ALA / CLA / Glutemine

[hookdup]

I've been working on the training
(thanks to all your advice)
and am eating fairly clean (yes this can be improved and I am definitely working on it)
... but, although I've lost weight, my BF has remained the same, which means I'm losing muscle as well as fat.

So ... I've been reading a lot about Alpha Linoic Acid (ALA) Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) and Glutemine.

I'm wondering if these would help limit the muscle loss / recovery.

I'm currently taking an NYC stack - 5 pills per day and a multi-vitamin.

How would I add these supplements to my day?
How many & how often.

Everyone on this board has been so helpful and I totally trust you guys to steer me in the right direction.

I just don't want to over-supplement (is that a word???)

Thanks in advance!

 

[Temple]

The key to limiting muscle catabolism while losing fat lies primarily in your diet, training and cardio structure. Supplements can help but they won't do the work for you and are really of no benefit until the key ingredients are in place. Once the foundation is in place then L-Glut and Alpha Lipolic Acid will be of benefit to you.

 

[Ceebs]

ALA...

What Temple said.

I also wanted to add that ALA does not have any direct muscle-sparing effects, all it does is upregulate the GLUT-4 glucose receptor on muscle and fat cells, which improves glycogen synthesis and transiently, insulin sensitivity.

 

[SteelWeaver]

Re: ALA...

What Temple said.

I also wanted to add that ALA does not have any direct muscle-sparing effects, all it does is upregulate the GLUT-4 glucose receptor on muscle and fat cells, which improves glycogen synthesis and transiently, insulin sensitivity.

Uh, Ceebs, I think she's talking about the fatty acid (?) alpha LINOEIC acid, not the nutrient partitioning alpha LIPOIC acid - however the hell you spell those two - one's a "P", one's an "N".

I don't know about the first one (N), but the second one (P) is supposed to be good for increasing uptake of glycogen into the muscle cells, as Ceebs said, which translates into more efficient use of carbohydrates. (Don't quote me on this - I just read it this morning, so I'm still processing).

 

[Ceebs]

Re: Re: ALA...

Uh, Ceebs, I think she's talking about the fatty acid (?) alpha LINOEIC acid, not the nutrient partitioning alpha LIPOIC acid - however the hell you spell those two - one's a "P", one's an "N".

Mea culpa, my bad - I should have read more closely. Alpha Lipoic Acid and Alpha Linoleic Acid are two totally different substances with different effects.

 

[hookdup]

No, my bad.
I meant Alpha LiPoic Acid.

I have read that it improves glycogen synthesis.
But what exactly does that mean?


What's the benefit. I know it has to do with insulin sensitivity, but I still don't understand it completely.

Can anyone explain it in layman's terms???

Please?
And thank you

 

[hookdup]

I've also done more reading on CLA and from what I understand, it's pretty similar to Flax Seed Oil.
I already take a spoonful of that a day, so I'm guessing I don't need that.

So just ALA and glutemine??
How much, how often...

And I'm still trying to figure out ALA

HELP

 

[Temple]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alpha Lipoic Acid (ALA) is a unique nutrient shown to have a potent effect on glucose disposal. It is also a natural antioxidant with free radical scavenging abilities as well as the ability to regenerate oxidized antioxidants. This actually makes other antioxidants more potent.
ALA also increases the levels of intra-cellular glutathione. Glutathione has been shown to enhance recovery from heavy training by reducing intra-cellular damage.

ALA's ability to enhance glucose uptake is a very exciting effect that could enhance other nutrient distribution. By mimicking insulin, ALA increases uptake of glucose into the muscle cell by 65%. This glucose transport stimulation is accomplished through Lipoic Acid's participation in the insulin signaling pathway. Lipoic Acid provokes an upward shift of the glucose-insulin dose-response curve. This is an important function that enhances muscle cell nutrient uptake and protein turnover.

ALA may also increase creatine's ability to enter the muscle cell further enhancing creatine's muscle building effects.

Alpha-Lipoic acid treatment decreases serum lactate and pyruvate concentrations and improves glucose effectiveness in lean and obese patients with type 2 diabetes.

Konrad T; Vicini P; Kusterer K; H¨oflich A; Assadkhani A; B¨ohles HJ; Sewell A; Tritschler HJ; Cobelli C; Usadel KH

Department of Internal Medicine, J.W. Goethe-University, Frankfurt, Germany.

Diabetes Care, 22(2):280-7 1999 Feb

Abstract:

OBJECTIVE:

We examined the effect of lipoic acid (LA), a cofactor of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDH), on insulin sensitivity (SI) and glucose effectiveness (SG) and on serum lactate and pyruvate levels after oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTTs) and modified frequently sampled intravenous glucose tolerance tests (FSIGTTs) in lean (n = 10) and obese (n = 10) patients with type 2 diabetes.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS:

FSIGTT data were analyzed by minimal modeling technique to determine SI and SG before and after oral treatment (600 mg, twice a day, for 4 weeks). Serum lactate and pyruvate levels of diabetic patients after glucose loading were compared with those of lean (n = 10) and obese (n = 10) healthy control subjects in which SI and SG were also determined from FSIGTT data.

RESULTS:

Fasting lactate and pyruvate levels were significantly increased in patients with type 2 diabetes. These metabolites did not exceed elevated fasting concentrations after glucose loading in lean patients with type 2 diabetes. However, a twofold increase of lactate and pyruvate levels was measured in obese diabetic patients. LA treatment was associated with increased SG in both diabetic groups (lean 1.28 +/- 0.14 to 1.93 +/- 0.13; obese 1.07 +/- 0.11 to 1.53 +/- 0.08 x 10(-2) min-1, P < 0.05). Higher SI and lower fasting glucose were measured in lean diabetic patients only (P < 0.05). Lactate and pyruvate before and after glucose loading were approximately 45% lower in lean and obese diabetic patients after LA treatment.

CONCLUSIONS:

Treatment of lean and obese diabetic patients with LA prevents hyperglycemia-induced increments of serum lactate and pyruvate levels and increases SG.

 

[Robboe]

Don't bother with CLA unless you're obese, have cancer or are a type I diabetic.

there's more chance of inducing insulin resistance if you're a healthy human being.

Glutamine = overrated.

ALA = good antioxidant.

Biotin is cheaper and possibly just as effective tho as far as increasing insulin sensitivty goes.

 

[hookdup]

Thanks Temple01
I've read countless of studies like this, but just don't understand it fully (sorry). Are you saying that ALA helps build muscle?
Do you have to take it with creatine?
Why is it a good thing that it allows glucose to get to the muscles? Is that because if it gets to the muscle it doesn't turn into body fat?
Sorry for all the questions but I want to understand everything I put into my body (no wise cracks please).

I've decided against CLA based on your recommendations and all the reading I've done today.

Robboe ... I've never heard of Biotin? I'll do a search, but can you give me some brief info?

Why is glutamine underrated. I had only heard good things before???