Quick answer: Alpha Lipoic Acid (ALA) is a unique antioxidant that works in both water-soluble and fat-soluble environments — something almost no other antioxidant can do. It supports glucose metabolism (helping shuttle fuel into muscle cells), regenerates other antioxidants (vitamins C, E, glutathione, CoQ10), and serves as a direct cofactor in mitochondrial energy production. Most pre workouts don't include it. PurePump does — 100mg of AliPure ALA per serving — because managing oxidative stress and supporting glucose utilization during training are performance factors, not afterthoughts.
What Is Alpha Lipoic Acid?
Alpha Lipoic Acid is a sulfur-containing compound naturally produced in small amounts by your body and found in trace quantities in foods like spinach, broccoli, organ meats, and brewer's yeast. It functions both as an antioxidant and as a critical cofactor in mitochondrial energy metabolism.
What makes ALA genuinely unusual in biochemistry is its dual solubility. Most antioxidants operate in one environment:
- Water-soluble antioxidants (like vitamin C) work in aqueous environments — blood plasma, cytoplasm, extracellular fluid
- Fat-soluble antioxidants (like vitamin E) work in lipid environments — cell membranes, fatty tissue, lipoproteins
ALA works in both. Its molecular structure allows it to function in aqueous and lipid environments simultaneously. This means ALA can neutralize free radicals in virtually every tissue and cellular compartment in the body — inside cell membranes, outside cell membranes, in the blood, in the brain. This is why researchers have called it the "universal antioxidant."
Beyond its antioxidant function, ALA plays two other critical roles:
1. Mitochondrial cofactor: ALA is a required cofactor for at least five enzyme complexes in the mitochondria, including pyruvate dehydrogenase and alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase — key enzymes in the Krebs cycle (the core pathway for cellular energy production). Without ALA, your mitochondria cannot efficiently convert glucose and other nutrients into ATP. It's not just protecting your cells from damage — it's directly involved in producing the energy they run on.
2. Glucose metabolism: ALA improves insulin sensitivity and enhances glucose uptake into cells. It activates AMPK (AMP-activated protein kinase), a cellular energy sensor that triggers glucose transport into cells and increases the translocation of GLUT4 glucose transporters to the cell surface. In simpler terms: ALA helps your muscle cells pull in and use glucose more efficiently. During exercise, when your muscles are demanding fuel rapidly, this matters.
Your body produces small amounts of ALA endogenously, and dietary intake from food is minimal (micrograms, not milligrams). Supplemental ALA provides substantially more than dietary exposure alone.
Benefits of Alpha Lipoic Acid
Universal Antioxidant Protection
Exercise is healthy. Exercise also generates enormous amounts of reactive oxygen species (ROS) — free radicals produced as a byproduct of increased mitochondrial activity, elevated oxygen consumption, and mechanical muscle damage. Some ROS production is necessary and even beneficial (it signals adaptation). But excessive oxidative stress can impair recovery, damage cellular structures, and contribute to inflammation that exceeds what's productive.
ALA's dual solubility means it scavenges free radicals across all cellular compartments — not just in the blood like vitamin C, or just in cell membranes like vitamin E, but everywhere. During and after intense training, when ROS production is at its peak, this broad-spectrum antioxidant coverage supports recovery and limits unnecessary cellular damage.
Regeneration of Other Antioxidants
This is one of ALA's most remarkable properties. When an antioxidant neutralizes a free radical, it becomes oxidized (spent) and needs to be regenerated before it can work again. ALA regenerates:
- Vitamin C — restores oxidized vitamin C back to its active, reduced form
- Vitamin E — same regeneration, extending vitamin E's activity in cell membranes
- Glutathione — your body's master intracellular antioxidant. ALA increases glutathione levels by regenerating spent glutathione and by enhancing its synthesis
- Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) — a critical antioxidant in mitochondrial membranes that also participates in energy production
This "recycling" effect means ALA amplifies your entire antioxidant defense network, not just its own activity. One molecule of ALA extends the functional lifespan of multiple other antioxidants. In PurePump, this creates a direct synergy with the 60mg of Vitamin C (Quali-C) also in the formula — ALA helps keep that vitamin C active longer.
Glucose Metabolism and Insulin Sensitivity
ALA has been extensively studied for its effects on glucose metabolism, particularly in the context of insulin sensitivity. Research shows that ALA:
- Activates AMPK, increasing glucose uptake into muscle cells
- Promotes GLUT4 translocation — moving glucose transporters to the cell surface so cells can take in more glucose
- Improves insulin signaling — making cells more responsive to insulin's message to absorb glucose
- Supports healthy blood sugar regulation — multiple clinical trials have shown ALA supplementation improves glucose disposal
For athletes, the practical implication is better fuel delivery to working muscles during training. When you're performing high-intensity exercise, your muscles demand rapid glucose uptake. ALA supports this process through both insulin-dependent and insulin-independent pathways.
Mitochondrial Energy Production
ALA isn't just protecting mitochondria from oxidative damage — it's directly involved in running them. As a cofactor for pyruvate dehydrogenase (which converts pyruvate to acetyl-CoA, the entry point of the Krebs cycle) and alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase (a rate-limiting enzyme within the Krebs cycle), ALA is structurally embedded in your body's energy production machinery.
Supporting mitochondrial function means supporting the fundamental process that generates ATP — the energy currency powering every muscle contraction. It's an upstream investment in cellular energy capacity.
Anti-Inflammatory Support
ALA has been shown to modulate inflammatory signaling pathways, including inhibiting NF-kB (nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells) — a protein complex that, when overactivated, drives chronic inflammation. Exercise-induced inflammation is a normal and necessary part of adaptation, but managing excessive inflammation supports recovery and consistent training quality.
The R-ALA vs. S-ALA Question
Alpha Lipoic Acid exists as two mirror-image isomers — like a left hand and a right hand. This is a meaningful distinction, and it's worth understanding.
R-Alpha Lipoic Acid (R-ALA)
The R-isomer is the naturally occurring, biologically active form. It's the form your body produces endogenously and the form that functions as a mitochondrial cofactor. R-ALA has higher bioavailability and greater biological activity than its counterpart. It's the isomer that directly participates in enzyme complexes and antioxidant recycling.
S-Alpha Lipoic Acid (S-ALA)
The S-isomer is the synthetic mirror image. It does not occur naturally in biology and is not used as a mitochondrial cofactor. Some research suggests S-ALA may actually interfere with R-ALA's biological activity, though the practical significance of this at supplemental doses is debated.
Racemic ALA (50/50 R and S)
Most commercially available ALA — including the majority of generic supplements — is a racemic mixture: a 50/50 blend of R-ALA and S-ALA. This is the default product of chemical synthesis, where both isomers are produced in equal amounts because there's no stereochemical preference in the manufacturing process.
Racemic ALA is what the majority of clinical research has been conducted on. This is an important point: while R-ALA is the more biologically active isomer, the clinical evidence base largely reflects the racemic mixture. Both forms have demonstrated benefits in human studies.
What About AliPure?
AliPure, the branded ALA used in PurePump, is manufactured by Pharmachem Labs. AliPure provides verified-purity ALA with consistent quality control and batch documentation. In the ALA supplement market — where purity can vary significantly between manufacturers, and degradation during storage is a real concern (ALA is sensitive to heat and moisture) — a branded, quality-verified source provides assurance that what's on the label is what's in the product.
Why ALA Is in a Pre Workout (and Why Most Pre Workouts Skip It)
Look at the label of most pre workouts. You'll see caffeine, beta-alanine, citrulline — maybe creatine if you're lucky. You will almost never see Alpha Lipoic Acid.
That's because most pre workout formulas are designed around a narrow model: stimulation + pump + maybe endurance. They hammer a few pathways hard and ignore everything else.
PurePump takes a different approach: cover more performance and health pathways with verified-purity ingredients rather than mega-dosing three compounds and calling it a day. ALA's inclusion reflects this philosophy.
Here's why ALA earns its place in a pre workout:
1. Oxidative stress management during training. Intense exercise dramatically increases free radical production. ALA — working in both water and fat environments — provides broad-spectrum antioxidant support during the period when oxidative stress is highest. It also regenerates the vitamin C (Quali-C) already in the formula, extending its activity.
2. Glucose utilization during exercise. Your muscles need fuel, and they need it fast. ALA's activation of AMPK and promotion of GLUT4 translocation means better glucose delivery to working muscles when they're demanding it most. This complements the B-vitamin complex in PurePump (niacin, B6, folate, B12), which supports the enzymatic pathways that process that glucose into energy.
3. Mitochondrial support. Every muscle contraction runs on ATP, and ATP is produced in mitochondria. ALA is a direct cofactor in that production process. Supporting mitochondrial function during training is supporting your ability to produce energy — the most fundamental performance variable there is.
4. Recovery initiation. Recovery doesn't start when you leave the gym. It starts during the session, as your body is already responding to training stress. ALA's antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties begin managing that stress while you're still training — setting up a better recovery environment from the first set.
Most pre workouts don't include ALA because it doesn't create an immediate, perceptible sensation like caffeine (energy) or beta-alanine (tingles) or citrulline (pump). It works at the cellular level, on metabolic pathways you can't feel in real time. But performance is built on cellular function, and cellular function depends on the metabolic machinery ALA supports.
Clinically Effective Dosage
| Context | Dosage | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Antioxidant support | 100-300mg/day | General antioxidant and cellular protection |
| Glucose metabolism / insulin sensitivity | 300-600mg/day | Most metabolic research uses this range |
| Neuroprotection | 600-1,200mg/day | Higher doses in clinical neurological studies |
| PurePump (2 scoops) | 100mg AliPure | Per serving |
Honest Context on PurePump's Dose
PurePump provides 100mg of AliPure ALA per serving. This falls at the entry point of the antioxidant support range (100-300mg) and below the doses used in most glucose metabolism research (300-600mg).
We're straightforward about where this sits. At 100mg, PurePump delivers a meaningful antioxidant and metabolic support dose — enough to contribute to free radical management during training and support glucose utilization — without claiming to match the higher doses used in clinical metabolic studies. This is the tradeoff of 15 branded active ingredients in a 7.6g serving that is 100% active compound. Zero filler, zero flavoring, zero sweeteners. Every milligram is working.
The inclusion of ALA at 100mg reflects PurePump's broader ingredient philosophy: comprehensive coverage across multiple performance and health pathways. Most pre workouts include zero ALA. PurePump includes a verified-purity, branded source that provides genuine antioxidant and metabolic support during training. For individuals who want higher ALA doses for specific metabolic goals, standalone ALA supplementation can complement PurePump's foundation.
Timing and Absorption
ALA is absorbed relatively quickly, with plasma levels peaking within 30-60 minutes of oral ingestion. This aligns well with PurePump's recommended 15-30 minutes pre-training timing — ALA levels are rising as your workout begins.
ALA absorption is reduced when taken with food (food competes for absorption in the GI tract). For maximum absorption of a standalone ALA supplement, taking it on an empty stomach is ideal. However, within PurePump's multi-ingredient formula, the practical difference is minimal — and the other ingredients in PurePump benefit from the recommended mixing with juice or a sports drink.
Side Effects & Safety
Alpha Lipoic Acid has a well-established safety profile. It has been used therapeutically at doses of 600-1,800mg/day in clinical settings (particularly for diabetic neuropathy in Europe) with a long safety record.
Possible side effects (generally at higher doses, 600mg+): - GI discomfort — nausea, heartburn, or stomach upset. Dose-dependent and more common at doses above 600mg. Very unlikely at PurePump's 100mg. - Skin rash — rare allergic reaction in sensitive individuals - Hypoglycemia risk — ALA improves insulin sensitivity and glucose uptake. At higher doses, this could theoretically lower blood sugar too much, particularly in individuals taking diabetes medications (insulin, metformin, sulfonylureas). At 100mg, this is not a practical concern for healthy individuals.
Not typically a concern at supplemental doses (100-300mg): - Liver toxicity - Kidney damage - Hormonal disruption
Special considerations: - Individuals taking diabetes medications should consult their doctor before supplementing with ALA, particularly at higher doses, due to additive blood sugar-lowering effects - Individuals taking thyroid medications (levothyroxine) should consult their doctor — ALA may affect thyroid hormone levels - Pregnant and nursing women should consult their healthcare provider - ALA may increase the effects of some chemotherapy drugs — individuals undergoing cancer treatment should consult their oncologist
How Do Vitamins Uses Alpha Lipoic Acid
Product: PurePump Pre-Workout
Do Vitamins uses AliPure Alpha Lipoic Acid in PurePump — a branded, verified-purity ALA from Pharmachem Labs. AliPure ensures consistent quality and purity batch to batch, which matters for a compound that is sensitive to degradation from heat and moisture.
In PurePump (100mg AliPure per 2-scoop / 7.6g serving, 30 servings per container): ALA serves multiple roles in the formula — antioxidant protection during training, glucose metabolism support for fuel delivery, and mitochondrial cofactor support for cellular energy production. It creates direct synergies with other PurePump ingredients: regenerating the Vitamin C (Quali-C) to extend its antioxidant activity, supporting the glucose pathways that the B-vitamin complex (niacin, B6, folate, B12) helps metabolize, and protecting the mitochondria where creatine (CreaPure) helps regenerate ATP.
Most pre workouts don't include ALA. They focus on stimulation and pump and ignore the cellular infrastructure that supports sustainable performance. PurePump includes it because performance is ultimately cellular — your muscles produce force by producing ATP in mitochondria, using glucose and fatty acids as fuel, while managing the oxidative stress that training generates. ALA touches all three of those processes. That's why it earned a spot in a formula where every ingredient has to justify its presence in a 7.6g serving of pure active compounds.
Honest context on dosing: PurePump's 100mg AliPure is at the lower end of the antioxidant support range and below the doses used in metabolic research. That's the reality of fitting 15 branded active ingredients into a serving with zero filler. But 100mg of verified-purity ALA during training is meaningfully more than the zero milligrams most pre workouts provide. PurePump's approach is comprehensive coverage — more pathways, branded sources, honest doses — rather than ignoring important ingredients entirely because they can't be mega-dosed.
Every ingredient in PurePump, including the AliPure ALA, is covered by BSCG Certified Drug Free batch testing. The formula is GMP Certified, Certified Vegan, Keto Certified, and Certified Paleo. At $42.95 for 30 servings ($1.43/serving), you're paying for 15 branded active ingredients that work across multiple performance pathways — including an antioxidant that most supplement companies don't think to include. PurePump has 25 calories per serving, and every one of those 7.6 grams is doing something.
FAQ
Why haven't I seen ALA in other pre workouts?
Because most pre workouts are built around the same narrow formula: stimulant + pump ingredient + maybe an endurance compound. ALA works at the cellular and metabolic level — it doesn't create an obvious sensation like caffeine jitters or beta-alanine tingles. Its benefits (antioxidant protection, glucose utilization, mitochondrial support) are real but not immediately perceptible. PurePump includes ALA because the formula is designed around comprehensive performance support, not just ingredients you can feel in the first five minutes.
Is ALA a fat burner?
No. ALA supports glucose metabolism and helps your body efficiently use fuel, but it does not independently cause fat loss. Some research suggests ALA may modestly improve body composition over time by improving insulin sensitivity and glucose disposal — meaning your body partitions nutrients more effectively. But it's not a thermogenic or a stimulant. Anyone marketing ALA as a standalone fat burner is overstating the evidence.
What's the difference between R-ALA and regular ALA?
R-ALA is the naturally occurring, biologically active isomer. Regular (racemic) ALA is a 50/50 mixture of R-ALA and S-ALA (the synthetic mirror image). R-ALA has higher bioavailability and is the form that functions as a mitochondrial cofactor. However, most clinical research has used the racemic mixture, and both forms have shown benefits. Stabilized R-ALA supplements exist but are more expensive and less stable than racemic ALA.
Can I take ALA with other antioxidants?
Yes — and it's actually synergistic. ALA regenerates vitamins C and E, glutathione, and CoQ10, extending their antioxidant activity. Taking ALA alongside these antioxidants amplifies your total antioxidant defense. In PurePump, ALA works alongside Vitamin C (Quali-C) for exactly this reason.
Should I take ALA on an empty stomach?
For standalone ALA supplements, absorption is slightly better on an empty stomach. Within PurePump's multi-ingredient formula mixed with juice or a sports drink (as recommended), this consideration is less relevant. The suggested mixing with juice also helps the carnitine (Carnipure) in the formula absorb better — so the mixing instruction serves multiple ingredients.
Is 100mg of ALA enough to do anything?
100mg is at the lower end of the supplemental range for antioxidant support. It's a meaningful dose — sufficient to contribute to free radical management during training and support glucose metabolism — but it's not the 300-600mg range used in metabolic research studies. PurePump includes ALA as part of a 15-ingredient formula covering multiple performance pathways. If ALA is a priority for specific health goals (blood sugar management, neuroprotection), a standalone supplement at 300-600mg can complement PurePump's 100mg foundation. But 100mg of verified-purity AliPure during training is significantly more useful than the zero milligrams you'll find in virtually every other pre workout.
These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
