3 replies to this topic

[LIB]

Is this Jarrow product ALA or R-ALA? I know it just says ALA on the packaging, but the "sustain" part has me wondering if it's the R version. I'm interested in heavy metal removal and hear R-ALA is the superior form.

http://www.iherb.com...spx?c=1&pid=143

Edited by LIB, 11 May 2008 - 12:50 AM.

[david ellis]

Is this Jarrow product ALA or R-ALA? I know it just says ALA on the packaging, but the "sustain" part has me wondering if it's the R version. I'm interested in heavy metal removal and hear R-ALA is the superior form.

http://www.iherb.com...spx?c=1&pid=143

It is ALA. The superiority of RALA is not acknowledged by everyone. Just for fun, ask your advisor what studies say RALA, and then read them. Very successful studies are done with ALA.

[niner]

Is this Jarrow product ALA or R-ALA? I know it just says ALA on the packaging, but the "sustain" part has me wondering if it's the R version. I'm interested in heavy metal removal and hear R-ALA is the superior form.

http://www.iherb.com...spx?c=1&pid=143

As david said, it's ALA, which is half R and half S. The "sustain" part refers to its controlled release technology. There has been a lot of concern about the very short half life of lipoic acid in the body, and this is meant to address that. Recent research suggests that the mechanism of action of lipoic acid is such that spike doses are actually better than sustained release formulations. There was a thread here about this a while back. If you are interested in getting rid of heavy metals though, spike dosing might be worse, so this might be a good approach. I used this product for a while, but my hair-trigger intestines weren't down with it, so I dropped it. Do you have any reason to believe that you are suffering from heavy metal toxicity? The reason I ask is that it's kind of a religion. The "symptoms" are so vague and common that three quarters of the population would have heavy metal toxicity if you went by them alone. If all you care about is getting rid of metals, I wouldn't waste money on the pure R form.

[LIB]

Is this Jarrow product ALA or R-ALA? I know it just says ALA on the packaging, but the "sustain" part has me wondering if it's the R version. I'm interested in heavy metal removal and hear R-ALA is the superior form.

http://www.iherb.com...spx?c=1&pid=143

As david said, it's ALA, which is half R and half S. The "sustain" part refers to its controlled release technology. There has been a lot of concern about the very short half life of lipoic acid in the body, and this is meant to address that. Recent research suggests that the mechanism of action of lipoic acid is such that spike doses are actually better than sustained release formulations. There was a thread here about this a while back. If you are interested in getting rid of heavy metals though, spike dosing might be worse, so this might be a good approach. I used this product for a while, but my hair-trigger intestines weren't down with it, so I dropped it. Do you have any reason to believe that you are suffering from heavy metal toxicity? The reason I ask is that it's kind of a religion. The "symptoms" are so vague and common that three quarters of the population would have heavy metal toxicity if you went by them alone. If all you care about is getting rid of metals, I wouldn't waste money on the pure R form.

Thank you for the help. I believe I have an issue with metal toxicity because when I was less health conscious I was told by my dentist my amalgam filling was "bad" and needed to be replaced with composite. He didn't take any special precautions while replacing the filling with a new composite, and within a week...I felt seriously bad. I had HUGE brain fog, depression, irritability, and so on. As in night and day difference. I'm using DMSA right now, and when I take it, I feel the pulling/pressure in my head, which I have read is normal and a sign that you have metal being chelated. I was asking about ALA because I wanted to make sure I was using the best source possible.