Dietary supplements aimed at helping you in losing weight period are often the standard for many people who are trying to make this process happen in their lives. One of them is alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) at which there is a lot of hope that it is really able to do something. In this text, let's look at whether it is worth counting on its actions.
What is alpha-lipoic acid?
ALA, also known as thioctic acid, is a naturally occurring short-chain fatty acid. Also known as a strong antioxidant, it also helps to reduce the symptoms of diabetic polyneuropathy. Many of the studies conducted confirm the safety of using this dietary supplement.
In terms of supporting the fight against obesity, we will also find a lot of research that tried to really confirm whether specific assumptions are true. Let's take a closer look at those.
Alpha-lipoic acid and obesity
At the very beginning it is worth noting that a large number of studies in this topic were carried out on animals. Under these circumstances, you could actually see the effects of ALA, such as reducing the need of consuming large amounts of food and increasing body energy consumption. However, the amount of research done on humans is quite small and their operation is not entirely certain because we are facing negative results. Some of them point to the positive effect of alpha-lipoic acid on obese people, while others do not. However, it is certainly an important aspect that the supplement may be of particular interest to people who have a problem with obesity-related problems, such as
- type 2 diabetes
- insulin resistance
- metabolic syndrome
- vascular damage
Summary
Despite the fact that studies on ALA are not compatible, one can still deduce the positive effect of this supplement on our body. However, most studies were mainly used on obese and overweight people, which may indicate who the target for ALA supplements is in this case. In addition, the tests indicated that the effect of weight loss was much lower compared to other dietary supplements, whose task is to help reduce weight. Despite this, alpha-lipoic acid can be an interesting solution for people who are struggling with diseases related to excessive weight, such as type 2 diabetes. It is worth taking an interest in this supplement and wait for more interesting studies regarding this substance.
