Lipoic acid is a powerful antioxidant known for many health supportive roles in the human body. It has major activities with phase I and phase II liver detoxification pathways. It is certainly recognized for its protective role against advanced glycation end (AGEs) units and, i.e. protecting capillaries from elevated blood sugar damage. It is fundamental to the vital antioxidant glutathione production and function. It is also recognized for its ability to reduce the hardening of arteries. What is often missed is the many other benefits lipoic acid has on health including, immune and adrenal health.

When we experience emotional stress, especially acute significant emotional stress our body releases adrenaline causing a fight-flight stress response. Heart rate, breathing, and muscle activation, instinctive responses etc. increase in response to adrenaline and norepinephrine. Other processes slow down in response to this state, i.e. digestion, rational or cognitive thinking – you are not trying to balance your check book or solve your child’s algebra equation when the alarm goes off in your body. Think of the emergency phone call at 3:00 AM when you are fast asleep and someone tells you that your loved one is hurt, ill, or worse. Adrenaline kicks in, you fly out of bed and rush out the door in a state of wakefulness unlike minutes ago when you were in deep sleep. Or it could be something less traumatic, i.e. hitting the brakes on the car as you pull out into the intersection when someone runs through a stoplight. You find your heart beating a little faster and you are breathing a little harder and faster. This adrenaline response is normal.
Once the acute stress is removed, the body normally goes back to its homeostatic state. However for some, they find they stay on edge, can’t relax, their heart continues to pound, or they feel palpitations or a few extra beats since the acute stressor. For these individuals, it can take several hours or even days to return to normal. This type of response to the acute stressor or if it happens repeatedly can take a toll on the body. It is likely that high amounts of adrenaline metabolites vanilmandelate and homovanillate are still circulating in your system creating an ongoing stress response. These compounds are by-products of this fight-flight adrenaline response and must be cleared out of the system otherwise they continue to provoke irritation. If you are an individual who cannot clear adrenaline out of the system or need to know if this is an issue, these adrenaline metabolites can be readily measured in the urine.
Researchers studied 225 patients with various types of coronary heart disease and confirmed that lipoic acid prevents the accumulation of the stress hormones epinephrine and norepinephrine in heart tissue. This means that the stress hormones did not inflict further stress on the heart in patients who already had compromised blood flow and cardiac function. Their research showed that 150 mg/day of lipoic acid prevented this accumulation of myocardial epinephrine and adrenal norepinephrine and enhanced the elimination of the by-products of these stress hormones.
Researchers also found that lipoic acid was able to protect the T-helper cells of the immune system from cortisol and radiation exposure. When under stress, cortisol suppresses immune system activity including T-helper cells. How many times after a stressful event or stressful outburst, do you find yourself catching a bad cold? Or perhaps you recently had some type of prescription cortisone, i.e. inhaler, steroid burst, or hydrocortisone rx and found yourself with some type of cold or flu shortly afterwards. Lipoic acid was actually found to significantly restore T-helper cell activity. While this study focused on the synthetic lipoic acid at a dose of 25 mg/kg, taking the natural R-alpha lipoic acid form would actually decrease the dose to 12.5 mg/kg. R-alpha lipoic acid is 100 percent active and natural as opposed to the synthetic form being only 50 percent active.
Lipoic acid may helps to mitigate the stress response in the body and to clear out lingering stress chemicals. It may offer a supportive role that stops cardiac stress symptoms before they occur. As with any cardiac symptoms, get an appropriate medical evaluation to rule out major pathology if symptoms persist. If you are prone to catching a cold or coming down with something shortly after a high stress incident, consider using R-alpha lipoic acid at a slightly higher dose of 300-600 mg to give you a “shot in the arm” while your immune system recovers. R-alpha lipoic acid offers a safe, tangible tool to help prevent and reduce heart and immune stress from significant acute emotional stress.


More...