The sticky truth about R-Lipoic Acid
What You Need to Know
R-Lipoic Acid (RLA) is one of the most important and exciting new nutraceutical compounds to hit the market. It is a powerful antioxidant, a critical co-factor in ATP production and has been shown to be more effective by a factor of 8-10 over the commercially available Alpha Lipoic Acidfor reducing inflammation. This implies that SLA is interfering with the body's utilization of the natural R form.
GeroNova Research, Inc. worked on the large-scale manufacturing of R-lipoic acid for four years and has gained considerable experience in producing and processing it into finished products for the dietary supplement industry. GeroNova Research is recognized as the worlds foremost authority on lipoic acids.
The Developing RLA Market
Now that the differences between racemic alpha lipoic acid and pure R-Lipoic Acid are becoming known, several new companies are attempting to manufacture and introduce R-Lipoic Acid products into the market. Many of them are encountering the same problems that GeroNova did initially and that we have subsequently solved. We have discovered that several of these companies have not been able to consistently produce a quality product with high enantiomeric purity. There are wide variations in the R/S ratios and total polymer contents of raw material and finished products.
Information concerning R-Lipoic Acid instability has not been passed on to their customers because their products have not been analyzed with state-of-the-art enantioselective HPLC. Frequently, supplement companies or on line stores are relying solely on the manufacturer's C of A's or are sending samples to analytical labs whose analysts have limited experience with enantioselective HPLC, which reveals the R/S ratios and total polymer content.
We keep hearing from customers that several otherwise reputable analytical labs claim that it is impossible to test the R/S ratio by HPLC. There are several peer reviewed articles utilizing three different enantioselective assays for quantifying both R-Lipoic Acid and SLA in the literature.
Few supplement companies and even fewer on-line vendors have experience with R-Lipoic Acid and are unaware of the myriad problems associated with its encapsulation and stability. The heat of friction and exposure to air during normal blending and encapsulation processes are sufficient to initiate the polymerization of both R-Lipoic Acid and ALA (although the heat stability is slightly higher for the racemic mixture).
Since the beginning of 2003, dozens of new companies have introduced R-Lipoic Acid in finished products with widely varying prices and quality.
Commercial RLA products don't meet our standards
GeroNova decided to investigate the insoluble polymer content of the various commercial products for R-Lipoic Acid.The results were as expected: several of the newcomers may be deceiving the unknowing public by fraudulently trying to pass off their racemic ALA as R-Lipoic Acid. At best, they are unaware of the problem in their finished products.
Three products we analyzed contained no R-Lipoic Acid at all; only commercial, inexpensive ALA. Other commercial products did contain R-Lipoic Acid and had polymer contents ranging from 13-60% per capsule or tablet, or had enantiomeric purities< 65%. One product contained a small amount of extensively polymerized R-Lipoic Acid mixed with ALA.
Bio-availability of RLA
Following dissolution and bio-availability studies utilizing HPLC analysis of the plasma, we found that the absorption of commercially available RLA powdered capsules and tablets is less than 1%, due to extensive polymerization during manufacturing and in the stomach.These clinical studies will be published in 2005.
GeroNova's RLA... the highest quality and lowest polymer content available
GeroNova's unique processing drastically reduces polymer formation of pure R-Lipoic Acid.
Our newest products: R-PLUS, and Mito-GOLD® liquid-filled capsules, contain 0% polymer, and are excipient-free, due to our proprietary stabilization and liquid encapsulation process.
Our K-RALA vegcapsules consistently contain < 3% polymer; our K-RALA-10® contains < 0.015% polymer; and 0.3% polymer was detected in our bulk K-RALA®.
You can rely on GeroNova's expertise to provide you with the best quality RLA bulk and finished products available. All of GeroNova's products are processed in US cGMP; FDA approved facilities and meet the highest standards of quality.
GeroNova Research Inc is proud to be setting the industry standards for R-Lipoic Acid products.
Specifications for GeroNova's RLA products
Only R-Lipoic Acid of the highest purity is utilized, after independent analysis confirms the R/S ratio. GeroNova's typical R-Lipoic Acid content >99.4%, SLA=0.2-0.6% with a total ALA content of > 99.8%. The polymer content of our starting material is typically 0.2-0.4%.GeroNova routinely sends finished products for independent analysis.
View our selection of GeroNova R-Lipoic Acid Products
© GeroNova Research, Inc. Used with permission.