Help me with ALA. R (natural) vs. S (Synthetic) types

[sp9]

Looking through all the posts I keep hearing about ALA and a few mention the two types R vs S. R being the Natural and S being the synthetic.

I read this information here: http://www.anabolicfitness.net/ALA/g...bottomline.htm

It seems that most supplements contains R and S mixed, and that the S type can counter the good effects of the R (natural) ALA.

Anyone know where to get pure Natural R-ALA ???

Anyone want to share what they have heard about the Natural vs. Synthetic??? Thanks.


For example here is something I read:

If you're taking a conventional lipoic acid pill, then you need to know that the health-promoting, anti-aging benefits associated with this nutrient are only being delivered by half of your supplement. The other half is worse than useless: it actually antagonizes the effects of the good half of the supplement. To put it bluntly: the lipoic acid you're taking harbors both a hero … and an "evil twin."

Unless they specify otherwise, "lipoic acid" supplements are a 50/50 mixture of the natural R(+)-lipoic acid, and the synthetic S(-)-lipoic acid. These mixtures are called "racemates."

In some cases, S(-)-lipoic acid - or the racemate in nearly all supplements - is simply less effective than R(+)-lipoic acid. In other cases, the S(-)-form actually acts in opposition to the effects of R(+)-lipoic acid.

Common "lipoic acid" supplements are thus like a house at war with itself. The S(-)-form should be removed from supplements in favor of pure R(+)-lipoic acid.

[iceman11111]

well unfortunately all the pro R-ALA studies have came from the only company that sells R-ALA!

Here is some great info on the normal ALA

Lipoic Acid: Same anabolic effects as a weak AAS like Primo

OK, I see some people still don't fully understand how ALA
works. Yes, its the best liver protector out there, BUT
it also has some pretty incredible nutrient partitioning
qualities similiar to those of a weak AAS liek Primo.

Lets examine the physiological response to a meal
taken with ALA and w/o ALA.

THIS WHOLE SCENARIO ASSUMES GLYCOGEN STORES
ARE ALREADY FULL!!! Remember this......(This is the
scenario when bulking)


1. Meal taken w/o ALA.

i) Food(Macro-nutrients) are ingested.
ii) Body converts these nutrients to glucose,
its main source of fuel.(Protein and triglycerides
also convert to glucose btw)
Protein: 58% glucogenic
Fat: 10% glucogenic
iii) The body detects the glucose entering the Blood-stream
and releases insulin to shuttle the glucose/amino-acids/fats
into the cells. This is done by the Pancreas.
These cells are the miocytes(muscle cells) and
adipocytes(fat cells)

Now, the muscle-cells are COMPLETELY full, so all
the nutrients are either shuttled INTO the
adipocytes(fat cells) or oxidized for energy.

Net result: INCREASE IN FAT MASS.

Now, Meal taken w/ ALA

i) Food(Macro-nutrients) are ingested.
ii) Body converts these nutrients to glucose,
its main source of fuel.(Protein and triglycerides
also convert to glucose btw)
Protein: 58% glucogenic
Fat: 10% glucogenic
iii) The body detects the glucose entering the Blood-stream
and releases insulin to shuttle the glucose/amino-acids/fats
into the cells.
These cells are the miocytes(muscle cells) and
adipocytes(fat cells)

However,(And this is the IMPORTANT PART), ALA
has increased the amount of glut-4 transporters
on the out-side of the miocytes(muscle-cells)
considerably.(By roughly 50% from the studies that
have been posted)
This effect gives the msucle-cells the ability to soak up MORE
glucose from the blood-stream. In essence, you have
increased the amount of glycogen your muscles can store.

So, we now have a glucose wave incoming into the
the micoytes and adipopcytes which is being pushed
by a certain amount of insulin.(Depending on the amount
of food(type) consumed).

Now, in a normal scenario(like w/o ALA being added to the
meal) the net result would be fat gain, BUT the glucose is
now PARTIALLY being diverted to the miocytes(muscle-cells),
due to the increased cellular glut-4 content being generated
by the exogeneously orally administered ALA.
This now means that the glucose+nutrients are being
diverted to BOTH the MUSCLE-cells and fat-cells w/o
ANY CHANGE in insulogenic levels. While in the w/o
ALA scenario the glucose was being diverted STRAIGHT
to the fat-cells.

What does this all mean?

That by just adding ALA to a meal you have
diverted MORE NUTRIENTS into your muscle
cells than into your fat cells.
This is what a nutrient-partitioning agent does.
The net result is an increased muscle-gain over the
long-run with a smaller fat-gain.

To give you a quantitative idea, if a person
gains 10lbs muscle and 10lbs fat in a bulking
cycle w/o ALA. He/she is likely to gain around
14lbs muscle and 6 lbs fat if he/she would have
taken ALA.

Thats what makes ALA a kick-ass supplement.

This whole thread is of course in reference to
HIGH-DOSES of ALA. Roughly 3000mg/day or more.
And, before anybody starts saying that I'm going to
die, the toxic dose for a 165-lb individual is
30,000mg, so doomsayers begone.

Fonz