I have read about this supplement again and again and am seriously thinking of adding this to my (small) list of supplements.

Has anybody out there got anything to tell me about their own personal experience with ALA? Or does anybody know of any up-to-date books or up-to-date websites with info about ALA?

I'd be happy to hear from you!

amanda

http://mcb.berkeley.edu/index.php?o...ulty&name=amesb

This guy has done research on the subject and is pretty convincing. Of course he also markets the product, but I was convinced enough that I take a combo of alpha lipoic acid and acetyl l-carnitine.

Thanks for the link, I'll check it out pronto.

Have you noticed any improvements in anything since taking these supplements???

amanda

No, I can't say I have noticed any improvements. This is one of the few supplements I take on faith! My mother has Alzheimer's, and I take this in an effort to help avoid it for myself... I am after the effects that it is supposed to have on your brain function.

I used it for about two weeks before stopping. It gave me a rash on my arms and legs. I have sensitive skin though.

I was taking Alpha Ketoglutaric acid at the begining of LCing and I don't really know what it was supposed to do. I was being supervised by a physician and he told me to take it so I did. Are they related?

I never heard of Alpha Ketoglutaric acid. Had tyo go to Wikipedia to look it up. They don't appear to be related at all...

I would really like to hear about anybody who has used alpha-lipoic acid and its side effects. I am reading up on it as a anti-oxidant and chelator supplement for autistic children, so a list of potential side effects would be helpful to me. So far one person reports a rash. Anybody else? Is it easily digestible?

Alpha lipoic acid is one of the supplements I take several times a day without fail.

I'm currently eating a much higher level of controlled carb than I used to as an experiment. I've been taking ALA 2-3 times per day, 2 capsules, and chromium, 4 capsules each first thing in the morning and last thing at night. And despite my much higher carb level, I am having absolutely NO hypoglycemia symptoms, which have plagued me my whole life, even some while eating vlc.

I have noticed not particular side effects.

You might want to pop a line to Wifezilla on this forum: she has a severely autistic son and may have heard about this. Tell her I passed your name on; I'm sure she won't mind giving you any info if she has any.

amanda

There are only minor drug interactions listed on the Drug Interactions checker

Dr. Sahelian’s says Alpha lipoic acid side effects
There are no indications that low doses of lipoic acid, such as 5 to 20 mg, have side effects. Higher doses could cause nausea or stomach upset, along with over-stimulation, fatigue, and insomnia. High doses could also potentially lower blood sugar. This is often beneficial to patients who have diabetes, but it requires close monitoring of blood sugar levels. We have had one report of 300 mg of alpha lipoic acid taken 3 times a day for three weeks led to atrial fibrillation. Another person emailed that a 50 mg dose of R lipoic acid made him feel his heart racing, he took it at the same time as his thyroid medication Levothyroid. Those with thyroid problems may consider taking half a capsule of a 50 mg R alpha lipoic acid dose.

Dr. Sahelian’s experience with alpha lipoic acid
Unlike most antioxidants such as vitamins C, E, and selenium, there is actually a noticeable effect from taking alpha lipoic acid. I’ve observed a sense of relaxed wellbeing and slightly enhanced visual acuity. Higher dosages, such as 50 mg or more, even when taken in the morning, cause me to have insomnia.

If you look at this abstract it looks like it could be very useful.
Alpha-lipoic acid supplementation and diabetes. (I can't get the full text)
Diabetes is a common metabolic disorder that is usually accompanied by increased production of reactive oxygen species or by impaired antioxidant defenses. Importantly, oxidative stress is particularly relevant to the risk of cardiovascular disease. Alpha-lipoic acid (LA), a naturally occurring dithiol compound, has long been known as an essential cofactor for mitochondrial bioenergetic enzymes. LA is a very important micronutrient with diverse pharmacologic and antioxidant properties. Pharmacologically, LA improves glycemic control and polyneuropathies associated with diabetes mellitus; it also effectively mitigates toxicities associated with heavy metal poisoning. As an antioxidant, LA directly terminates free radicals, chelates transition metal ions, increases cytosolic glutathione and vitamin C levels, and prevents toxicities associated with their loss. These diverse actions suggest that LA acts by multiple mechanisms both physiologically and pharmacologically. Its biosynthesis decreases as people age and is reduced in people with compromised health, thus suggesting a possible therapeutic role for LA in such cases. Reviewed here is the known efficacy of LA with particular reference to types 1 and 2 diabetes. Particular attention is paid to the potential benefits of LA with respect to glycemic control, improved insulin sensitivity, oxidative stress, and neuropathy in diabetic patients. It appers that the major benefit of LA supplementation is in patients with diabetic neuropathy.

Consumerlab suggests the dose for diabetes, peripheral neuropathy, cardiac autonomic neuropathy is 600 ~ 1200 mg per day divided into three equal doses and they warn it could take several weeks for the effect to become apparent.
They also warn that if you are taking it to help diabetes you will have to watch your medications carefully.
Abnormal skin sensations may worsen at the start of ALA supplementing
Rashes have been reported.
Very high doses could cause headache/stomach ache (more common with intravenous) and if your thiamine deficient alcoholic you'd need thiamine as well.

These are what I've used ~~~~~~ for $5 introductory IHERB discount.
but Consumerlab approve Puritans Pride and their 3free if you buy 2 offer looks good value for those in the USA. UK buyers would get caught for VAT+handling charge as well as delivery charge.

I my God, I know she has a webpage so I googled wifezilla and clicked on the first link and fell on a horrible porn site!!!!!!!! eeeekkkkkkk!!! Will go look her up on this forum.

Woops!!! What I do if I'm looking for a particular person or post I remember reading about on this forum is to use the Google Search facility that you can use for this forum only. If you click on the search bar above, then click on Advanced Search, that will give you the Google option to search this forum.

Hope you having clicked on that porn site doesn't mean you'll get lots of rubbish coming into your computer. That can happen. If it does, you'll need to "clean" (an appropriate term here given the dirtiness of the internet content that you accidentally fell upon). I can recommend spybot if that happens.

amanda

I have found an operation called "Supersmart" that delivers to all the EU countries and they do the alpha-lipoic acid called "r-alpha-lipoic acid". (It stands for ricemic or something like that, I believe). This is more expensive but supposedly more bio-available. I might try this first.

And, by the way, Mr Hutchinson, I shall be eternally grateful for your tireless pursuit of your VitD3 mission!!!

I'll post it on the Vit D3 challenge as well, but after just two days I am already noticing one very nice improvement in my overall wellbeing.

On schooldays I generally have to get up at about 6.45am, which I generally find very difficult, especially in winter when it's dark. This morning I had set my alarm for 6am because my youngest daughter had to get up earlier than usual. I had gone to bed quite early yesterday, but probably didn't get to sleep till, say 10.30pm or so. I hadn't had any beer which usually gives me a better night's sleep, but that doesn't make it any easier to get up! I manage to get up and only feel fully awake after about half an hour.

Today (I've only taken 2x 4K IU of VitD3 so far) I woke up at 5.57am, looked at my alarm clock and got up. As I got out of bed, I thought to myself, completely spontaneously, "Funny, I feel completely awake and rested!". And then it struck me that this was one of the "side-effects" that Zuleikka mentions on the first page on the VitD Experiment thread.

It was the most amazing feeling: waking up and 'Ping!', wide-awake! There was none of this usual half-conscious stumbling about that I connect with getting up. I was just instantly wide-awake!!! I can only recall having that feeling when I first started low-carbing (it was May 2007) and the mornings were light.

And I have felt unusually clear-headed, too. It really feels as if a kind of fog has lifted from my brain. Amazing!!! It took me a long while to get my head round this, as part of me is still very wary of supplements, but this one is definitely a winner!!!

Thank you so much for your work on this front - and, of course, for the links about the ALA!

amanda

PS - can it be assumed that you no longer take ALA? What were your own experiences with it?

I'm with Bat Spit..this is one antioxidant that should be taken by everyone who can take it...it even helps recycle and resynthesize vit C..and it is fat and water soluble. It is awesome stuff.

The only side effects I have seen with 100's of people who have taken it..the acid compound upset their stomach and it dropped some peoples blood sugar levels too low..so they had a rebound hypoglycemia.

I have them cut the dose back and that seems to help. I went to a seminar about alpha lipoic acid and the speaker recommended to take it right before a meal.

I think it should be taken in the middle of a meal to avoid any stomach upset.