Research
Micronutrients & recovery
Alpha-lipoic acid bioavailability is significantly reduced when taken with food, and should be administered on an empty stomach to maximize absorption.
Take your Alpha-Lipoic Acid on an empty stomach, at least 30 minutes before a meal or 2 hours after. Taking it with food significantly reduces how much your body absorbs.
ModerateQualifiesMEDIUM confidence
A study suggests that ALA bioavailability is greatly reduced after food intake and it has been recommended that ALA should be admitted at least 2 h after eating or if taken before; meal should be taken at least 30 min after ALA administration [92].
Why this rating
Based on pharmacokinetic studies, but clinical impact of reduced bioavailability on efficacy is less directly quantified than the pharmacokinetic data itself.
Source
Insights on the Use of α-Lipoic Acid for Therapeutic Purposes
Bahare Salehi et al. · Biomolecules · 2019
DOI 10.3390/biom9080356
narrative_reviewCited 398×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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