Alpha lipoic acid is in some ways just an antioxidant.  Antioxidants should not be downgraded.  They kill off free radicals, protect collagen and elastin, enliven dull and dead skin, and otherwise help you to maintain beautiful skin that is free of acne, doesn’t age quite as quickly, etc.  But ALA is a little bit more than even that.  It does all of those things of course.  But when alpha lipoic acid stops cross linking, you get hardening arteries, wrinkled skin, and stiffening joints. 

So as you can see, it has a much bigger role than your common everyday antioxidant.  It is found in many foods, which is good because you definitely want to easily avoid these problems for as long as possible, and it has been found in mention of the top 10 superfoods.  It has extra benefits for the skin, and many have found that alpha lipoic acid is more effective at maintaining skin in general and to stop aging in its tracks.  It doesn’t necessarily reverse the signs substantially. It has a little bit of an effect that way, but its major thing is maintenance if applied topically.  But definitely ingest it whenever you can in the best foods.