Research paper
Effects of α‐lipoic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid in overweight and obese women during weight loss
Study answer
What this study found
Overall, alpha-lipoic acid alone or combined with EPA appeared to help promote weight loss and fat-mass reduction during caloric restriction. EPA alone did not significantly increase weight loss, but it tended to blunt the fall in leptin and partly attenuate the decline in resting metabolic rate. Between-group metabolic effects were limited after adjustment, although EPA-containing groups showed a significant leptin effect (P<0.001), LDL decreased in EPA groups (P<0.05), DBP decreased in the EPA plus alpha-lipoic acid group (P<0.05), and the EPA plus alpha-lipoic acid group showed a glucose…
- Study & population
- This was a 10-week randomized, double-blind trial in healthy overweight/obese women aged 20 to 50 years with regular menstrual cycles and BMI 27.5 to 40 kg/m2.
- Intervention
- Participants received oral eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) at 1300 mg/day or alpha-lipoic acid at 300 mg/day for 10 weeks, either alone or in combination, while following a 30% energy-restricted diet.
- Key limitation
- The active arms were small (N=17 to 20), the intervention lasted only 10 weeks, and the population was restricted to healthy overweight/obese women, limiting generalizability.
Original abstract
To evaluate the potential body weight‐lowering effects of dietary supplementation with eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and α‐lipoic acid separately or combined in healthy overweight/obese women following a hypocaloric diet.