[Apollo]

I have been taking 100 mg of "Doctors Best" R-Lipoic Acid twice a day. Is there a time-release version of R-Lipoic Acid that would only require me to take one dose per day, which I would then do using a single higher-dose tablet?

I take it for better blood sugar control.

Thanks!

[Dr. Smith]

There are; I just googled: time released r-lipoic acid and found several, but they may not be all they're cracked up to be.

http://www.pointinstitute.org/resour...LA+July+07.pdf

Take a read & decide for yourself.

Doc

[mrsD]

I think timed release defeats the purpose of making stabilized R-lipoic. The idea is to facilitate absorption, in a product that is poorly absorbed to begin with.

The fate and excretion of ALA is not a well known factor.
But I noticed that it took 2 full days to come down off my 200mg a day dose! So I don't think it is eliminated quickly from the body.

Things eliminated quickly from the body, after being absorbed
well (with good bioavailability) may work with timed release.
Vit C is one. But nutrients are not like drugs in many respects.
Timed release for example is useless for B12, which is barely absorbed normally.

[Apollo]

Originally Posted by mrsD

I think timed release defeats the purpose of making stabilized R-lipoic. The idea is to facilitate absorption, in a product that is poorly absorbed to begin with.

The fate and excretion of ALA is not a well known factor.
But I noticed that it took 2 full days to come down off my 200mg a day dose! So I don't think it is eliminated quickly from the body.

Things eliminated quickly from the body, after being absorbed
well (with good bioavailability) may work with timed release.
Vit C is one. But nutrients are not like drugs in many respects.
Timed release for example is useless for B12, which is barely absorbed normally.

... so with this said can I get away with effective blood sugar lowering by just taking a single 200 mg dose of R-Lipoic acid rather than having to spread the dose out to 100mg twice a day which is inconvenient?

And if that is the case should I take it on an empty stomach or does it matter?

Thank you!

[Apollo]

Originally Posted by mrsD

The fate and excretion of ALA is not a well known factor.
But I noticed that it took 2 full days to come down off my 200mg a day dose! So I don't think it is eliminated quickly from the body.

How do you know it took two days?

[mrsD]

The R-lipoic at 200mg made me very very hyper and anxious. Just like it did when I started. When I started, I used 50mg, in the past for a while before using the 100mg daily. I am now back to 100mg daily, and don't get that unpleasant effect.

You can divide the doses if you want. The whole purpose of the stabilized R form is to improve absorption. At the Linus Pauling site, they have a published comment that taking with food reduces absorption 30%.

[Apollo]

Originally Posted by mrsD

The R-lipoic at 200mg made me very very hyper and anxious. Just like it did when I started. When I started, I used 50mg, in the past for a while before using the 100mg daily. I am now back to 100mg daily, and don't get that unpleasant effect.

You can divide the doses if you want. The whole purpose of the stabilized R form is to improve absorption. At the Linus Pauling site, they have a published comment that taking with food reduces absorption 30%.

... so with this said can I still achieve effective blood sugar control by just taking a single 200 mg dose of R-Lipoic acid rather than having to spread the dose out to 100mg twice a day which is inconvenient?

Thank you!

[mrsD]

I really think the blood sugar effects are not to be depended on.

I don't get that effect at all...but I do with theanine. I test daily.

The blood sugar warning is only a vague possibility. If it were a strong effect, we'd see this used as a treatment adjunct. And we do not see it promoted for that as a bona fide treatment.

The warnings for it mostly pertain to those using insulin for some reason.

I don't think one should "depend" on sugar lowering. It may not happen for you. Lipoic acid does improve mitochondrial functions. It is in the product Juvenon for that reason.

This article lists some of the suggested medical studies done on it so far:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lipoic_acid