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Username
05-08-2002, 10:07 AM
What is ALA!?!?! I have looked for info on it but no luck.

BStrongBwell*
05-08-2002, 12:51 PM
It's also a great antioxidant...here's a research article on the subject:

Alpha-Lipoic acid:
Quite Possibly the "Universal" Antioxidant

Copyright © 1996 by Jack Challem, The Nutrition Reporter™
All rights reserved.

If it's essential role in health is any indication, alpha-lipoic acid may very well join the ranks of vitamins C and E as part of your first-line of defense against free radicals. Discovered in 1951, it serves as a coenzyme in the Krebs cycle and in the production of cellular energy. In the late 1980s, researchers realized that alpha-lipoic acid had been overlooked as a powerful antioxidant.

Over the past few years, the pace of research on lipoic acid has increased dramatically. Last year, Lester Packer, PhD, of the University of California, Berkeley, published a lengthy review article on alpha-lipoic acid in Free Radical Biology & Medicine (1995;19:227-50). In April 1996, he presented a short review of it in the same journal (FRBM;20:625-6).

Several qualities distinguish alpha-lipoic acid from other antioxidants, and Packer has described it at various times as the "universal," "ideal," and "metabolic" antioxidant. It neutralizes free radicals in both the fatty and watery regions of cells, in contrast to vitamin C (which is water soluble) and vitamin E (which is fat soluble).

The body routinely converts some alpha-lipoic acid to dihydrolipoic acid, which appears to be an even more powerful antioxidant. Both forms of lipoic acid quench peroxynitrite radicals, an especially dangerous type consisting of both oxygen and nitrogen, according to a recent paper in FEBS Letters (Whiteman M, et al., FEBS Letters, 1996; 379:74-6). Peroxynitrite radicals play a role in the development of atherosclerosis, lung disease, chronic inflammation, and neurological disorders.

Alpha-lipoic acid also plays an important role in the synergism of antioxidants, what Packer prefers to call the body's "antioxidant network." It directly recycles and extends the metabolic lifespans of vitamin C, glutathione, and coenzyme Q10, and it indirectly renews vitamin E.

In Germany, alpha-lipoic acid is an approved medical treatment for peripheral neuropathy, a common complication of diabetes. It speeds the removal of glucose from the bloodstream, at least partly by enhancing insulin function, and it reduces insulin resistance, an underpinning of many cases of coronary heart disease and obesity. The therapeutic dose for lipoic acid is 600 mg/day. In the United States, it is sold as a dietary supplement, usually as 50 mg tablets. (The richest food source of alpha-lipoic acid is red meat.)

"From a therapeutic viewpoint, few natural antioxidants are ideal," Packer recently explained in Free Radical Biology & Medicine. "An ideal therapeutic antioxidant would fulfill several criteria. These include absorption from the diet, conversion in cells and tissues into usable form, a variety of antioxidant actions (including interactions with other antioxidants) in both membrane and aqueous phases, and low toxicity."

"Alpha-lipoic acid...is unique among natural antioxidants in its ability to fulfill all of these requirements," he continued, "making it a potentially highly effective therapeutic agent in a number of conditions in which oxidative damage has been implicated."

Other research on alpha-lipoic acid has shown that it might:


help people with genetic defects leading to muscle myopathies (Barbiroli B, et al., Journal of Neurology, 1995;242:472-7);

reduce ischemia/reperfusion injury to the heart and brain. (Schonheit K, et al., Biochimica et Biophysica Acta, 1995;1271:335-42; and Cao X and Phillis JW, Free Radical Research, 1995;23:365-70); and

inhibit the activation of "nuclear factor kappa-B," a protein complex involved in cancer and the progression of AIDS. (Suzuki YJ, et al., Biochemical & Biophysical Research Communications, 1992;189:1709-15).
"The therapeutic potential of alpha-lipoic acid is just beginning to be explored," observed Packer, "but this compound holds great promise."

mbstrong
05-08-2002, 05:55 PM
Can somebody give me some places where I can get it.  The cheapest place I found was like $26.39 for 120, 100mg.  Thanks

J*
05-08-2002, 07:51 PM
Wow,
Great info fella's...mbstrong...I know you can get it at DPS, but maybe that is the one you found, I would also like to know where it can be found.  Also, are there any known negatives?  And..do you guys take it ed year round or what?

Thanks,
J

bigjosh
05-08-2002, 08:00 PM
go to www.nutribodies.com.  I think 60 100mg caps are 8.99.  Or if you want a lil cheaper price for bulk, go to jlfcatalog.com they have 30g for 20 bucks i think but it has been a while since i checked.  Look under the "pure compounds" section.

mbstrong
05-09-2002, 01:06 PM
Thanks bigjosh, I'm going to check it out right now.  If you have to take 3000mg ED that would be a lot of money if you had to pay 26.39 for 120, 100mg.

gymrat
05-09-2002, 01:16 PM
cheapest I've been able to find so far.

http://www.nutriteam.com/alpha.htm

mbstrong
05-09-2002, 01:20 PM
That's even better, thanks bro.

gymrat
05-09-2002, 01:25 PM
<!--QuoteBegin--mbstrong+May 09 2002,6:20--></span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (mbstrong @ May 09 2002,6:20)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE"><!--QuoteEBegin-->That&#39;s even better, thanks bro.[/quote]
you&#39;re welcome. &nbsp;It comes out to &#036;.05/mg a pill where the other one comes out to &#036;.10/mg. &nbsp;when you are using a good amount of ala you definitely want to get the best deal. &nbsp;Very good service with that company too. &nbsp;Two days to receive

gynojuicer
05-11-2002, 02:15 AM
wheN i take my ALA it fuckin burnz my throat...Does this happen to anyone else?? i tried everything.. taking it with meals and tried washing it down with thick protein shakes but it still tries to come back up...Anybody have any suggestions??? &nbsp;#&#036; &nbsp;#&#036; &nbsp;#&#036;

NAPALM1
05-11-2002, 11:07 AM
The cheepest place I have found for ALA is Walmart. &nbsp;I can&#39;t rmember how much it costs right now, but its pretty cheep. &nbsp;Later

PhatSack
05-11-2002, 02:25 PM
I don&#39;t know how this price stacks up, but I purchased 1000, 100mg caps for &#036;75 from Kilo Sports.