How Does ALA Chelate?

“It’s that neighbor that’s constantly calling you up saying, ‘Hey, can I borrow your lawnmower. Hey, can I borrow 50 bucks…’ They’re constantly taking, constantly taking. They’re always unstable. There’s always something wrong. They never really had that grounded presence,” says Tom Malterre, MS, CN. 

Malterre is a functional medicine nutritionist with a bachelors and masters degree in nutrition from Bastyr University and has over ten years of clinical experience. His book The Elimination Diet is widely known and praised for removing foods that cause intolerances and inflammation. 

On the other end of the spectrum you’ve got the antioxidant neighbor saying, “Hey, can I help you with that? Can you use these hedge clippers to make that easier? You’re sick, let me mow your lawn for you,” he says. They offer help, giving when you need something. 

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Alpha lipoic acid (ALA)  has a very generous ability to give somebody and electron. When it gives somebody and electron it’s missing an electron. With a missing electron it can scoop up and join with free radicals and remove them from the body. More importantly it can join up with heavy metals and remove them most effectively. 

Heavy metals usually contain a negative charge. 

Please note there are two forms of ALA. The first is α-Linolenic acid (ALA), an omega-3 fatty acid found in seeds like chia, flaxseed, nuts and vegetable oils. The second is one discussed here as a chelator, alpha lipoic acid (ALA),  α-lipoic acid also termed alpha lipoic acid or thioctic acid, an organosulfur compound from octanoic acid. It can be made in the body as an antioxidant. ALA is made in animals and humans where it functions in aerobic metabolism.

The Alternative To Meds Center, a holistic mental health center says, “ALA is a potent antioxidant, increasing the effectiveness of Vitamin C and E.  ALA supplementation also stimulates glutathione synthesis, which is a major facet of detoxification.”

“A free radical is an unstable, incomplete molecule because it is missing an electron which exists in pairs in stable molecules. Free radicals are ‘unstable’ because they steal and electron from another molecule, and thereby create another free radical. This new free radical then duplicates the process, resulting in a chain reaction of events, which can ultimately damage the body,” says Alpha Lipoic Acid: Natures Natural Antioxidant by Allen Sosin and Beth Ley-Jacobs (p 17).

They go on to say, “Oxidation occurs when a molecule loses an electron. Reduction occurs when a molecule gains an electron.” 

Malterre describes mitochonria as the energy powerhouse of the cell saying, “It’s where you take in your outside sources of fuel. Oxidative stress means destabilization, stealing of an electron from the outer orbital of a compound. Oxidative stress means there are too many people that are stealing the electrons, they destabilize.”

He goes on to say, “Mercury is a known toxin that everybody knows about. It can rob really, really quickly, destabilize the cell, form free radicals.”

Many people are taking ALA according to the Sherry detox cocktail in medium high doses such as 300 mg twice daily.

Andy Cutler describes in his book Amalgan Illness that this method of taking ALA can redistribute and concentrate mercury into the organs, especially the brain. He discusses misunderstandings on heavy metal tests, false negative testing results as well as how to test and read toxicity tests properly in his book Hair Test Interpretation. 

Andy Cutler is a doctoral scientist who suffered mercury toxicity himself. He extensively studied the half life of chelators and found the most effective and safe method to eliminating heavy metals from the body. The Cutler protocol is considered the gold standard in mercury toxic groups. Following other protocols has left many people worse off than when they started from redistributed metals. These individuals often seek out the Cutler Protocol and see relief. 

Cutler is an advocate of low dose, frequent dose applications of ALA where he studied the half-life of chelators evaluating the net total amount chelated vs the net total of heavy metals redistributed within the body. Many people who follow his protocol start with opening capsules and dividing them down into 5 mg doses.

More interestingly Malterre says it takes 60 mg of niacin to make one milligram of triptophan. “If you have a niacin deficiency you can also rob triptophan. You want to make sure you don’t have oxidative stress so triptophan can go where it needs to go. I’m seeing about 10-15 percent of my population benefits from niacin supplementation.”

Malterre says, “Inflammation, oxidation, in the brain are behind depression.”

Dr. Abram Hoffer discusses niacin deficiencies in depth in his book Orthomolecular Medicine says niacin, B3, is the key to mental health specifically depression, anxiety, bipolar and schizophrenia. Many B3 supplements have fillers and additives that feed pathogens in the intestinal tract. Click here or here for a reliable clean source. Click here to read more.

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*Nourishing Plot is written by Becky Plotner, ND, traditional naturopath, GAPS who sees clients in Rossville, Georgia. Since her son was delivered from the effects of autism (Asperger’s syndrome), ADHD, bipolar disorder/manic depression, hypoglycemia and dyslexia through food she continued her education specializing in Leaky Gut and parasitology through Duke University, finishing with distinction. This is not a news article published by a paper trying to make money. This blog is put out by a mom who sees first hand the effects of nourishing food vs food-ish items. No company pays her for writing these blogs, she considers this a form of missionary work. It is her desire to scream it from the rooftops so that others don’t suffer from the damaging effect of today’s “food”.

 

Tom Malterre spoke at an online conference June 25, 2015.