Question: from Michael
Which form of Alpha Liopic Acid are you using. Is it 1, 2 or 3.
1)Alpha-lipoic acid consists of 50/50 racemic mixture of the R-(natural) and S-(unnatural) enantiomers and is called a "racemic mixture. It is the most widely available form of lipoic acid.
2)R-Lipoic Acid (the R (+) enantiomer) is responsible for the specific beneficial effects of alpha lipoic acid. Of primary significance, R-lipoic acid has shown to be ten times more effective than racemic alpha lipoic acid for reducing inflammation.
3)S-Lipoic acid (The S (-) enantiomer) is not found in nature. SLA is a by-product from chemical synthesis of racemic ALA and may inhibit the most essential properties of the R form, including interactions with proteins, enzymes and genes.
Answer: from Warren
You are right Michael about the R form of Alpha Lipoic acid being more effective than the S form...in most cases!
We use the mixture...#1 of your list. But we only use this form in our enteric coated tablets as it is just as effective as the R type under these conditons. We would not use either the mixture or the S type in a capsule or 'normal' tablet.
I'll try to explain.
The reason why the S type is less effective than the R type under normal conditions is because when it is exposed to Hydrochloric acid in the stomach it's molecular structure changes and as a result it does indeed inhibt some of the beneficial properties that you refer to. However, the structure of the S form before ingestion is similar to the R form and would be just as effective if it was not for this stomach acid exposure.
Because our enteric coated tablets do not expose the active ingredients to stomach acid we can acheive optimum efficacy using the mixture as what we could using the R type.
The reason why we use the mixture is that we have a very reliable supplier and we know the quality is excellent and the price differential against the S version is minimal.