NAC (N-Acetyl Cysteine)

Cysteine is a semi-essential amino acid.

Cysteine is found in most high protein foods, such as chicken, turkey, yogurt, cheese, eggs, sunflower seeds, and legumes.

N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) is a supplement form of cysteine.

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.

Top Benefits of NAC

Essential for making the powerful antioxidant glutathione
NAC helps replenish glutathione, arguably your body’s most powerful antioxidant. Therefore, it may help improve a variety of health conditions.
Helps with detoxification to prevent or diminish kidney and liver damage
NAC helps detoxify your body and can treat acetaminophen overdoses.
May improve mental health conditions and substance use disorder
By regulating glutamate levels in your brain, NAC may alleviate symptoms of mental health conditions and reduce substance use and cravings.
Helps relieve symptoms of respiratory conditions
NAC’s antioxidant and expectorant capacity can improve lung function by decreasing inflammation and breaking up mucus.
Boosts brain health by regulating glutamate and replenishing glutathione
By helping replenish the antioxidant glutathione and regulate glutamate, NAC has the potential to treat conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.
May improve fertility in both men and women
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.
May stabilize blood sugar by decreasing inflammation in fat cells
By decreasing inflammation in fat tissue, NAC may reduce insulin resistance and improve blood sugar regulation, but human-based research is lacking.
May reduce heart disease risk by preventing oxidative damage
NAC can reduce oxidative damage to your heart, which can, in turn, decrease your risk of heart disease.
Ability to boost glutathione levels may improve immune function
NAC’s ability to boost glutathione levels may improve immune function in a variety of diseases.