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anyone taking ALA

asecin

asecin

Bluelighter
Joined
Apr 13, 2005
Messages
1,725
anyone was ever taking Alpha Lipoic Acid and you care to report how you felt on it ? it is said to be powerful antioxidant, yet i was taking it for a while and i never felt anything, but few side effects. perhaps the company Solgar is not fit to distribute it. if you do use it, can you actually recomend good company that has quality product ? its real hard to find quality products in the dietary supplement business considering nobody controls what they release out there :X
 
i was taking it everyday until recently, the only reason i took it was because i was rolling every weekend for a several month period. from a rolling stand point of view i felt it did work. my head felt alot clearer the next day, didnt have some hangovers like i did prior to taking it. maybe its the placebo affect but i felt like it was working, i made some of my frens take some after rolling one night and they all said they noticed a diff.

as for as brands, i first bought watever cvs/walmart had. and then i went to whole foods one day and the lady was very helpful, she should me couple different ones. i ened up choosing one with biotain in it. i cant rememeber the brand name but half the pill was instant release and the other half had biotain in it to be time release.
 
The whole chiral or handedness thing is going to come into this. Typical less expensive ALA is going to have about half of it "handed" the wrong way which is said to be inert or less potent according to some writers.

A lot of well constructed studies have shown ala to be effective in treating peripheral neuropathies. I think its none that ala can spare or recycle quite a few other antioxidants. I take the cheap stuff. I haven't researched the cost benefit ratio of ala that is all "handed" correctly.

What are your goals for ala? Outside of certain conditions I'm not sure one would feel a boost or see a specific benefit.
 
ALA is R-ALA + S(or L?)-ALA. You want only R-ALA. It is more expensive and usually only sold of the internet. S-ALA takes away ALL the benefits of R-ALA, but it is easier for the manufacturers to produce both rather than just R-ALA. R-ALA is natural btw and S-ALA is not.

ALA is shit bad while R-ALA is powerfully strong as an anti-oxidant.
 
^ I've seen that claim a lot. Do you have any sources for s-ala neutralizing the good of r-ala or s-ala being in anyway bad. I'm not disputing your claim or affirming it, I just wonder where it comes from other then supplement vendors?
 
rollingstoned! said:
ALA is R-ALA + S(or L?)-ALA. You want only R-ALA. It is more expensive and usually only sold of the internet. S-ALA takes away ALL the benefits of R-ALA, but it is easier for the manufacturers to produce both rather than just R-ALA. R-ALA is natural btw and S-ALA is not.

ALA is shit bad while R-ALA is powerfully strong as an anti-oxidant.
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wtf you talking about ? this makes no sense. i checked tons of supplements and all it says on them is ALA (Alpha Lipoic Acid). where the fuck did u see this R-ALA or S-ALA etc. ??
 
Ulrich H, Weischer CH, Engel J, Hettche H. Pharmaceutical compositions containing R-alpha-lipoic acid or S-alpha.-lipoic acid as active ingredient. US 6,271,254 2001

177.^ Kilic F, Handelman GJ, Serbinova E, Packer L, Trevithic JR. Modelling cortical cataractogenesis: in vitro effect of a-lipoic acid on glucose-induced lens membrane damage, a model of diabetic cataractogenesis. Biochem Mol Biol Int1995;37:361-370. PMID: 8673020

178.^ Artwohl M, Schmetterer L, Rainer G, et al. Modulation by antioxidants of endothelial apoptosis, proliferation, & associated gene/protein expression. European Association for the Study of Diabetes. Program 36. Jerusalem, Israel; 2000: Abs 274

179.^ Streeper RS, Henriksen EJ, Jacob S, Hokama JY, Fogt DL, Tritschler HJ. Differential effects of lipoic acid stereoisomers on glucose metabolism in insulin-resistant skeletal muscle. Am J Physiol 1997;273:E185-E191. PMID: 9252495
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180.^ Frölich L, Götz ME, Weinmüller M, Youdim MB, Barth N, Dirr A, Gsell W, Jellinger K, Beckmann H, Riederer P. (R)-but not (S)-alpha lipoic acid stimulates deficient brain pyruvate dehydrogenase complex in vascular dementia, but not in Alzheimer dementia. J Neural Transm 2004;111:295-310. PMID: 14991456
 
Lets take 179 in your excerpted bibliography there rollingstoned!. The abstract says "with the R-(+) enantiomer being much more effective than the S-(-) enantiomer." That is not the same as inactivating or detrimental. It isn't even calling the s form inert, it is saying it is less effective.

Do any of the references here support the statement "S-ALA takes away ALL the benefits of R-ALA," or "ALA is shit bad" ?
 
rollingstone its evident now that you are working by the school system which is whenver someone asks you something you have need to just state your sources with whatever you say, BUT you fail to understand what i asked you completely.
i understand tho, its college based instinct when someone replies to you after it seems you have been making claims, so its best you state sources in your reply.
go back to what i asked please ...
 
^(about the R-ALA or S-ALA stuff) He was saying that a form of ALA that has only one enantiomer is the kind you ought to get and he was denigrating products with a mix of enantiomers. Sometimes synthesized products are very different than natural products on this enantiomer thing. Sometimes it maters, sometimes it doesn't. I believe regular synthesized ALA is less potent than ALA that is sorted to be R only, but I haven't found reliable data that mixed is ineffective or dangerous.
 
enoki, again u didnt understand what i asked. i asked how do you know to tell difference on the market when you buy ALA if it is synthesized or not since they never label them S-ALA or R-ALA or w/e
 
If it is not labeled it is about guarenteed that it is a mixture. If you google for R-ALA you will find lots of products marketed as a the r form only.
 
Love ALA. USed to take R-ALA but just take plain old ALA now- don't notice the difference..
 
i currently use R-ALA. i switched from R/S-ALA about 2 months ago. generally speaking, R-ALA and R/S-ALA feel about the same. the only thing i have noticed is that R-ALA feels stronger than R/S-ALA. in my experience, R-ALA is ~2.5x stronger than R/S-ALA. anyway, here's my deal: i have ADHD-Pi and have an RX for Vyvanse (D-Amp) for it. on the days i do not take Vyvanse, i often take R-ALA as part of a regimen that usually includes ALCAR, Vitamin C (Sodium Ascorbate), EGCg, Vitamin E (mixed tocopherols) and sometimes Ginkgo. for me, when taken with these other vitamins/supplements, R-ALA adds a mild sense of well-being along with evening out my temperament. if it don't take R-ALA with these, i've noticed that i often will get a case of the shakes and can be a bit "off" with my focus/attention. this part could be semi/fully placebo in my opinion; i simply have not taken these without R-ALA enough many times. IMO, this regimen is at its best post-AMP binge. i swear by the combo of R-ALA, ALCAR, EGCg and Vitamin C. it makes recovering from a moderate AMP binge much more tolerable and it reduces my recovery time by about, i'd say, 20%. if i wasn't an AMP user and occasional abuser, it would lose a lot of its value to me. i get mine from Swanson.com. and that's it. sorry for rambling but you know how AMPers are with their supplements and all. hope this helps at least a little :)
 
vvViolet what AMPs means ? also whats EGCg ?

also do you notice any side effects from the ALA shit ? it could be placebo tho not everyone feels anything from it but it helps when you binge on alcohol somehow.
 
btw on my bottle it says Alpha Lipoic Acid (As Thioctic Acid) wtf does that mean Thioctic Acid ?
 
asecin said:
vvViolet what AMPs means ? also whats EGCg ?
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AMPs are amphetamines. potent central nervous system stimulants. currently, i am prescribed Vyvanse which is an ultra extended-release version of Dextro-Amphetamine. other amphetamines you might have heard of include Adderall, Dexedrine, Dextrostat, etc. there's a ton written about amphetamine. if you're interested in learning more, do a search here or google. nevertheless, i'll answer any questions you have regarding amphetamine.

EGCG stands for Epigallocatechin Gallate. it's primarily associated with green tea/green tea extract. it's a strong anti-oxidant. .also, often taken when trying to lose weight as it supposedly boosts one 's metabolism (esp. when combined with exercise). there are some other potential uses that i am largely unfamiliar with. i am a big fan of it. i use it for its strong anti-oxidant properties. in addition, i often feel it give me a small-ish spike in energy (i take a DeCaf version) along with a good deal of endurance. that's really the extent of my knowledge on EGCG. it's a pretty popular supplement.

asecin said:
also do you notice any side effects from the ALA shit ? it could be placebo tho not everyone feels anything from it but it helps when you binge on alcohol somehow.
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no side effects at all. even in high-ish doses, still no side effects. i agree, placebo effect and supplements go together swimmingly. i probably just don't trust myself enough. ha! the alcohol binging thing... i too have heard that it's good at preventing/treating hangovers. i've tried it myself (not a big drinker) but next time i do decide to drink a lot of booze, i'll def. give it a try.

asecin said:
btw on my bottle it says Alpha Lipoic Acid (As Thioctic Acid) wtf does that mean Thioctic Acid ?
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Thioctic Acid is another name for Alpha-Lipoic Acid. i think it's, like, the old-school name for it.
 
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ah i knew of EGCG but i asked cuz i wasnt sure if it was exact same thing you meant. i did read about it and it is mentioned as antioxidant indeed, but in medical journals i have checked for actual facts, it is shown that is poorly if at all absorbed in the human body after oral consumption. it is also a tannin i believe and it could be detrimental in high doses, but since speculating it is poorly absorbed, i guess it has no problems. :\


also i didnt like your condescending attitude when you were explaining what AMPs meant. i never knew of this abbreviation, but i know plenty about amphetamines even tho i just experimented few times
 
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asecin said:
ah i knew of EGCG but i asked cuz i wasnt sure if it was exact same thing you meant. i did read about it and it is mentioned as antioxidant indeed, but in medical journals i have checked for actual facts, it is shown that is poorly if at all absorbed in the human body after oral consumption. it is also a tannin i believe and it could be detrimental in high doses, but since speculating it is poorly absorbed, i guess it has no problems. :\
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i was unaware that EGCG absorption was so poor. i looked into it briefly. the only things that i found that *may* enhance absorption of EGCG were low-dose Caffeine, Quercetin and Piperine. take it with a grain of salt as i truly just skimmed these articles. Piperine appeared the most effective at increasing EGCG absorption. the problem is that Piperine can greatly throw off one's metabolism of a great many things. i will def. be looking into this whole deal more when i have time and provide citations and such. just wanted to bounce that info off you.

asecin said:
also i didnt like your condescending attitude when you were explaining what AMPs meant. i never knew of this abbreviation, but i know plenty about amphetamines even tho i just experimented few times
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i apologize if it seemed that way. my bad.
 
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