> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.foodconsumer.org/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Alpa-lipoic acid helps weight loss - URL: https://www.foodconsumer.org/alpa-lipoc_acid_facilitates_weight_loss_0119150724/ - Published: 2015-01-19T08:23:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-22T15:57:51.000Z - Description: In a 10-week trial, 97 overweight or obese women cut calories by 30 percent while taking alpha-lipoic acid, EPA, both or neither. Weight loss was significantly greater in the women given alpha-lipoic acid, while EPA blunted the fall in leptin that accompanies weight loss. - Author: Food Consumer - Tags: Supplements, Nutrition, #vivvo-import Monday Jan 19, 2015 (foodconsumer.org) -- A study 1) in the journal Obesity suggests that supplementation with alpha-lipoic acid or alpha-lipoic acid plus eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) - a type of mega-3 fatty acid can help overweight/obese women to lose weight if they use a hypocaloric diet. In the 10-week study, 97 women received treatments, control, 1.3 grams of EPA per day, 0.3 grams of alpha-lipoic acid per day, or 1.3 grams of EPA plus 0.3 grams of lipoic acid per day and 77 of them completed the study. All participants followed an energy restricted diet with total calories cut by 30%. Weight loss was found significantly higher in women supplemented with alpha-lipoic acid while the decrease in leptin levels that occurred during weight loss was attenuated in the groups supplemented with EPA. Body weight loss improved lipid and glucose metabolism. But no difference was found between the groups. The study suggests that alpha-lipoic acid supplementation alone or together with EPA helps promote weight loss in healthy overweight/obese women following calorie-restricted diets. The findings of this study seem convincing because other early studies led to similar discoveries. An open label study 2) published in the March 2013 issue of Clin Schizophr Relat Psychoses. suggests that taking alpha-lipoic acid, a potent antioxidant, can induce weight loss in patients with schizophrenia without diabetes who took antipsychotics. It has been known that antipsychotic can induce weight gain and lipoic acid can be particularly helpful to these patients. In the study led by researchers at Yale University School of Medicine, 12 non-diabetic schizophrenia patients took 1,200 mg of alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) per day for ten weeks. As a result, participants experienced significant weight loss during this trial (-2.2 kg or 4.8 pounds). ALA was well tolerated and found particularly effective in patients taking strongly antihistaminic antipsychotics. One animal study 3) released in 2012 by South Korean scientists at Dankook University showed that alpha lipoic acid significantly reduced weight gain, particularly in organs such as the liver, kidney, spleen and fat tissues, and improved the lipid profile in rats on a high fat diet. Two doses of lipoic acid were used in the study, 0.25% and 0.5%. Those supplemented with 0.5% also had significantly better lipid profiles, compared with controls. The antiobesity effect of alpha lipoic acid was found not only in rats fed high fat diet, but also in obese men and women. A study 4) reported in Jan 2011 issue of American Journal of Medicine shows that alpha-lipoic acid can cause moderate weight loss in obese individuals. Researchers at University of Ulsan College of Medicine in Seoul, Republic of Korea found supplementation with 1,800 mg of alpha lipoic acid per day for 20 weeks could lowered body weight by 2.1% in obese men and women. It should be noted that a lower dose also tested in the study, that is, 1,200 mg of alpha-lipoic acid did not yield significant weight loss during the study and some mild side effects such as urticaria and itching sensation were observed in some study subjects among the 360 obese individuals or overweight individuals with hypertension, diabetes mellitus or hypercholesterolemia. In addition to weight loss, alpha lipoic acid, which is probably the most important antioxidant, may also help improve liver circulation, treat chronic liver disease and diabetes mellitus and diabetic neuropathy and prevent atheorsclerosis, coronary atherosclerosis and many other diseases, according to a review 5) led by V.H. Lyzogub. Alpha lipoic acid is available as a dietary supplement and can be purchased on the Internet or at local health stores. This supplement is safe to use and side effects are uncommon. (David Liu, PH.D.) References: 1) Huerta AE, Navas-Carretero S, Prieto-Hontoria PL, Martínez JA, Moreno-Aliaga MJ. [Effects of α-lipoic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid in overweight and obese women during weight loss](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Effects+of+%CE%B1-lipoic+acid+and+eicosapentaenoic+acid+in+overweight+and+obese+women+during+weight+loss&ref=foodconsumer.org). Obesity (Silver Spring). 2014 Dec 31\. 2) Ratliff JC, Palmese LB, Reutenauer EL, Tek C. [An open-label pilot trial of alpha-lipoic acid for weight loss in patients with schizophrenia without diabetes](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=An+open-label+pilot+trial+of+alpha-lipoic+acid+for+weight+loss+in+patients+with+schizophrenia+without+diabetes&ref=foodconsumer.org). Clin Schizophr Relat Psychoses. 2013 Mar 7:1-13. 3) Seo EY, Ha AW, Kim WK. [α-Lipoic acid reduced weight gain and improved the lipid profile in rats fed with high fat diet](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=%CE%B1-Lipoic+acid+reduced+weight+gain+and+improved+the+lipid+profile+in+rats+fed+with+high+fat+diet&ref=foodconsumer.org). Nutr Res Pract. 2012 Jun;6(3):195-200\. 4) Koh EH, Lee WJ, Lee SA, Kim EH, Cho EH, Jeong E, Kim DW, Kim MS, Park JY, Park KG, Lee HJ, Lee IK, Lim S, Jang HC, Lee KH, Lee KU. [Effects of alpha-lipoic Acid on body weight in obese subjects](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21187189?ref=foodconsumer.org). Am J Med. 2011 Jan;124(1):85.e1-8\. 5) Lyzogub VH, Altunina NV, Bondarchuk OM. \[[Application of alpha-lipoic acid in clinical practice](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Application+of+alpha-lipoic+acid+in+clinical+practice&ref=foodconsumer.org)\]. Lik Sprava. 2011 Oct-Dec;(7-8):20-8.