“ALA is an essential cofactor for the array of mitochondrial enzymes that produce energy from fats and carbohydrates…ability to recycle glutathione, one of the most powerful antioxidants in your tissues…”
– What is Alpha Lipoic Acid Good For, Livestrong.com
Alpha Lipoic Acid, or ALA, the ‘A’ in the Four Hour Body’s PAGG weight loss supplement stack.
ALA’s a potent antioxidant and , radical scavenger and renegrates Vitamins C & E in the body. It also helps a to maintain heathy cellular activity by restoring glutathione, a very important antioxidant that’s made by our own body which affects everything from our immune system, to its ability to remove waste like lead and mercury and even basic functions like DNA repair and protein synthesis.
Scientists have also shown evidence that ALA helps burn calories, as seen in the following graph, taken from a study by the Korean University of Ulsan, College of Medicine.
Tim sums up his recommendation for ALA as part of his PAGG supplement stack:
- ALA inhibits fat storage
- ALA aids in cellular activity which helps increase metabolism which helps burn fat
- ALA stores energy from consumed carbohydrates not in fat, but in your muscles and/or liver
- ALA is safe for humans, even in high doses
Difference between S-ALA and R-ALA
If you’ve been reading around you’d probably realise that there are 2 main types of ALA, mainly S-ALA and R-ALA.
S-ALA never existed before 1952. It’s actually a by product of the creation of ALA.
R-ALA is the form that exists naturally in nature and our bodies.
ALA is created as a ‘racemic’ mixture of both S-ALA and R-ALA, meaning the same amount of both are created during the manufacturing process.
What does this means for you? It means that, anytime you pick up a bottle and it simply says ‘300mg Alpha Lipoic Acid’, it’s will contain equal amounts of both S-ALA and R-ALA, 150mg each.
Why R-ALA
It’s the naturally occuring form of ALA which is shown to be more bioavailable, which means it’s readily absorbed by our bodies.
Here’s the interesting part: Several studies have demonstrated that S-ALA is usually not only weaker than R-ALA, but it actually competes with and hinders R-ALA from doing its job.
While filtering out S-ALA from the mixture does increase the price of R-ALA, because its evil twin isn’t causing trouble, you actually need half the R-ALA to get the same or even better results. Putting it in numbers, if you’ve been taking 200mg of ALA, you’d just need 100mg of R-ALA.
As ALA and R-ALA is fragile and can be damanged by exposure to air and light, it’s important that they are packaged in opaque capsules. Some manufactures offers Na-R-ALA, basically R-ALA that’s been stabilized and less fragile.
Side Effects
It’s been proven that ALA is save for humans even in high amounts. Some people though, might get an acid reflux at higher doses. Common methods to avoid this is to have it before a meal, drink more water or lower the dose. So, R-ALA is also good if you need to lower your dose but want to maintain optimal performance because you only need half of standard ALA.
Also, personally, I find that I don’t get any acid reflux when using R-ALA.
Tim recommends 100-300mg of ALA, or in this case, 50-150mg of R-ALA, each time.
PAGG Constituants:
P – Policosanol 23mg
A – Alpha Lipoic Acid ALA 100-300mg, R-ALA 50-150mg
G – Gren Tea Extract EGCG 325mg
G – Garlic Extract Allicin 3200mcg
Daily PAGG Intake Plan for Alpha Lipoc Acid:
Prior to Breakfast – AGG *
Prior to Lunch – AGG *
Prior to Dinner – AGG *
Prior to Bed – PAG *
Tim Uses:
Now Foods, Alpha Lipoic Acid 100mg, 120 vegetarian capsules
Where to Purchase
Within US: from Amazon.com
Outside US: from iHerb.com
Use the code ‘ZEL439‘ at iHerb.com to save US$5 off your 1st purchase
I Recommend:
Doctor’s Best, Stabalized Na-R-Lipoic Acid 100mg, 60-180 capsules
Where to Purchase
Within US: from Amazon.com
Outside US: from iHerb.com
Use the code ‘ZEL439‘ at iHerb.com to save US$5 off your 1st purchase
Too many pills? PAGG with R-ALA Made Easy. Click here to find out more