Alpha GPC

Overview:

L-alpha-glycerylphosphorylcholine or Alpha GPC is a naturally occurring compound in many red meats in our diet. It is 41% choline by weight, making it a great supplement for acetylcholine (a neurotransmitter) in the body. It also can cross the blood brain barrier which explains its cognitive enhancing effects. It has been found at the correct doses, to increase cognitive function, decrease active brain disorders/help prevent them, and even notably promote increases in exercise markers. 

Simple: 

Alpha GPC is a new growing supplement in the fitness industry and for good reason. Alpha GPC has an enormous amount of evidence indicating an increase in cognitive function tasks and focus, mostly because of its ability to increase choline levels in the blood and cross the blood brain barrier to enter the brain tissue. This benefit is not all, as more research found its effect on strenuous exercise such as resistance training, increasing power, sprint times, and focus on athletes at a significant level. Its mechanism is still relatively unknown, meaning, how it does this, but a study has shown its ability to increase growth hormone secretion as an underlying possibility of its performance enhancing effects. At doses ranging from 150mg-600mg, this supplement is well tolerated and no side effects are seen, while still improving focus, cognition, power, as well as power in performance athletes.

Complex: 

Starting off with a 2023 update on the current choline literature, we find promising evidence of studies on alpha GPC supplementation, which was mainly studied and used to combat brain disorders by increasing acetylcholine in the plasma. It was then found to increase attention and cognitive ability in people with dementia and Alzheimer's. Other studies also found advances in psychomotor performance in muscle strength. A group of 13 college-aged male subjects who were given 600mg of GPC were observed to increase 98.8 N of force in a pull assessment. This is essentially 22 more lbs of force by the participant. Maximum velocity and mechanical power were also improved from as little as 250mg of GPC. Other studies resulted in an increase in reaction time and jump power from just 300mg and 150mg of GPC [3]

In a study testing the heart rate variability (HRV), power output, and fatigue, they found that alpha GPC at 1000mg was found to help recovery after strenuous exercise by helping the heart rate recover to its resting rate quicker than placebo. This shows its potential use in both athletic and power performance. They also were able to show that alpha GPC induced  higher mean power and isometric strength during the max effort sprint task in the experimented group. This confirmed findings of two other particular studies on the sprint task showcasing the scientific evidence supporting this [2].

There isn’t much known about the exact mechanism of action of alpha GPC besides that it increases plasma choline concentrations, but how it affects performance and cognition are still somewhat unknown. Some studies show it may increase nitric oxide concentrations, but one key study showed how it may have an effect of increasing growth hormone. In a study with eight healthy participants ingesting 1000mg of alpha gpc or a placebo, their fasting blood samples were taken before, 60 minutes, and 120 minutes after ingestion. Free choline levels significantly increased after ingestion, and plasma growth hormone secretion was significantly increased 60 minutes after taking the GPC, with no significant change within the placebo group. Another finding was an increase in serum acetoacetate and 3-hydroxybutyrate levels which indicate hepatic fat oxidation, or lipolysis of fat after ingestion, which may be evidence for fat burning properties [4].

On a slightly different note, choline supplementation on mice with hepatocellular carcinoma (third most common cause of cancer related death) were given choline and it resulted in a 55% decrease in total tumor numbers, and 67% decrease in total surface area of the tumors. It also increased the abundance of mitochondria, 21%, and expression of β-oxidation genes, 75-100%, in the liver [1]. More research is needed to show this exact effect in humans, but this indicates its anti-cancer properties and ability to induce fat oxidation in tissues.

Works Cited:

1. Amanda L Brown, Kelsey Conrad, Daniela S Allende, Anthony D Gromovsky, Renliang Zhang, Chase K Neumann, A Phillip Owens, Michael Tranter, Robert N Helsley, Dietary Choline Supplementation Attenuates High-Fat-Diet–Induced Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Mice, The Journal of Nutrition, Volume 150, Issue 4, 2020, Pages 775-783, ISSN 0022-3166,https://doi.org/10.1093/jn/nxz315.(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022316622021228)
2. Barzanjeh SP, Pescatello LS, Figueroa A, Ahmadizad S. The Effects of Alpha-Glycerylphosphorylcholine on Heart Rate Variability and Hemodynamic Variables Following Sprint Interval Exercise in Overweight and Obese Women. Nutrients. 2022 Sep 24;14(19):3970. doi: 10.3390/nu14193970. PMID: 36235623; PMCID: PMC9572742.
3. Kansakar U, Trimarco V, Mone P, Varzideh F, Lombardi A, Santulli G. Choline supplements: An update. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2023 Mar 7;14:1148166. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2023.1148166. PMID: 36950691; PMCID: PMC10025538.
4. Kawamura T, Okubo T, Sato K, Fujita S, Goto K, Hamaoka T, Iemitsu M. Glycerophosphocholine enhances growth hormone secretion and fat oxidation in young adults. Nutrition. 2012 Nov-Dec;28(11-12):1122-6. doi: 10.1016/j.nut.2012.02.011. Epub 2012 Jun 5. PMID: 22673596.