Re: Using ALA alone to chelate.

http://www.livingnetwork.co.za/healingnetwork/oral_chelation1.html



ALA - ALPHA LIPOIC ACID (Also known as LIPOIC ACID or THIOCTIC ACID)
This is most the most important ingredient in oral chelation. ALA chelates both intracellular and extracellular mercury - in the brain and in the body. ALA crosses the Blood Brain Barrier (BBB) and is thus able to clear mercury from the brain. Many people have successfully detoxed with ALA alone (mostly because they couldn't tolerate the other common chelating agent DMSA for some or other reason). ALA has a half-life of 3 hours.
The ALA is essential to detox, while DMSA is not. Pulling mercury out of the blood and soft tissues is relatively easy, but pulling it out of the inside of cells is much harder. ALA is a disulfide. It is water and fat soluble which makes it able to pass the BBB. ALA will also chelate arsenic.
Start ALA at low doses of 12.5mg to ensure few or no adverse effects, and add only after many rounds of DMSA. ALA can really increase side effects in a mercury toxic person and you may need to reduce the dose to 6.25mg. The maximum dose of ALA per day is about 1200mg (that is very high and can cause bad or intolerable side effects in some, so work up SLOWLY. It can take you years to get to this point). Starting low and working up is the safest way to proceed to avoid exacerbating symptoms. The higher dosage seems to make a more dramatic difference ultimately, but it takes a long time to get there safely. ALA is not usually as 'easy' as DMSA, as you are mobilizing mercury from the brain and inside the cells. So it is difficult to 'expect' a symptom-free round with it, and especially the day after the round has finished. Usually side-effects are worse when coming off of an ALA-round when the mercury is redistributing. If the side effects are too harsh lower the dosage before proceeding.

If you have removed your mercury Amalgams a long time ago, you should still use DMSA on its own for a few months before adding ALA. In this way you can know which supplement is causing a problem if it occurs. The brain will not detox mercury on its own and only over a lifetime would it be able to eliminate it to a small degree. Only ALA is able to allow mercury to be excreted from the brain. People with significant brain mercury will not be able to improve unless they use enough ALA for a long enough time. Those that improve greatly on DMSA alone, do not usually have as much brain toxicity. ALA is excreted mainly through the bilary system (bile ducts) from the liver and into the gastro-intestinal tract and also through the kidneys. This means these pathways of elimination should be flowing well to assist detoxification.
ALA should be avoided until the body burden is reduced, as it can move more mercury into the brain if the body burden is too high and redistribution is initiated.
ALA is available from most health shops in far too high a dosage without appropriate warnings or directions of usage. Tweet