Alpha Ketoglutarate

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Alpha Ketoglutarate is supposed to help inflamation and help muscle heal. Molly still really needs help for her arm; does anyone have any input on using this? We always have to be concerned about side effects, so if anyone has any experience using this, I would appreciate hearing about it, and the dosage/specific product!

Here's some information I found about it:

http://www.livestrong.com/article/447390-about-arginine-alpha-ketoglutarate/

http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-144-ALPHA-KETOGLUTARATE.aspx?activeIngredientId=144 & activeIngredientName=ALPHA-KETOGLUTARATE

And looking further, it looks like it's usually chelated to the amino acids Arginine or Ornithine, I think is usually sold as a body-building supplement:

http://www.swansonvitamins.com/NWF650/ItemDetail?n=0

http://www.supersmart.com/en--Amino-Acids--Arginine-Alpha-Ketoglutarate-(AKG)-1000-mg--0160

http://www.greatvistachemicals.com/nutritional-supplements/ornithine-alpha-ketoglutarate.html

From http://www.nutrabio.com/Products/okg.htm:

L-Ornithine and alpha-ketoglutarate (AKG) work synergistically in Ornithine alpha-ketoglutarate (OKG) to induce favorable conditions for any exercise and training regimen by regulating glutamine levels. L-Glutamine is an essential source of cellular fuel, which helps drive metabolic processes.

Normally your body is forced to break down muscle in order to do this, but the alpha-ketoglutarate (AKG) component of Ornithine alpha-ketoglutarate (OKG) curbs this breakdown of muscle by combining with ammonia, a toxic by-product that accumulates during intense workouts, to restore glutamine and hence energy levels back to normal. This prevents the attack on lean muscle mass and the accumulation of ammonia, which is highly toxic and can cause impaired cognition. By encouraging the excretion of ammonia (released during exercise), Ornithine alpha-ketoglutarate (OKG) also prevents the build up of lactic acid - known to accumulate with ammonia - which causes muscle fatigue, soreness and poor stamina.

The Researched Nutritionals product that Jim Jax is taking as part of that energy study is ATP, I believe. If you look at the ingredients in the ATP, it has some Alpha Ketoglutarate in it, but a lot less than if you take it singly. It has only 180mg of the Alpha Ketoglutarate and Tyrosine combined, whereas the Swanson Vitamin AAKG is 3500mg...a huge difference. ATP doesn't have Arginine or Ornithine, but does have Carnitine and Tyrosine, which are both listed in the Lyme Solution book, and I don't believe Arginine or Ornithine are listed in the Lyme Solution.

I'm also wondering if the fatty acid metabolizer in ATP is a key component, reading the article at http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2003/08/09/detoxification-biotoxins.aspx. This article was mentioned here last week. Any thoughts on this angle on detox? ie, taking Butyrate?

Thanks for reading this long post!