NAC. Is It Healthy?

Lucenzo01

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I have been reading a lot of conflicting info about NAC. I have been taking it and feeling really good. A lot of good reports on the net. What is the general opinion of the peat community?
 
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Cysteine not peaty
Antioxidant fad not peaty
 

Barliman

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There is an enormous amount of interest in NAC at the moment-- over 17,000s paper on my first glance at PubMed.
Re anti-oxidants- most of the ones used have only an extracellular effect, but NAC is available in the intracellular environment to provide an antioxidant effect by maintaining glutathione.

The most dramatic illustration of this is the case of acute paracetamol poisoning which will cause death by hepatic necrosis within a few days if urgent treatment with NAC is not instituted.
Mechanisms of Acetaminophen-Induced Liver Necrosis
"These events include: (1) CYP metabolism to a reactive metabolite which depletes glutathione and covalently binds to proteins; (2) loss of glutathione with an increased formation of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species in hepatocytes undergoing necrotic changes; (3) increased oxidative stress, associated with alterations in calcium homeostasis and initiation of signal transduction responses, causing mitochondrial permeability transition; (4) mitochondrial permeability transition occurring with additional oxidative stress, loss of mitochondrial membrane potential, and loss of the ability of the mitochondria to synthesize ATP; and (5) loss of ATP which leads to necrosis"
Now ALL of this pathway can be aborted with the appropriate use of NAC- and it operates by maintaining glutathione levels.
So we have clear evidence of antioxidant effect in acute crises. Current evidence in psychiatry is pointing to a neuroprotective effect (esp in bipolar, which I have, and which is known to cause significant oxidative damage to the brain.

This paper is worthwhile:
The effect of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) on human cognition - A systematic review. - PubMed - NCBI
The effect of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) on human cognition - A systematic review.
Abstract
Oxidative stress, neuroinflammation and neurogenesis are commonly implicated as cognitive modulators across a range of disorders. N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is a glutathione precursor with potent antioxidant, pro-neurogenesis and anti-inflammatory properties and a favourable safety profile. A systematic review of the literature specifically examining the effect of NAC administration on human cognition revealed twelve suitable articles for inclusion: four examining Alzheimer's disease; three examining healthy participants; two examining physical trauma; one examining bipolar disorder, one examining schizophrenia, and one examining ketamine-induced psychosis. Heterogeneity of studies, insufficiently powered studies, infrequency of cognition as a primary outcome, heterogeneous methodologies, formulations, co-administered treatments, administration regimes, and assessment confounded the drawing of firm conclusions. The available data suggested statistically significant cognitive improvements following NAC treatment, though the paucity of NAC-specific research makes it difficult to determine if this effect is meaningful. While NAC may have a positive cognitive effect in a variety of contexts; larger, targeted studies are warranted, specifically evaluating its role in other clinical disorders with cognitive sequelae resulting from oxidative stress and neuroinflammation.


Now that is not to say everyone should be supplementing with it routinely, but if one has a diet of habits that predispose to low glutathione levels (ie smoking, drinking) then it is well worth consideration- after educating oneself as well as possible about glutathione.


 

Vinero

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Yes, it is one of the very few Non-Peat approved substances I take. Restoring glutathione which is a major intracellular antioxidant is a big game changer for how I feel. I feel a lot "cleaner" since taking it. It also has some other benefits like providing liver protection and modulating immune responses, making cells more resistant to proinflammatory cytokines like TNF-alpha. It can moderate the response to endotoxin. It is also a chelator of heavy metals, and it seems to be anti-fungal, in the sense that it protects against mycotoxins from candida and other fungi. I make sure to balance any anti-thyroid effects of NAC by also taking other pro-thyroid amino acids like glycine, taurine, BCAA etc. I started with 600 mg and built up to 1800 mg, which seems to work great for me.
 

Astolfo

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I got ill two days ago. Also, I started to take NAC 600 mg on that day(What a terrible coincidence). After two dosage, I stopped because I have seen somethings like “antioxidants supresses immune system” and “After using NAC, I got very ill”. Today is the 3rd day and I’m having weird feeling on my ears. Like pressure or a pain, but I’m not able to explain exactly. I had never been feel something like this before.

I will look if this will pass. I hope that I didn’t cause something serious with only just 2 doses of nac.
 

Vinero

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I got ill two days ago. Also, I started to take NAC 600 mg on that day(What a terrible coincidence). After two dosage, I stopped because I have seen somethings like “antioxidants supresses immune system” and “After using NAC, I got very ill”. Today is the 3rd day and I’m having weird feeling on my ears. Like pressure or a pain, but I’m not able to explain exactly. I had never been feel something like this before.

I will look if this will pass. I hope that I didn’t cause something serious with only just 2 doses of nac.
I used to take NAC but also stopped taking it. It made me feel hypothyroid. I feel better without it.
 

Vinero

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Also, this is what Haidut said to me about NAC in a private message:
"I don't think NAC is good to use. It powerfully suppresses thyroid function and often given to people with Grave's disease or people experiencing thyroid storm."
 

Jonnie

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Everywhere I read about it, people seem to experience massive positive effects from it.
Yeah but most new hype is met with people responding positively to it. Same with vegan, keto etc. They swear they never felt this good before
 

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