Alpha-lipoic acid, do you include ALA in your diet?

As a responsible bodybuilder, you should already know the properties of alpha-lipoic acid (ALA). Do you know its benefits?

As a highly beneficial supplement for you, alpha-lipoic acid would work perfectly, since combining it with others would allow you to take advantage of its unique properties as an antioxidant soluble in both water and fat, an interesting factor to add to your sports diet.

Alpha-lipoic acid: What iswhat it is?

It is a substance (such as a coenzyme) that must be available for another substance (such as an enzyme) to produce a specific result.

In more scientific terms, alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) is an essential cofactor in energy metabolism in all organisms, from microbes to humans.

In addition, when present in sufficient amounts, it acts as an antioxidant. Remember that the amount naturally present in the body is not sufficient to obtain its antioxidant benefits, which is why it is combined with another antioxidant such as NAC in a sports diet.

It is a unique antioxidant supplement because your body produces it, but supplementing it provides benefits beyond its role in carbohydrate metabolism.

To begin with, it is capable of deactivating fat- and water-soluble free radicals (the accumulation of excess minerals beneath the skin's surface), thereby protecting both lipoproteins and cell membranes—something no other antioxidant can do.

Alpha-lipoic acid helps eliminate toxins from your body, thereby improving your overall health.

Alpha-lipoic acid: What are its health benefits?

Oxidative damage within cells, caused by free radicals, is the cause of many degenerative disorders associated with aging, such as heart disease, arthritis, diabetes, Alzheimer's, and many other conditions.

It is more than clear that antioxidants stop or reduce oxidative damage in cells.

• In many cases, they stabilize and even reverse cellular damage, resulting in beneficial effects that slow down and perhaps reduce the likelihood of developing these diseases.
• This compound has the ability to even reverse damage in aging brain cells. Combining ALA with acetyl-L-carnitine can improve memory performance by reducing oxidative damage and improving mitochondrial function.

Therefore, alpha-lipoic acid has benefits for all kinds of people, particularly those with diabetes or insulin resistance, high cholesterol levels, or cardiovascular problems such as hardening of the arteries.

In addition to the antioxidant effects produced by alpha-lipoic acid, there are other very important benefits for your health:

• Protects the liver.
• Protects genetic material.
• Delays the onset of diseases.
• Improves the skin, reducing or eliminating wrinkles.
• Regulates blood sugar in diabetics.

Alpha-lipoic acid: what are its sports benefits?

These benefits stem from the fact that alpha-lipoic acid has an insulin-like effect; although it does not replace insulin, it only mimics it.

• When you eat a meal, the food is converted into glucose so that you can obtain energy.
• The pancreas releases insulin to transport glucose to the muscles and fat cells.
• Once the muscle cells are full, all the excess glucose is transported to the fat cells and stored there as body fat.

But if you consume that same meal with ALA, things change, because for glucose to reach the cells, it must be bound to insulin. The key point is that ALA has an insulin-mimicking effect, increasing the number of Glut-4 transporters on the outside of muscle cells.

This means that you can transport more glucose to muscle cells and keep it away from fat cells.

Studies show that the amount of glucose reaching the muscles can increase from 50% to 60%; that is, if you ate 100 g of carbohydrates without ALA, 40 grams of glucose would go to your muscle cells and the remaining 60 grams to your fat cells.

But you added alpha-lipoic acid to your meal, and (depending on the individual) 60 grams of glucose could be sent to your muscles and only 40 g to fat cells, which makes a big difference.

In this scenario, ALA has increased the number of Glut-4 receptors on the outside of the muscle, allowing you to absorb more glucose instead of storing it as body fat.

This increase in glucose has many positive effects, which we will analyze below.

Alpha-lipoic acid and your pumps

The increase in the muscle pump is due to increased glucose absorption, which not only feels great but also contributes to muscle growth.

This happens by increasing the volume of muscle cells, allowing nutrients to be transported to the muscle and thereby promoting greater muscle growth.

Alpha-lipoic acid and your waistline

Again, because of the increased glucose absorption by muscle cells, less glucose is stored as fat.

Alpha-lipoic acid also reduces blood sugar levels, creating a more suitable environment for burning fat.

Alpha-lipoic acid and nutrients

This leads to an increase in the muscle pump, since enlarged muscle cells can receive more amino acids and creatine.

Remember that insulin increases the absorption of amino acids and creatine, and since ALA mimics insulin, it also has this positive effect.

You can find many creatine products loaded with sugar because sugar causes an insulin spike that transports creatine to muscle cells.

The problem with this is that excessive sugar intake causes you to gain body fat. In these instances, using alpha-lipoic acid can deliver more creatine to muscle cells without consuming more than 75 grams of sugar.

You can increase creatine absorption while consuming a smaller amount of glucose. 

Alpha-lipoic acid and insulin

By definitely increasing insulin sensitivity, it becomes not only an attractive supplement but an essential one for bodybuilders, especially when they are in a bulking cycle, which is later accompanied by a decrease in muscle gains.

One way to combat this is to carry out a brief cutting cycle and rebuild insulin sensitivity using alpha-lipoic acid, allowing you to add more mass because insulin sensitivity does not decrease.

The results of this strategy will vary depending on your diet, but if you are bulking, you will do so with less fat and more muscle due to the nutrient-partitioning effect.

Subsequently, the results during the cutting phase are greater fat loss and a muscle-preserving effect because your muscles were already storing more glucose and will not become as depleted as they usually do during cutting, helping you look full rather than flat.

And what amount of ALA is effective?

If you use 200–600 mg, you will increase your insulin sensitivity and reduce blood glucose levels, but less than 200 mg will not produce noticeable effects, except for the antioxidant properties of alpha-lipoic acid.

• Taking 600–1200 mg will give you an increase in muscle pump.
• Taking 1200–2000 mg will give you an increase in muscle pump and more noticeable fat loss.
• According to muscle needs, especially in high-performance athletes, around 3000 mg is ideal for massive fat loss, increasing insulin sensitivity, and increasing glucose, but this is based on the experience of some athletes, not scientific studies.

Now, however, keep in mind that you must be careful when handling the container, because it is very unstable and degrades quickly when exposed to the outside atmosphere.

That is why taking it in capsules is not advisable; it is better if it is vacuum-sealed in UV-protected plastic.

But how safe is ALA?

Numerous studies have shown that a daily intake of 50 mg of alpha-lipoic acid does not produce specific side effects, although everyone should try it and determine whether they are satisfied with the results.

At very high doses administered consistently, exceeding 500 mg per day or more, mild hypoglycemic effects have been observed, but despite some reactions, it is a phenomenal compound that cannot be left out of sports nutrition when bodybuilding, as explained in the following video prepared by MASmusculo.