One you should know about
 

1: Neurochem Res. 2009 Apr;34(4):755-63. Epub 2008 Oct 10.

Mitochondrial decay in the brains of old rats: ameliorating effect of
alpha-lipoic acid and acetyl-L-carnitine.

Long J, Gao F, Tong L, Cotman CW, Ames BN, Liu J.

Institute for Brain Aging and Dementia, University of California, Irvine, CA
92697-4540, USA.

To investigate the mitochondrial decay and oxidative damage resulting from aging,
the activities/kinetics of the mitochondrial complexes were examined in the
brains of young and old rats as well as in old rats fed R-alpha-lipoic acid plus
acetyl-L-carnitine (LA/ALC). The brain mitochondria of old rats, compared with
young rats, had significantly decreased endogenous antioxidants and superoxide
dismutase activity; more oxidative damage to lipids and proteins; and decreased
activities of complex I, IV and V. Complex I showed a decrease in binding
affinity (increase in K(m)) for substrates. Feeding LA/ALC to old rats partially
restored age-associated mitochondrial dysfunction to the levels of the young
rats. These results indicate that oxidative mitochondrial decay plays an
important role in brain aging and that a combination of nutrients targeting
mitochondria, such as LA/ALC, could ameliorate mitochondrial decay through
preventing mitochondrial oxidative damage.


PMID: 18846423 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

You might want to read the website of Dr. Bruce Ames.

He has a product he made a few years ago based on this same
research.. Juvenon.

His website has some interesting things on it. (I am not plugging the supplement however) I prefer to use my own versions of these separately. But the info there is very good.

You can also search him on PubMed. Using Ames B antioxidant as keywords brings up some papers too.
http://www.bruceames.org/

http://juvenon.com/

I've been using acetyl-l-carnitine for many years...it also helps peripheral neuropathies, especially those caused by drugs and toxins. It helps me with exercise stamina as well.

I also prefer r-lipoic to the racemic mix alpha lipoic. R-lipoic is more potent.

Thank you, Mrs. D.
For those who don't know the name, Bruce Ames is an "old lion" of the research world. Among other things, he devised the Ames Test which has been used for the last forty years or so to determine the carcinogenic status of a given substance. He is convinced that the key to health is to supply the micronutrients the body needs. Like Linus Pauling, he has accomplished so much that he is hard to dismiss.

Thank so much for links to this information.

I, too have used both acetyl-l-carnitine and alpha-lipoic acid for several years.
I cannot function without these and a couple of additional supplements.
My daily regimen looks much like reverett's, and is always open to changes/revisions.

I find the R-lipoic very expensive at this time. I am hoping the price will drop in the near future.

Thanks again for sharing info!:)

Swanson's mail order has R-lipoic at very reasonable prices. Both their brand and a competitor's.

Jon

Thanks Jon!:)

I will look into this!

what are these things?
 

hi reverett,

thanks for the info - but what are these...compounds? and does one look for them next to the echinacea (sp?) if one is at GNC or some such?

thanks,
rosie

I suppose that the carnitine would be an amino acid but I'm not sure about the ALA. But, yes, GNC would have them but so would your local Walgreens. They have become quite common.

This is one of the few supplements that I can actually test and see short term benefit. I can time how long that I can balance on one leg, then take them for a few days and repeat it. The increase is quite dramatic in my case. Almost ten-fold! That's kool!:D

Alpha lipoic acid is considered an antioxidant.
This is a nice monograph:
http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/a...oic-000285.htm

Carnitine is technically an amino acid. Non-essential, meaning our bodies can manufacture it when everything is working right.
At one point a long time ago, it was lumped in with the B vits.
But that classification is no longer useful, as more was learned about it.
Carnitine:
http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/c...e-l-000291.htm