | | activity of fat cells. Together, however, the two |
| machinery") inside adipose tissue to oxidize lipids | | | | antioxidants caused the energy making organelles |
| - Activate insulin to transport glucose and fatty acids | | | | known as the mitochondria to literally grow overnight, |
| out of the bloodstream to fat cells with these | | | | burning more fatty acids and more glucose. |
| activated mitochondria and | | | | The combination of lipoic acid and L-carnitine also |
| - Do all this without accelerating the heart rate or | | | | stimulated the uptake of fatty acids and sugars in |
| interfering with the action of thyroid hormones. | | | | the same way as the drugs Actos and Avandia with |
| These two supplements are lipoic acid and L-carnitine. | | | | one critical difference. Actos and Avandia just get |
| Alpha-lipoic acid, or ALA as it's commonly called, | | | | the sugar out of the bloodstream and into storage. |
| counteracts the glycation, or "caramelizing" of | | | | Lipoic acid and L-carnitine get the sugar and fat into a |
| hemoglobin proteins in the blood. This takes stress | | | | fat cell that's primed to burn it. |
| off the kidneys, and it also gives diabetics lower | | | | While taking 2,000 mg a day of both supplements |
| HbA1C numbers at their regular checkups. The most | | | | won't hurt you (be sure to take supplemental biotin if |
| common form of ALA contains a mixture of chemical | | | | you take lipoic acid), this study does not establish |
| isomers, one of which can be used by the body | | | | with scientific certainty that the combination of lipoic |
| (R-lipoic acid) and one that can't (the S-form of the | | | | acid and L-carnitine will act as an effective diet aid. |
| same molecule), but every ALA supplement is at | | | | The scientists used cells taken from lab rats, not |
| least 50 per cent bioavailable. | | | | humans, and the level of the experiment was |
| L-carnitine is not as well known but has some | | | | laboratory, not clinical. Still, as a way of enhancing |
| applications in diabetes, too. There's a growing body | | | | weight loss without caffeine or thyroid hormone, this |
| of evidence that taking 200 to 2,000 mg of | | | | study is a very important first step. |