Research emanating from the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University and published in the Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics has shown that dietary supplementation with lipoic acid lowered plasma triglyceride levels up to 60 percent in rats. While the extent of the effect is yet to be determined in humans; if similar, lipoic acid could be considered to be as effective in this regard as certain prescription medications.

Triglycerides are what the body converts dietary fat into in the intestines so that it can be transported in the bloodstream (packaged with cholesterol and proteins to form chylomicrons, which emulsify in the blood to be transported to the tissues for energy production and storage). It is believed that the fatty buildup in the arteries known as atherosclerosis can be attributed in part to the levels of triglycerides in the bloodstream.

In this experiment, it was found that lipoic acid supplementation dramatically reduced the amount of circulating triglycerides via two pathways – it increased the rate at which they were removed from the blood, and it reduced the production of triglycerides in the liver by reducing the number of enzymes that synthesize them.

Lipoic acid has also been shown in cell culture experiments to increase the cellular uptake of glucose by recruiting the glucose transporter GLUT4 to the cell membrane; and of course, rat aging studies have suggested that the use of L-carnitine and lipoic acid in combination results in improved memory performance and delayed structural mitochondrial decay.

According to the press release, the amount of lipoic acid supplementation used in these experiments would equate to about two grams per day for a 150-pound (68 kg) person (the article claims 200mg/kg for the rats, so they’re dividing by a factor of 8 to account for metabolic differences between rats and humans). Also of note is their use of R-alpha-lipoic acid (not the S enantiomer or the racemate).

Personally, I take the sodium salt of r-alpha-lipoic acid (Na-RALA), but nowhere near the 2g/day recommended here… more like 600mg/day. At the current price of about USD 1/gram for the bulk powder, such a regimen seems a bit expensive.