Alpha Lipoic Acid

[Mike]

I keep reading online about the benefits of Alpha Lipoic Acid as an antioxidant. I'm considering using it along with my usual multi-vitamin and Vitamin C in the morning. WOuld any of you say it's a worthy supplement or is it just a waste of money?

[Connie Brown]

what are your goals and context and stuff?

what is your desire for antioxidants that you are not already getting from tons of fresh whole food (I hope)? is this therapeutic or routine?

[Mike]

what are your goals and context and stuff?

what is your desire for antioxidants that you are not already getting from tons of fresh whole food (I hope)? is this therapeutic or routine?

I'm just trying to fill holes that I leave with my regular diet. I eat pretty clean with lots of vegetables and fruit. But I work in a warehouse with pretty bad ventilation so I am constantly wondering about the free radicals I am actually taking in!

My goals are to stay healthy without being totally ludicrous!

[humilispuer]

Mike,

I often hear about ALA in Bodybuilding circles - they use it to aid in glucose disposal. I'm sure it does have strong anti-oxidant properties, but it's also fairly expensive. A biochemist friend of mine was saying that seasoning such as paprika have anti-oxidant levels that make vegetables look laughable. Just a "cheap" thought.

-Jonathon

[Mike]

Mike,

I often hear about ALA in Bodybuilding circles - they use it to aid in glucose disposal. I'm sure it does have strong anti-oxidant properties, but it's also fairly expensive. A biochemist friend of mine was saying that seasoning such as paprika have anti-oxidant levels that make vegetables look laughable. Just a "cheap" thought.

-Jonathon

Thanks for the input Jon. I may pass on ALA. Vitamin C and E are potent Anti-oxidants for half the price so I may just stick with them!

[humilispuer]

Sounds like a plan to me. I take 1-2 grams of C with Bioflavanoids each day.

-Jonathon

[Mike]

Sounds like a plan to me. I take 1-2 grams of C with Bioflavanoids each day.

-Jonathon

What are bioflavanoids?

[humilispuer]

First and foremost, my spelling was off :) Here is an article with some info:
http://www.vitaminevi.com/Supp/Bioflavonoids-F.htm

[Connie Brown]

I was having so much fun reading others' answers I forgot what I was going to say.

one was: in a warehouse environment, for the crud in the air and everywhere, is it possible to do some mechanical intervention? Prolly not "the done thing" to wear a mask huh.

2d: good intake of omega3s and not too many omega6s will help you fight the onslaught.

3d. did you see the recommendation for "supplement diet with green foods" in the basic diet advice in Coach Sonnon's musing on Recovery Training (http://www.circularstrengthmag.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2002)?

I had a prejudice that individual supplements are to food, as isolation exercises are to movement. This allows me to not learn about them :lol: :lol: but perhaps I could open up....

[JClayton]

Connie,

Are you of the opinion that if one eats a good diet one does not need to take any supplements, vitamins, minerals, extra protein, etc...?

Thanks,

[Connie Brown]

I wouldn't go that far. Fer instance, if you were coming back from illness there might be a need for therapeutic levels of one thing or another.

But I do think if you eat organic and the right things, it goes a long, long way. I personally only take a multivitamin because the idea of depleted soils makes sense to me. I used to take fish oil for a while when I figured out I was low on omega3s; but that has been normalized and now I like to get it from salmon.

And like our ND friends might say, the whole world of herbal good things is big and wide and it would be silly to be too provincial about it. But I don't like no pills if I can avoid it.

[JClayton]

I wasn't so much asking about special circumstances like illness or injury. I was wondering more about a long-term routine of supplementation, and whether you felt that, in general, it was unnecessary for a person eating a well-balanced diet to take supplements.

I guess I don't see the harm in supplementation, provided it isn't taken to extreme levels (like mega doses of vitamin C). Despite the fact that I eat as healthfully as I possibly can, I personally take many different supplements, including alpha-lipoic acid. I don't see the downside except for the cost, and even that seems to me to be offset by the insurance of knowing that I am covering all of my nutritional bases.

But as always, I could very well be wrong and I am interested to hear the opinions of others.

Thanks,