Benefits of R-ALA

Immediately following your workout, eating carbohydrates can cause your insulin to spike. When this is combined with high blood sugar levels this will make a very lipogenic environment. The use of R-ALA can help channel more of the glucose to the muscle cells instead of the fat cells, which in turn gains more lean muscle mass.
An antioxidant is a substance that prevents or slows the breakdown of other substances by oxygen. Free radicals are a normal product of the metabolism process and the body produces its own antioxidants to keep them in balance. Stress, aging, and environmental sources like cigarette smoke can add to the number of free radicals in the body. The free radicals that are highly reactive an damage healthy DNA and are associated with the changes that accompany aging and other diseases that lead to cancer, heart disease, and stroke.
There have been studies that say antioxidants that occur naturally in fruits and vegetables can have a positive effect on the body. Alpha-lipoic acid is known as the supreme antioxidant. Not only that, but this enzyme can be found in the mitochondria which is the energy producing center in a cell. ALA is made up of two molecules that some may say are nearly identical. There is the active side, which is known as the R isomer and may be far more effective than what is widely available. Even though the ALA molecule is involved in the production of cellular energy the main role of this molecule is as a dietary supplement.
The body is able to make enough ALA for its metabolic functions for the enzymes that are involved in converting fat and sugar into energy. When there are excess levels they tend to circulate in a free state. When this happens it becomes a water and fat-soluble antioxidant. The ability of the ALA to be active in both water and lipid compartments of the body is very unique and important.
When taken with other antioxidants like vitamin E, the ALA may be more helpful in patients with diabetes. The promoting the production of energy from fat and sugar in the mitochondria and with the glucose removal from the bloodstream may be enhanced and then have the insulin function improved.
In Europe, ALA is prescribed to patients because it has been shown that it can decrease insulin resistance and is used to specifically treat peripheral neuropathy which is nerve damage that is associated with diabetes.
Bodybuilders are also interested in ALA, especially when they are trying to bulk up. When a bodybuilder is trying to bulk up the muscle cells tend to be completely full, so in turn that means that all the nutrients are either oxidized for energy or stored as fat. The main result is that event though that you gain muscle you also gain fat also. The use of ALA will help guide the nutrients into the muscle cells instead of the fat cells to be stored.