Markus82
Anmeldedatum: 27.12.2002
Beiträge: 46
Wohnort: Saarland
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 Verfasst am: 08.05.03 | 15:03 Titel: ALA: Wirksamkeit + Bezugsquelle |
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@Köti: Vielleicht was für's Archiv, hä? 
vom EF-Board:
"R-ALA is the ultimate antioxidant and perhaps too, the ultimate nutrient-partioning agent. When you are on a bulking cycle, it can make an enormous difference in terms of how much fat you gain versus how much muscle you gain. R-ALA changes the ratio of muscle to fat gained in favor of muscle and at the expense of fat.
Except immediately following your workout, the carbs you eat cause an Insulin spike, which when combined with high blood glucose levels resulting from those carbs, makes for a very lipogenic environment. Using r-ALA, you can channel more of the glucose to the muscle cells instead of the fat cells gaining more lean muscle mass without a concurrent gain in body fat. Please read on to learn how to make the most of r-ALA.
As you probably know, an antioxidant is a substance that prevents or slows the breakdown of another substance by oxygen. In the body, vitamins and minerals such as beta-carotene (a Vitamin A precursor), vitamin C, vitamin E, and selenium have been found to act as antioxidants. They act by scavenging free radicals, molecules with one or more unpaired electrons, which rapidly react with other molecules, starting chain reactions in a process called oxidation.
Free radicals are a normal product of metabolism and the body produces its own antioxidants to keep them in balance. However, stress, aging, and environmental sources such as polluted air and cigarette smoke can add to the number of free radicals in the body, creating an imbalance. The highly reactive free radicals can damage healthy DNA and have been linked to changes that accompany aging (such as age-related macular degeneration, a leading cause of blindness in older people) and with disease processes that lead to cancer, heart disease, and stroke.
Studies have suggested that the antioxidants that occur naturally in fresh fruits and vegetables have a protective effect. For example, vitamin E and beta-carotene appear to protect Cell membranes; vitamin C removes free radicals from inside the cell.
Touted to be the supreme antioxidant, alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) is an enzyme found in the mitochondria -- the energy producing structures found in our cells. ALA can operate in concert with vitamins C (water soluble) and E (fat soluble). Much research has been dedicated to examining ALA's effects on diabetes, especially the nerve disease accompanying the progression of diabetes. Although a lot of advertising and marketing has promoted the potential "insulin-boosting" action of ALA, very little evidence points to this effect in humans. Indeed, the minimum effective dose of ALA required to improve some aspects of diabetic symptoms is not cheap: 600 mg/day.
ALA is comprised of a pair of nearly identical molecules called isomers. New research indicates that the active half of ALA, the R isomer, may be far more effective than what is widely available. This super ALA loaded with R isomers may enable consumers to use a lower dose with potentially greater effects.
Although alpha lipoic acid is involved in cellular energy production, its chief role as a dietary Supplement may be as a powerful antioxidant. The body appears to be able to manufacture enough alpha-lipoic acid for its metabolic functions (as a co-factor for a number of enzymes involved in converting fat and sugar to energy), but the excess levels provided by Supplements allow alpha-lipoic acid to circulate in a "free" state. In this state, alpha-lipoic acid has functions as both a water- and fat-soluble antioxidant. This unique ability of alpha-lipoic acid to be active in water and lipid compartments of the body is important because most antioxidants, such as vitamins C and E, are effective in only one area or the other. For instance Vitamin C is usually restricted to the interior compartment of cells and the watery portion of blood, while Vitamin E embeds itself in the fatty portion of Cell membranes. Adding to the potential importance of alpha-lipoic acid is its role in the production of glutathione, one of the chief antioxidants produced directly by the body.
In animal studies, alpha-lipoic acid supplementation has been shown to improve several indices of metabolic activity and lower the degree of oxidative stress. Alpha-lipoic acid supplementation reversed the declines in oxygen consumption and mitochondrial energy production that are commonly observed with aging. Activity levels increased approximately 3-fold in animals fed the supplement, suggesting that energy levels were enhanced. Levels of other antioxidants, such as glutathione and ascorbic acid, were also elevated in animals consuming alpha-lipoic acid, suggesting that the Supplement may help protect and/or recycle these antioxidants and contribute to the overall capacity of the body to neutralize free radical damage.
In conjunction with other antioxidants, such as Vitamin E, alpha-lipoic acid may be doubly helpful in patients with diabetes. By promoting the production of energy from fat and sugar in the mitochondria, glucose removal from the bloodstream may be enhanced and Insulin function improved. Indeed, alpha-lipoic acid has been shown to decrease Insulin resistance and is prescribed frequently in Europe as a treatment for peripheral neuropathy (nerve damage) associated with diabetes. In the U.S., the American Diabetes Association has suggested that alpha-lipoic acid plus Vitamin E may be helpful in combating some of the health complications associated with diabetes, including heart disease, vision problems, nerve damage and kidney disease. Alpha-lipoic acid has also been implicated in helping to protect the brain from damage following a stroke.
ALA is of particular interest to the bodybuilder as well. Let's assume that as a bodybuilder, you are on a bulking cycle. Here's what happens when you eat a bulking Meal without the benefits of ALA:
1. Meal taken w/o ALA.
i) Food (Macronutrients) is ingested.
ii) The body converts these nutrients to glucose, its main source of fuel. (Protein and triglycerides are also converted to glucose) Protein: is 58% glucogenic and Fat is: 10% glucogenic.
iii) The body detects the glucose entering the Blood stream. The Pancreas releases Insulin to shuttle the glucose/Amino-acids/fats into the cells. The glucose is delivered to the myocites (muscle cells) and to the adipocytes (fat cells).
Unfortunately, when bulking, the muscle-cells are often COMPLETELY full; so all the nutrients are either oxidized for energy or shuttled into the adipocytes (fat cells). The net result is that although you gain muscle when bulking, you also increase your fat mass as well.
Now let's look at what happens when the bodybuilder includes ALA in a bulking regimen.
i) Food (Macronutrients) is ingested.
ii) The body converts these nutrients to glucose, its main source of fuel. (Protein and triglycerides are also converted to glucose) Protein: is 58% glucogenic and Fat is: 10% glucogenic.
iii) The body detects the glucose entering the Blood stream. The Pancreas releases Insulin to shuttle the glucose/Amino-acids/fats into the cells. The glucose is delivered to the myocites (muscle cells) and to the adipocytes (fat cells).
However, and this is the interesting part, ALA increase the number of glut-4 transporters on the out-side of the myocites (muscle-cells) by almost 50%. And this enables the muscles to increase the amount of glucose that they absorb from the blood stream.
Unlike the first scenario, where glucose was being diverted straight into the fat cells, in the second scenario, the orally administered ALA forces the glucose and nutrients into both the MUSCLE-cells and the fat-cells.
What does this all mean?
It means that you can use ALA as a nutrient-partitioning agent. The net result is an increased muscle-gain over the long run with a smaller fat-gain. To give you a quantitative idea, if a person gains 10lbs muscle and 10lbs fat in a bulking cycle w/o ALA. He/she is likely to gain around 14lbs muscle and 6 lbs fat if he/she would have taken ALA.
The latest controversial topic surrounding Alpha-lipoic Acid is the potency of the two known variants -- R-ALA, in comparison to racemic (or normal) ALA. This latter, racemic ALA is a combination of R-ALA and S-ALA, normally found in a 50/50 split in common brand name ALA supplements. The S has little or no beneficial effects and is often detrimental to the activity of the R. In this racemic mixture half of the ALA is relatively useless and in many respects working against the other half. The former, R-ALA is the pure form of ALA found in nature, with the unnatural S removed.
In theory then, the R-ALA should prove to be better than racemic ALA at improving glucose uptake, insulin sensitivity, mitochondrial activity, and free radical elimination.
In order to uncover which of the two was truly the better one, Fonz, one of our moderators, decided to measure each ALA's impact on blood glucose for a specific meal, and compare the results. Both ALAs increase the ability of the body to store glucose in the form of glycogen and also oxidize un-needed glucose for energy. So in effect, whichever one of the two versions of ALA gave the smallest blood glucose reading after a specific meal, was the one that would give the user the best results in regards to glucose disposal and glucose up-take into the muscles. Pretty simple right?
So, Fonz bought 300, 100mg R-ALA caps from anabolicfitness.net and 2000 100mg caps from kilosports.com.
These are the respective LOT numbers
anabolicfitness.net: Lot # C06310 Exp: 06/04 (all three bottles)
kilosports.com: Lot # C07351 (Both bottles)
Fonz performed his experiment with a blood glucose meter (Glucometer) called Gluco-trend 2 with the Softclix system. The serial number of the Glucotrend 2 is GH02114809 and the type number is: 1861964.
He also purchased a separate glucometer at CVS to back-up the results obtained by the Glucotrend 2 blood glucose monitor. If at any time during the experiment, the values of the CVS blood glucose monitor and those of the Glucotrend 2 blood glucose monitor, were off by more than 10% Fonz would nullify the specific attempt at measuring the BG response by the given meal. The serial number of the CVS BG monitor is: 6429796, and the lot number of the glucose testing strips was: EB271A1 Exp: 23/Jan/03.
All measurements were taken in the AM and/or anytime Fonz hadn't eaten for 12hrs. This is because after 12 hours, as there is no food present in the stomach, BG levels are lowest. That makes this the BEST time to measure blood glucose fluctuations. Additionally, Fonz is 23, weighs 190lbs at roughly 9% body fat, at a height of 5'9 (174cms).
Here's the structure of each daily measurement.
Meal Number: N
Take initial BG (Blood glucose) measurement.
Consume a SPECIFIC food. (I'll give you the exact macro-nutrients)
Ingest the R-ALA or racemic ALA (X number of mg)
Measure BG (Blood Glucose) levels at the 1 hr, 2hr, and 3hr mark.
Ok, now that the structure of the experiment has been explained, let's look at the actual test results.
Meal 1: 400mg ALA + Complex carbs
BG(Initial): 66 mg/dl
BG(T+1): 92 mg/dl (+26 +39.4%)
BG(T+2): 86 mg/dl(+20.+30.3%)
BG(T+3): 86mg/dl(+20.+30.3%)
Meal 2: 400 mg R-ALA + Complex Carbs
BG(Initial): 74 mg/dl
BG(T+1): 94 mg/dl(+20.+27.03%)
BG(T+2): 84 mg/dl(+10.+13.51%)
BG(T+3): 80 mg/dl(+6 +8.11%)
Meal 3: 600 mg ALA + Complex Carbs
BG(Initial): 66 mg/dl
BG(T+1): 104 mg/dl(+38 +57.58%)
BG(T+2): 72 mg/dl(+6 +8.33%)
BG(T+3): 70mg/dl(+4 +6.06%)
Meal 4: 600 mg R-ALA + Complex Carbs
BG(Initial): 83 mg/dl
BG(T+1): 100 mg/dl(+17.+20.48%)
BG(T+2): 94 mg/dl(+9.+10.84%)
BG(T+3): 88 mg/dl(+5 +6.02%)
Meal 5: 800 mg ALA + Complex Carbs
BG(Initial): 80 mg/dl
BG(T+1): 103 mg/dl(+23 +22.33%)
BG(T+2): 92 mg/dl(+12 +15%)
BG(T+3): 90 mg/dl(+10.+5.56%)
Meal 6: 800 mg R-ALA + Complex Carbs
BG(Initial): 80mg/dl
BG(T+1): 100 mg/dl(+20.+25%)
BG(T+2): 90 mg/dl(+7 +8.75%)
BG(T+3): 82 mg/dl(+2 +2.5%
Meal 7: 1000mg ALA + Complex carbs
BG(Initial): 71mg/dl
BG(T+1): 90mg/dl(+19.+ 26.76%)
BG(T+2): 86mg/dl(+15 +21.1%)
BG(T+3): 72mg/dl(+1 +1.4%)
Based on the experiment, you can see that for the most part, as ALA intake is increased for the given meal (Containing 108g carbs as specified), the blood glucose level decreases. This is indicative of the extra ALA having an effect on glucose up-take and oxidation. You can also see a pattern that as the ALA dosage is increased for the particular amount of carbs, the incremental decrease in blood glucose gets smaller. This is what is referred to as a decreasing numerical series. From this, you can extrapolate the optimal dosage of racemic ALA per gram of carbohydrates consuming enough to maximize the glucose decrease, but not more that required which would simply be excreted, along with your hard earned money.
The dosage of ALA that would maximize its glucose up-take enhancing effects and glucose disposing effects, while minimizing any over-dosing would be 1200mg ALA per 108g carbs or 11.11mg ALA per 1 gram of carbs.
Based on the experiment, we can also see that as the amount of R-ALA is increased in relation to a 108 g carb meal, the blood glucose level decreases, but only slightly. You can therefore surmise that over the amount of 400 mg per 108g of carbs there isn't really any point in taking more as the decrease is negligible, and you would basically be throwing your R-ALA away. That would put the optimal dosage of R-ALA per (g) of carbs at 3.70mg of R-ALA per gram of carbs.
This indicates that R-ALA is three times as powerful as racemic ALA if the carb meal <108g (3.7mg per gram of carbs compared to 11.11mg per gram of carbs) If you want to be picky, yes, you can go as high as 600-800mg of R-ALA per 108g carbs, but you'll only get a 7.5-9% increase in effectiveness. Hardly efficient or cost effective if you ask me.
Fonz also included a high-carb analysis w/ ALA and R-ALA. This was to test if there was an upper limit to ALA's effectiveness. He wanted to find out if there was a physiological point where ALA just stopped working -- i.e. Too much glucose entering the blood stream.
Here's what Fonz found for Meals where carbs consumed equaled 208 grams.
(Meals 8, 9, and 10) HIGH DOSE-HI CARB MEALS
(2000mg R-ALA, 2000-3000mg ALA):
2000 mgs R-ALA:
BG(Initial): 77 mg/dl
BG(T+1): 97 mg/dl(+20.+25.98%)
BG(T+2): 118 mg/dl(+41.+53.25%)
BG(T+3): 94 mg/dl(+17 .+22.08%)
2000 mgs ALA:
BG(Initial): 70 mg/dl
BG(T+1): 95 mg/dl(+2 .+35.7%)
BG(T+2): 123 mg/dl(+53 .+75.71%)
BG(T+3): 95 mg/dl(+25 +35.7%)
3000 mgs ALA:
BG(Initial): 65 mg/dl
BG(T+1): 85 mg/dl(+20 .+30.77%)
BG(T+2): 110 mg/dl(+45 + 69.23%)
BG(T+3): 78 mg/dl(+13 .+ 20.00%)
We saw earlier that R-ALA is about 3X more powerful than ALA at stimulating glucose up-take and disposal for a specific amount of carbs (108 grams in our test). But for larger meals containing more carbs in this case 208 grams, you can see that 2000mgs R-ALA was about as effective as 3100mg ALA. This means that when a larger quantity of carbs is consumed, R-ALA is only about 55% stronger than ALA not 3X stronger. Interesting. We have just discovered something of importance. R-ALA, and similarly ALA to a smaller degree, works best if carb intake during the day is comprised of SMALLER carb meals not one big one.
So, in conclusion, I think we can safely say that the optimal dosages of R-ALA and racemic ALA are as follows:
For meals with carb contents at of below 108 grams:
11.11mg of racemic ALA per 1 gram of carbohydrates
3.7mg of R-ALA per 1 gram of carbohydrates
If the carb content of the Meal goes beyond 108g the R-ALA loses effectiveness at an ever-increasing rate, but still manages to be 55% more effective (mg per mg) than racemic ALA. To use an analogy, R-ALA is like a scalpel while ALA is like a kitchen knife. They will both work, but for cutting I would go with R-ALA, and for bulking I would consider racemic ALA if I could not afford R-ALA because of the cost.
I hope some of you will try repeating this experiment. If you decide to, or if you just want to get the benefits of R-ALA, please click here to check out anabolicfitness.com. In either case, I hope you will post your results to the Elite Fitness Discussion Boards. "
günstige Bezugsquellen in Europa:
www.discountala.co.uk
www.sports-nutrition.net/erol.html
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MfG, Markus. |
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