Doctor's Best Best Stabilized R-Lipoic Acid Featuring Bioenhanced Na-RALA (100 mg), Vegetable Capsules, 60-Count
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Doctor's Best Best Stabilized R-Lipoic Acid Featuring Bioenhanced Na-RALA (100 mg), Vegetable Capsules, 60-Count Details
Manufacturer: Doctor's BestBrand: Doctor's Best
Published: 2010-06-28
Product features:
- Beneficial agent for a variety of bodily functions involving the nervous, cardiovascular, immune, and detoxification systems
- It is produced in small amounts in the liver and other body tissues
- It acts by multiple mechanisms and displays diverse health-enhancing and antioxidant properties
Customer Reviews of Doctor's Best Best Stabilized R-Lipoic Acid Featuring Bioenhanced Na-RALA (100 mg), Vegetable Capsules, 60-Count
Customer Review: If you have a minute, I'll explain why THIS is the Lipoic Acid you want...
Summary: 5 Stars
If you are into Lipoic Acid, THIS IS THE FORMULATION you want. (And I sure think you're right to be into it!)
First: My "motivation" for taking the time to write this review -- to head-off the snarky folks who want to believe that people always have ulterior motives -- look me up on Google or Wikipedia or follow my review links and you'll find that I'm just a techie computer nerd with an interest in health, fitness and longevity who likes to get to the bottom of things. I'm writing this for one reason only: I have done the (extensive) research, and this is *the* BEST form of Lipoic Acid available. I want it to continue being available so that *I* can order and take it ... and so that you can too.
The key term is "BioEnhanced" (which is itself, of course, a nonsense marketing phrase) but the key is that it is the trademark of GeroNova Research of Carson City, Nevada. And THEY are a small group of scientists who are totally into lipoic acid and have figured out how to make the best stuff possible. GeroNova produces the raw material which Doctor's Best, of San Clemente, California, then encapsulates, packages, and retails it so that we can purchase it here.
(Note that most of the Alpha Lipoic Acid (ALA) on the market is made in China. Enough said.)
There are essentially four types of Lipoic Acid on the market today:
Regular ALA (racemic-ALA) - Molecules that are non-symmetrical can also be made in a mirror image of themselves. In the case of lipoic acid, the two mirror images are labeled R- and S-. Our bodies only synthesize and use the R- version, but when big vats of ALA are stirred up synthetically both the R- and S- versions are produced in about equal measure. The trouble with the S- version is that (1) our bodies don't use it at all, (2) it may actually compete with the good R- version for intestinal uptake thus reducing the amount of the good R- version we get and (3) we pay for its presence since a 600mg capsule of regular ALA will consist of only 300mg of useful R-ALA and another 300mg of useless S-ALA.
The second form is R-ALA - This is better, since being all 'R' it's 100% of the 'version' of ALA that our bodies can use. However tests have shown that while it is rapidly and mostly absorbed, serum levels of regular R-ALA do not reach the peaks that can be had with a "stabilized salt formulation" of LA (which is what the GeroNova scientists have created).
The third type of ALA is Timed/Sustained/Slow Release - Since ALA has a notoriously short "half life" in our blood -- on the older of 30 minutes as our kidneys remove it -- some non-scientific purveyors of competing ALA formulations are selling "slow release" versions under the, possibly well meaning, belief that maintaining a lower level for a longer time will be more beneficial. But this has never been proven to be true. And, in fact, it now appears that it might well be the "high and sharp pulse" of ALA in our blood serum that does whatever it is that ALA does that's good.
(Annoyingly, researchers are still unsure exactly how and why ALA does all of the various good things that it does. But it's looking less and less like this is due to the anti-oxidant effects of the molecule, which would tend to argue for a timed release to keep it around longer. It now appears that even having a once or twice daily large brief "pulse" of ALA acts to "wake up" our cells, resetting them to a mode more like that of their youth. And that appears to be a good thing.)
The final type of ALA is the "BioEnhanced" R-LA that's produced by GeroNova. They create a "stabilized" lipoic acid salt by binding the lipoic acid to a bit of sodium. (They also tried using magnesium but yields would have always been too low, and it turned out that resulting human intestinal bioavailability was far higher when using sodium.)
The GeroNova-based R-LA ends up yielding about %250 more R-lipoic acid into the bloodstream than standard racemic (mixed R-/S-) ALA. Given that half of the racemic (mixed) ALA is the wrong mirror image and useless, one 100mg capsule of THIS stuff is about equal in biological value to a single, MORE expensive 600mg capsule of regular (made in China?) alpha lipoic acid.
So, even though "milligram for milligram", this appears to be more expensive, based upon what actually gets into our bloodstream, this formulation is actually less expensive and MUCH more trustworthy. For this reason, THIS is my Lipoic Acid formulation of choice and I truly think that it should be yours too. :)
OH! And so long as it doesn't upset your stomach, try to take it on an empty stomach if possible -- two hours before or three hours after a meal. Studies show that only about half will be absorbed if it's competing with other food.
(If you found this review and these thoughts useful, would you click the "YES" button so that others will see this too? Thanks!)
More Doctor's Best Best Stabilized R-Lipoic Acid Featuring Bioenhanced Na-RALA (100 mg), Vegetable Capsules, 60-Count customer reviews:
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Description of Doctor's Best Best Stabilized R-Lipoic Acid Featuring Bioenhanced Na-RALA (100 mg), Vegetable Capsules, 60-Count
Alpha-lipoic acid (ala, thioctic acid) is a naturally occurring vitamin-like nutrient that has been intensely investigated as a beneficial agent for a variety of bodily functions involving the nervous, cardiovascular, immune, and detoxification systems. it exists as two enantiomers or stereoisomers: r-(+)-lipoic acid (rla) and s-(-)-lipoic acid (sla). it is produced in small amounts in the liver and other body tissues, where it is needed by enzymes to catalyze numerous essential chemical reactions in the body. for instance, ala is essential inside the mitochondria of cells, where it is needed to metabolize glucose and direct calories into energy production.ala is considered to be a multimodal supplement because, aside from its enzymatic role in energy production, it acts by multiple mechanisms and displays diverse health-enhancing and antioxidant properties. recently discovered is ala?s ability to regulate several genes linked to cell survival and oxidative stress. therefore, in addition to its enzymatic role, ala is a powerful antioxidant and performs a number of other vital functions related to its ability to modify the expression of various genes. supplementing with ala is, therefore, not so much a direct benefit to cells, but rather an indirect aid that effectively "kick starts" declining function, helping cells recover functionality that came more easily and naturally in youth.Nutritional Supplements
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