Acetyl-L-Carnitine (ALC) and Alpha-Lipoic Acid (ALA) have been a part of LifeLink’s product line for quite some time. During the past several years evidence has been accumulating that these two supplements together make an unusually effective anti-aging regimen. But on February 19 the evidence suddenly became compelling, as researchers at the University of California at Berkeley published the results of new studies into the rejuvenative effects of an ALA-ALC combination.

The studies were done with rats, not humans, but the biochemistry involved is the same.

Bruce Ames, Professor at the Graduate School of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, and a team of other researchers focused most of their attention on the subcellular organelles called “mitochondria”. Mitochondria are the biological world’s energy generators—they convert glucose into carbon dioxide and water, thereby producing most of the metabolic energy our cells require. The number of mitochondria in a single human cell depends upon the cell type, and ranges from just a few (in sperm cells) up to thousands of mitochondria (in liver and brain cells). It is suspected that the deterioration of mitochondria, and of the DNA that controls them, is one of the principal factors behind the aging of our bodies. Conversely, a rejuvenation of mitochondria should result in a rejuvenation of the body as a whole.

Ames and collaborators showed that, when fed to elderly rats, an appropriate combination of ALA and ALC restored rat-cell mitochondria and mitochondrial DNA to a condition and function similar to that in much younger animals. The rats were tested for energy, memory, and various other parameters—and these, too, improved to levels of much younger animals.

So, how much ALA and ALC do we need to take in order to enjoy similar benefits? The amounts given to the rats, if extrapolated simply by body-weight, would result in rather large human doses: 1.1-2.2 mg/day of ALA, and 7.5-19 grams/day of ALC. These doses are larger than those used up to now in human clinical studies of these supplements (about 800 mg/day of ALA, and 3 grams/day of ALC, used separately, not in combination). Since no toxicity problems arose in those studies, one might reasonably use these dosages as a guide until the true optimum dosages can be determined from human studies. It is nevertheless entirely possible that the extrapolated rat dosages could turn out to be required for achieving the significant rejuvenation benefits.

I (the author of this article) am currently using ALA + ALC at 1.5 + 7.5 g/day to see whether any unmistakable effects or side effects occur. In early April I will report on the results at this website.