Just wanted to report that I am having great results with ALA, I have been taking 1200mg a day, along with 1000mg of evening primrose oil for a week and I have not had a single blood glucose result out of my target range when I have been testing, my fast morning BS has also been fantastic!
It could be coincidence, but I have to say there might be something to this combination that Dr Bernstein recommends. May be psychosomatic, but my vision also seems sharper and I feel quite zingy, well worth the $10 a month in my opinion.
I am not taking it for neuropathy, as to date I have managed to avoid it, so I can't comment on that aspect of it.
I for one am sold on it.
Would be interested to hear others experiences of it.
Are you taking the R-ALA? I have tried it, but it was some years ago and it didn't seem to do much of anything for blood sugar control. In my case I found a number of things would work for perhaps a couple of weeks and then nothing. Bitter Melon extract was that way, big dip for a week, then nothing. I hope it keeps up. Bernsteins recommendations for supplements mostly seem pretty sound.
Hope you are well. I am not taking the R-ALA yet (I understand this is the time release formula and is more concentrated) I have started with just the straight forward ALA as it is cheaper and more widely available. I think I will order some R-ALA when my current batch has been used.
It is early days and has only been a week, but I reviewed my weekly data this morning and my averages are all down by at least 1% and I have not changed diet, ratios, basals, or exercise.
Hopefully it continues!
I keep hearing about bitter melon. My partners step mum is Chinese and she recommended it to me. I will give it ago.
I have always been somewhat dismissive of supplements and vitamins, seeing them largely as snake oil and quackery.
I am a fan of this guy and he has written extensively on the subject..
Actually, there are two forms of Alpha Lipoic Acid (ALA).The molecule exists in two forms, that are mirror images of each other. They are often designated as R and S (R-ALA, S-ALA or RLA and SLA). Only R-ALA exists in nature and the medicinal properties are apparently different. Synthesized ALA often contains a mixture of R-ALA and S-ALA and may even contain just S-ALA.
The other thing about R-ALA is that in the metabolism of it, your body consumes Biotin. So you need to supplement with Biotin as well, I beleive the factor is 100:1 (100 parts R-ALA to 1 part Biotin). The product Bernstein recommends is Insulow which while more expensive is R-ALA with the proper levels of Biotin added.
Bitter melon is a chinese fruit which is often fried up. I usually bought the extract, often available at health stores or on-line. I am also generally cautious about supplements.
I'm pleased that you found Ben Goldacre. He is great. He is like the voice of reason in the UK. I really like his site BadScience where he collects a lot more of how work. He also generally runs his articles in the Guardian and other things there so it is really a compedium.
