What is NAC?
NAC stands for N-Acetyl Cysteine. It is supplement of an amino acid named Cysteine, which becomes essential when your dietary intake of other amino acids like methionine and serine is too low. It is considered semi essential. Consuming adequate cysteine and NAC is important for a variety of health reasons, including for replenishing the most powerful antioxidant in your body, glutathione. These amino acids also help with chronic respiratory conditions, fertility, and brain health.
Cysteine is found in most high protein foods, such as chicken, turkey, yoghurt, cheese, eggs, sunflower seeds, and legumes
The benefits
NAC is necessary to make and replenish glutathione, which is one of the body’s most important antioxidants. Antioxidants are compounds that help neutralise free radicals that can damage cells and tissues in the body. This property makes NAC a viable treatment option for multiple health conditions.
The antioxidant properties may be beneficial for numerous other ailments caused by oxidative stress, such as heart disease, infertility, and some mental health conditions.
NAC increases glutathione levels in the body, which are rapidly depleted by stress, disease, or drug toxicity, so it has applications in clinical settings, in addition to general health and wellness.
NAC’s ability to boost glutathione levels may also improve immune function in a variety of diseases Oxidative damage to heart tissue often leads to heart disease, causing strokes, heart attacks, and other serious conditions. NAC may reduce heart disease by reducing oxidative damage to tissues in your heart.
NAC may help improve fertility in men by reducing oxidative stress that damages or kills reproductive cells. It may also aid fertility in women with PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome).
The ability to regulate brain glutamate levels can boost brain health. Glutamate is a neurotransmitter involved in a broad range of learning, behaviour, and memory functions and glutathione helps reduce brain cell oxidative damage that is associated with ageing. Therefore, NAC has the potential to treat health conditions affecting the brain and memory, such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.
As an antioxidant, NAC helps replenish glutathione levels in your lungs and reduces inflammation in your bronchial tubes and lung tissue. People with COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) experience long term oxidative damage and inflammation of lung tissue, which causes airways to constrict, leading to shortness of breath and coughing. NAC supplements have been used to improve COPD symptoms, exacerbations, and lung decline.
NAC can also reduce excess mucus for people with chronic lung conditions, such as bronchitis and cystic fibrosis.
NAC also plays an important role in your body’s detoxification process and can be used for liver diseases due to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits
By regulating glutamate levels in your brain, NAC may alleviate symptoms of mental health conditions and reduce substance use and cravings. While glutamine is required for normal brain activity, excess glutamate paired with glutathione depletion can cause brain damage. This may contribute to mental health conditions such as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and substance use disorder.
For people with bipolar disorder and depression, NAC may help decrease symptoms and improve overall ability to function. What’s more, research suggests that it may play a role in treating moderate to severe OCD
Dosing at the Levitas clinic
NAC is now available at Levitas Clinic, if are interested please do not hesitate to contact us.
