Alpha Lipoic Acid
 

I've started taking this supplement. One 600 mg capsule per day.

The directions say 1 to 2 capsules per day. How do you know what your individual need is? I don't want to take too much but don't want to take too little, either.

Thanks to anyone who knows! :)

Hard to tell, Kitty--
 

--mos tpeople tend to take alpha lipoic acid, or it's new racemic form, R-lipoic (which consists of only those isomers which are bodily active, so one can take considearbly less to get similar effects) to tolerance, which usually means until the are discomfited by the acid feeling in the stomach. Many people take it with food to minimize that.

600mg/day is a common starter dose for alpha lipoic and at that level it does seem to have at least good antioxidant effects, though the blood sugar regulating effects may come at even lower doses, which is why people with insulin resistance and/or imparied gllucose tolerance are cautioned to monitor he dosages of other things they may be taking to normalize these while dosing with lipoic. (Some people have had synergistic effects that have resulted in hypoglycemic episodes.)

If one is taking R-lipoic, one can generally take one-sixth to one-tenth as much for similar effects. (I take 100mg R-lipoic each day, mostly to help keep neuropathic parastheses in check, which is what lipoic was originally used for in Europe, where it is prescription; there, some studies have used as much as 1800mg/day alpha lipoic, often intravenously, to see how effective it can be in diabetic regulation).