I think I like ALA better than Na-Rala

[AutoKal47]

I'm just curious if anyone else experienced this:

for the past months I've been using Na-Rala caps for my refeed along with my Recompadrol,
all good up until the past two weeks when I switched to regular ALA (bulk powder), and that's when
I noticed the difference, difference in favor to regular ALA, which I find very interesting
since we all know Na-Rala should be better and have a better bioavailability.

Differences have been noticeable, I feel less bloated during my carb-up/refeed,
I have a better "recovery" between meals (I have very hard time downing food during refeed)
and the next day I'm not groggy and tired.

My guess is the dose. What I knew was 250mg of Na-Rala = 600mg of ALA
I was shooting for my refeed for 300mg of ALA every 2/3 hours,
so I was taking 125mg of Na-Rala, but taking actually 300mg of ALA seems MUCH more effective..
(altho' the bulk powder is hella hard to down.. it burns like a mofo)

So, I think the superior effectiveness of Na-Rala vs ALA is a bit overrated..

thoughts?

 

[mr.cooper69]

Not only is your ALA only 50% R-ALA, but it is not salt-stabilized either.

What Na-R-ALA did you use? Geronova? I can't stress the source enough because quality is a major issue with Na-R-ALA.

 

[AutoKal47]

Not only is your ALA only 50% R-ALA, but it is not salt-stabilized either.

What Na-R-ALA did you use? Geronova? I can't stress the source enough because quality is a major issue with Na-R-ALA.

I had caps from a store (bulk sup direct), I haven't considered the source really
The bulk ALA I have now is from a different store

 

[mr.cooper69]

I had caps from a store (bulk sup direct), I haven't considered the source really
The bulk ALA I have now is from a different store

I would never buy bulk without knowing the source of Na-R-ALA. Go for bio-enhanced geronova next time. 25 grams for 35 bucks here on NP.

 

[AutoKal47]

I would never buy bulk without knowing the source of Na-R-ALA. Go for bio-enhanced geronova next time. 25 grams for 35 bucks here on NP.

Thanks man, I didn't know
Eh, I would get it on NP but I'm in EU i'll try to find geronova here
Same goes for regular ALA or just Na-Rala?

For sure this one I have now seems to work better

 

[WARBIRDWS6]

God bless you for taking bulk ALA.....must be hell. I recall when Cell-tech first came out and everybody was using it and getting that burn on the back of their throat when drinking it....took me a while to figure out it was the ALA in there. Also, if you ever get the ALA caps lodged halfway down it will cause distress then as well when they open up. I am using ALA caps w/ recompadrol right now....but when the ALA runs out I suppose I'll give the bulk Na-Rala a shot....unless its one of those things that is perpetually out of stock at NP like Tudca or NAC bulk etc ....

 

[AutoKal47]

God bless you for taking bulk ALA.....must be hell. I recall when Cell-tech first came out and everybody was using it and getting that burn on the back of their throat when drinking it....took me a while to figure out it was the ALA in there. Also, if you ever get the ALA caps lodged halfway down it will cause distress then as well when they open up. I am using ALA caps w/ recompadrol right now....but when the ALA runs out I suppose I'll give the bulk Na-Rala a shot....unless its one of those things that is perpetually out of stock at NP like Tudca or NAC bulk etc ....

lol I know, I'm used to down powders with all the aminos I get pre and post wo,
but ALA, oh boy.. it's a real acid.
I feel you when you speak about the caps opening up half way thru, it happened so many time
for me with Glycobol in past, it's bad, like even worse that swallowing bulk powder, heartburn that lasts forever..

 

[JudoJosh]

Not only is your ALA only 50% R-ALA, but it is not salt-stabilized either.

What Na-R-ALA did you use? Geronova? I can't stress the source enough because quality is a major issue with Na-R-ALA.

Bulk ALA will be more cost efficient than na-r-ala. yes Geronova is the gold standard when it comes to na-r-ala but one can get bulk ala for far cheaper and accomplish the same task, no?

 

[AutoKal47]

Bulk ALA will be more cost efficient than na-r-ala. yes Geronova is the gold standard when it comes to na-r-ala but one can get bulk ala for far cheaper and accomplish the same task, no?

Exactly, that was my guess.. Bulk ALA is super cheap and it def works better than whatever questionable source
Na-Rala I had before..

 

[D3Baseball]

If you do want to give Na-R-ALA an honest shot, you should be able to find SAN Na-R-ALA in the EU.

SAN Products are manufactured under GMP standards with stringent quality control guidelines. Additionally, each lot produced by SAN is independently tested for purity and potency by HPLC analysis to ensure only the highest quality ingredients in our formulas.

 

[mr.cooper69]

Bulk ALA will be more cost efficient than na-r-ala. yes Geronova is the gold standard when it comes to na-r-ala but one can get bulk ala for far cheaper and accomplish the same task, no?

If only it were so simple. Na-R-ALA is actually a better deal when you account for numerous factors.

http://relentlessimprovement.com/included/docs/R_lipoic_PK.pdf <- Read it all when you get the chance. Helped tremendously in writing my research review.

Of note:

"Cmax and AUC values for NaRLA in the male subject were 25.86 and 3.3 times higher, respectively, than RLA."

"The current study and previous findings from this laboratory conclude that pure RLA is not suitable for use in nutraceutical or pharmaceutical products. Rather, it should be treated as raw material for further processing into stable, bioavailable dosage forms. PK data reveals pure RLA is significantly less bioavailable than RLA found as a 50-percent component of rac-LA; and RLA in a salt form is considerably more bioavailable than an equivalent dose of racLA (RLA + SLA). This indicates SLA may function as a competitive inhibitor in the absorption of RLA."​

If quality is accounted for, Na-R-ALA is the way to go from a cost:benefit perspective.

 

[criticalbench]

I used NP NA-rala and @ 150mg, and find 200mg of Primaforce R-ala far superior. But thats just me.

Mike

 

[AutoKal47]

If you do want to give Na-R-ALA an honest shot, you should be able to find SAN Na-R-ALA in the EU.

SAN Products are manufactured under GMP standards with stringent quality control guidelines. Additionally, each lot produced by SAN is independently tested for purity and potency by HPLC analysis to ensure only the highest quality ingredients in our formulas.

Yeah SAN I can find, but I thought it was R-ala

Anyway, crazy how a different source is changing the effect, I'm fairly happy with this ALA now
but it makes me curious about the good Na-Rala

 

[D3Baseball]

Yeah SAN I can find, but I thought it was R-ala

Anyway, crazy how a different source is changing the effect, I'm fairly happy with this ALA now
but it makes me curious about the good Na-Rala

Nope, ours is the salt-stabilized form Our ingredient panel shows how much actual R-ALA is yielded -- so each cap is IIRC 125mg Na-R-ALA while the label will show 100mg R-ALA while noting that it is "Biosolv Enhanced." It's available for 12-15 USD (lasts me 20 days with 3 caps daily use) so it might be inexpensive for a trial run in the EU as well.

 

[PuZo]

Quality does make a difference. I would only trust a Geronova for my NA-R-ALA needs. Obviously ALA still works, but why pay more. Pay for the tested product, which is found right here, being NP Na-R-ALA.

R-Lipoic Acid & Salts... Buyer Beware | GeroNova

 

[AutoKal47]

Nope, ours is the salt-stabilized form Our ingredient panel shows how much actual R-ALA is yielded -- so each cap is IIRC 125mg Na-R-ALA while the label will show 100mg R-ALA while noting that it is "Biosolv Enhanced." It's available for 12-15 USD (lasts me 20 days with 3 caps daily use) so it might be inexpensive for a trial run in the EU as well.

Oh ok, well I might give that a shot when I'm done with the bulk, 'cause I've never had problems
with any bulk powder but holy hell bulk ALA is putting me to test..

 

[AutoKal47]

Quality does make a difference. I would only trust a Geronova for my NA-R-ALA needs. Obviously ALA still works, but why pay more. Pay for the tested product, which is found right here, being NP Na-R-ALA.

R-Lipoic Acid & Salts... Buyer Beware | GeroNova

I'm usually pretty picky with sups quality wise, especially now that I use very lil,
I didn't know about the "Na-Rala case" here.. Nice reading, I wonder how many times
stuff like this happens, I sense a lot more than we think

 

[D3Baseball]

Quality does make a difference. I would only trust a Geronova for my NA-R-ALA needs. Obviously ALA still works, but why pay more. Pay for the tested product, which is found right here, being NP Na-R-ALA.

R-Lipoic Acid & Salts... Buyer Beware | GeroNova

While there is plenty to buyer beware about, Geronova licensing costs a ridiculous amount of money (I wonder why, when they are selling their own product).