Doctor's Best Stabilized R-Lipoic Acid with BioEnhanced Na-RALA (R-Lipoic Acid) 60 Vegetarian Capsules

Best-before date: 31/08/2023.

Alpha lipoic acid is a sulfur-containing fatty acid that performs vitamin-like functions in the body, but because the body produces lipoic acid itself, it is not classified as a true vitamin. It acts as a coenzyme in carbohydrate metabolism and is needed for the synthesis of acetyl-CoA, a key metabolite in the cellular process that turns glucose (blood sugar) into energy. Stabilized R-lipoic acid contains BioEnhanced Na-RLA, the sodium salt of R-lipoic acid. Pure R-lipoic acid is a highly unstable molecule that tends to polymerize when exposed to heat, light and moisture. BioEnhanced Na-RLA is a stabilized form of R-lipoic acid that does not degrade at high temperatures.


Lipoic acid is a key factor in the cellular process that metabolizes glucose to produce energy. Aging is accompanied by a decreased ability of the liver to recycle ascorbic acid after oxidative stress. It has been shown that R-lipoic acid after two weeks of supplementation in older rats reverses the age-related impairment of ascorbic acid circulation and its concentration in liver cells. Aging is also associated with oxidative stress in the brain. The high metabolism of the brain and its long-lived neurons make it particularly susceptible to oxidative stress. Since lipoic acid interrupts oxidative processes in cells in both oxidized and reduced form, it plays a modulating role in the brain and nervous system.


An ideal antioxidant would be capable of extinguishing a wide variety of free radicals, promoting the action of other antioxidants, binding or "chelating" metal ions that can generate free radicals, acting in an aqueous and oily environment, and being present in a wide variety of tissues, cells and extracellular spaces. Lipoic acid meets all of these criteria and is often referred to as the "universal antioxidant". Our ability to synthesize alpha lipoic acid decreases with age. Age also causes an accumulation of oxidized proteins that interfere with the performance of the mitochondria, and alpha-lipoic acid remedies this situation. Alpha lipoic acid comes in two forms, labeled "R-lipoic acid" and "S-lipoic acid". R- and S-lipoic acid are isomers of enantiomers - molecules that appear as mirror images of each other. R-lipoic acid is naturally synthesized by humans, animals and plants.