What to Be Very Careful About When You Get Alpha Lipoic Acid

A little while ago I discovered some very interesting information about Alpha Lipoic Acid and its great health benefits for everybody. One of the best articles I have read is actually here, on hubpages. I was very excited about my discovery and decided to try it.

And what better place to get it from than the Internet? So I started looking for it, I found a bunch of stores that were selling it online, and I was on the point of buying the one I thought was the best deal, when I came accross some information that made me definitely change my mind about where to get it from, or rather what sort of alpha lipoic acid to buy.

I found out that there are actually some very different kinds of alpha lipoic acid on the market and they are not all the same. The most important thing to look for when you want to purchase alpha lipoic acid is whether it is stabilized. That makes all the difference!

I will try to explain here what the differences in between different types of alpha lipoic acid are and the practical implications resulting from here.

First of all, I learnt that unless they specify otherwise, "lipoic acid" supplements are a 50/50 mixture of the natural R(+)-lipoic acid, and the synthetic S(-)-lipoic acid. In some cases, S(-)-lipoic acid 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. So, when you purchase lipoic acid, keep in mind that it is very important to check whether what you are getting is R(+)-lipoic acid. Read the label, see what the capsules contain, and make sure it says "R-lipoic acid", not just "lipoic acid".To read more detailed, clear and well supported documentation, you can follow this link: Alpha Lipoic Acid

But once you make sure you are getting R-lipoic acid, all is not yet solved. Because there are two types of R-lipoic acid on the market: stabilized and unstabilized!

I have read several scientific articles comparing R-Lipoic Acid and Bio-Enhanced Stabilized R-Lipoic Acid and understood that the Bio-Enhanced Stabilized R-Lipoic Acid is by far superior to unstabilized R-Lipoic Acid. I must confess it was quite difficult to go through all those scientific terms, but what made things clear for me was seeing the results of an experiment, a practical demonstration: Alpha Lipoic Acid

First, we have to remember the terms we work with. It's not as difficult as it may seem. We will use RLA for the unstabilized, cheaper R-Lipoic Acid, and Stabilized R-ALA for the stabilized R Alpha Lipoic Acid.

And now let's go to the differences:

What does this stabilized versus non-stabilized issue practically mean? It means that you don't have to keep the Stabilized R-ALA in the fridge. You can just keep it on a shelf and it will be good for 3 years without becoming polymerized. "Wait a minute!" you say. "Polymerized??!!" Oh, that's what I did not understand either till I saw the experiment. The "polymerized" sample became hard and stuck to surfaces (table and even the pen they mixed it with in water). RLA will do that easily when exposed to light, heat or moisture. So the unstable RLA can become polymerized even before it gets to you -while handled by its producers, when the powder is put into capsules. That friction will cause heating which will lead to polymerization even before the product leaves the factory! Then, on its way to you, the mail won't keep it in a fridge, so the RLA will most probably be affected by the heat it is exposed to. I'm sure that if you saw the polymerized RLA you would never put it in your mouth and stomach again.

Stabilized R-ALA is water soluble, it dissolves in water, while the RLA is not soluble. This also leads to another point -Stabilized R-ALA is easily absorbed, which means it gets into the system where it becomes efficient and does its job, while the RLA absorption is slower and far less. In a clinical trial, the concentration of lipoic acid in the plasma was 40 times higher in the people who were given Stabilized R-ALA than those who were given RLA!

I think these differences (and I only wrote about those I considered most important, but there are more) make it clear for anyone why Stabilized R Alpha Lipoic Acid is much better and why you should get it and not just RLA.

So, in the end, I looked for stores that were selling Stabilized R Alpha Lipoic Acid. I found several. They sell the Stabilized RALA in capsules of different size and number per bottle, so in order to find the best price I calculated the price per gram.

This store sells it for $2.93/gram www.iherb.com

You can find it here for $3.11/gram RelentlessImprovement

This store sells it for $2.07/gram wellnesspartners