ALA (Alpha Lipoic Acid)
ALA is one of the three chelators recommended for mercury chelation. The others are DMSA and DMPS. It is the only one of the these three that will remove mercury from the brain.
What makes a chemical a GOOD mercury chelator?
Two thiol groups means a chelator will bind strongly to mercury and have a higher probability that it can attach long enough to be excreted from the body. Single thiol groups will attach weakly and end up causing further damage as it just mobilizes mercury.
This is why compounds that mobilize mercury but don't chelate will make you feel bad. Examples are whey protein powder (cysteine), glutathione, chlorella and coriander.
Cutler recommends against older chelators such as BAL, penicillamine, and EDTA and any protocols that do not respect the half life of ALA/DMSA/DMPS, as these can cause permanent damage.
Examples are ANY IV-based protocols and 8 hour or daily ALA protocols. ALA has a half life of 3 hours. DMPS is 8 hours, and DMSA is 4 hours. This means ALA must be given every 3 hours for the safest outcome. See DMPS Backfire and Cutler's chelation history for examples of bad protocols and the permanent damage that can happen.
Evidence that ALA will chelate mercury
Cutler posted the abstract of a paper explaining how ALA chelates mercury in rats, and gave his comments on it:
- ALA suppresses excretion of some things (zinc, organic mercury, cadmium, copper), so there needs to be frequent breaks.
- Any recent exposure to mercury means waiting for it to convert from organic to inorganic form, i.e. wait 3 months after amalgam removal.
Cutler explains here that careful reading of entire papers is important, not just abstracts.
Further interpretations here:
So we have journal papers that say lipoic acid crosses the BBB, lipoic acid chelates mercury (and tons of other stuff), lipoic acid increases urinary and fecal excretion of mercury, lipoic acid is effective for treating mercury poisoning in a variety of mammals, lipoic acid prevents the pathological brain changes characteristic of mercury poisoning, and we have a bunch of adults who tried it and have had their neurological and centrally mediated endocrine symptoms cured. This set of facts leads me to conclude lipoic acid effectively chelates mercury out of the human brain. It is up to you what you make of it.
Evidence for ALA crossing the blood brain barrier here.
Brand specifity
Some people may react adversely to Solaray's ALA
Taking it without food
There is no requirement to take ALA with food. It does not taste bad, but it does irritate the throat.
Side effects
Reduce the dose if urination is excessive.