#random so toxic it poisoned upstream

[dailyadventureprompts]

Dungeon: Vault of the Lilies 

However beautiful, however pure, however brilliant, the wonders of this world will all eventually tarnish and decay. Learning to accept this, but also learning to fight against it is a lesson that few of us fail to master. 

-The Unsung Poet, Book 6: Contradictions

Setup: Now little more than a stagnant wallow and crumbling ruin, the Vault of Lilies was once the workshop of a brilliant woman by the name of Zaania, who’s one of a kind genius defined the imperium in which she lived, and is still regarded as one of the world’s greatest engineers nearly two centuries after her death. 

The end of the imperium was an era marked by civil war and strife, and thsoe who controlled the workshop locked its great doors fully expecting to return one day and reclaim the marvels stored within. When the imperial archives burned, so to did the secret documents detailing the vault’s location, leaving it sealed for decades as the slow but inexorable tide of nature worked on breaking its seals. 

Great marvels wait in the vault: clockwork soldiers and the plans to make more, priceless artifacts thought lost to history, alchemical treatises with ideas found nowhere else in creation. While many of these objects were kept in the vault during the time of the imperium, many more were collected by an Angel named Rumithel, who was created to protect and curate great works of beauty in the mortal world. 

Adventure Hooks: 

Rivers shift over time, and the lower levels of the Vault are completely flooded, allowing some ancient and forgotten treasures to drift out on the current. Those that go upstream searching for more treasures will however have to contend with a gigantic celestial crocodile named “Dredger”, who dutifully protects the Vault of lilies and fishes out treasure for her master Rumithel. More than simply a dumb guard beast, Dredger dissolves into silt and starlight when slain, only to reform the next night with a taste for vengeance. 

In attempting to find the solution to a looming problem, the party’s search through a great archive reveals an account of an invention by the great Zaania that could provide the answer. Stretching their research skills to the limit, the party is pointed in the direction of one of the architect’s last great works which may hold clues as to the location of her hidden workshop. 

Like many Celestials who spend too long at their task, Rumithel has gone a bit... off, suffering from a wound that slowly poisons his body and his logic while filling his mind with feverish zeal. The affliction seeps from him wherever he goes, able to corrode flesh with a touch or spawning toxic lilypad blooms whenever his bedeviled blood mingles with the water. The party may encounter this effect second hand when someone they know is poisoned ( either by an assassin’s blade or random exposure), forcing them  to seek out the source in hopes of finding a cure. Alternatively, Rumithel could appear before them seeking to collect one of the treasures they’ve acquired and refusing to take no for an answer. 

Background: What’s left out of most histories is that for all her Brilliance, Zaania was a slave, educated and treasured yes, but never in possession of full rights as a citizen of the empire she helped to revolutionize. Forced to work and invent until she was an old woman, Zaania refused to leave her workshop at the empire’s fall, even after her handlers unchained her from her drafting table for the first time in years. She was to old to travel, and so unwilling to let an “asset” of the imperium go to waste, her handlers fed her poison and locked her in with all of her unfinished inventions. As she died her slow, painful death, Zaania hurled curses the imperium had beaten out of her over a lifetime.... and a few of them ( such as “ Let all who covet my work fall to run” ) ended up sticking. 

 Use of Zaania’s wonders is a monkey’s paw scenario, creating the desired effect but invariably creating some terrible cost that ends up undoing whatever good they might’ve been used for. The only way to undo this curse is to commune with Zaania’s wrathful spirit, traveling back to the vault of lilies ( and facing and EVEN MORE VENGEFUL Dredger) and summoning the spirit of the inventor back to the world of the living. Clever and resentful of anyone who’d further her exploitation, the party must reason out their need and plead their case for why things wouldn’t be better if the invention wasn’t used at all. 

Legacy is the key to these negotiations, and if the party does very poorly they’ll be forced to destroy each and every one of the wonders contained within the vault in order to undo the curse’s damage. However, if they help Zaania realize that she wants her story of her captivity to be known along with the legend of her brilliance, so that those that enjoy her inventions do so with the understanding of the suffering from which they were derived, then they can help her spirit to pass on, dispelling the curse for good. 

[azvolrien]

Iceland - Day 5

Today was more eventful, in more ways than one. We left the gentle valley of Egilsstaðir behind and journeyed up into the harsh volcanic highlands, a landscape even more barren than Eldhraun in the south: mile after mile of black sand, weathered lava fields and scrubby grass, intercut here and there by cloudy meltwater streams flowing north from Vatnajökull and dotted with old navigation cairns.

           Stop No.1 of the day was the Fjallkaffi or Mountain Café, an isolated farm high up in this desolate place but nevertheless popular with tourists. It sells good coffee and kleina (Icelandic doughnuts) as well as heartier fare (soup, bread) for those in search of a proper lunch, and is the first café I’ve visited where the young woman working the till had to pause to chase a goat out from under a table. The same goat later attempted to commandeer a dune buggy and snuck onto a bus (not ours) to steal a packet of biscuits.

           The goat was not the only animal life at the café; there were also two dogs wandering around, one of which clearly mooched too many snacks from tourists, and a trio of arctic foxes which, though cute, were concerningly used to people. Evidently a lot of Fjallkaffi customers never received the memo that you shouldn’t feed wild animals. Maybe they were pet foxes, I dunno.

           We then carried on to Dettifoss, reputedly the most powerful waterfall in Europe. I can believe it; the waterfall lies in a gorge carved deep into a lava plateau near the continental rift (you actually cross the rift to reach the falls from the car park) so the spray kicked high into the air, visible from far away, is the first sign you get of it. Then, on the ~15min walk out to the edge of the gorge, you start to hear the thunder of the water and catch glimpses of the smaller Selfoss upstream, until finally you find yourself standing on the cliff edge by this astonishing torrent. It is not, perhaps, quite as scenic as Gullfoss, but it is higher (45m in a single drop, though I couldn’t see the bottom for the spray), broader, and carries a mindblowing volume of water over the edge every second. It also lacks much of the tourism infrastructure seen at the other waterfalls – no café or gift shop – other than a toilet block in the car park, and so feels somewhat wilder despite still being quite busy.

           After Dettifoss we carried on to Námafjall, an area of geothermal springs much less pleasant – though still as interesting – than the Geysir area. Pots of thick grey mud and sulphurous fumaroles bubble and steam away in the shadow of a volcano, sitting in an alien, almost Martian landscape of red clay stained with yellow and white from the volcanic vents. The steam from the vents is pleasantly warm from a safe distance, but the stink of sulphur downwind is almost overpowering and far too strong to enjoy the steam. The sight of the steam billowing from the fumaroles almost looks like they could be used for cooking, but you would probably poison yourself trying to eat anything that had spent too long in that toxic mud.

           We left Námafjall an moved on, driving up a mountain road past a geothermal power station and a peculiar outdoor artwork of a random shower by the road, and made a brief five-minute stop at Víti, the flooded crater of the Krafla volcano. Krafla itself last erupted in the 18th century, but the system is still very much active and a series of earthquakes opened a fissure nearby in the 1970s, causing an eruption that lasted a decade.

           The crater is a dramatic sight, holding a deep pool of cloudy, bright blue water, though it was a bit foggy when we visited and so we didn’t see it to best effect. The water is calm, with no bubbles or ripples, but that will doubtless change when (not if) Krafla wakes up, whenever that happens next.

           Shortly after this, the tour group split up for a while. The others went to the Jarðböðin Nature Baths, one of Iceland’s many hot springs used for outdoor bathing, while I passed on that – too busy – and carried on to out hotel for the night: Sel Hotel Mývatn, by the shore of Lake Mývatn and just over the road from some of the area’s famous ‘pseudocraters’. Checked in to the hotel, I then headed out again for a nearby stable (if that’s the right word for somewhere that they keep horses, but where they seem to live outside in a herd), where I signed up for a pony trek – or technically an Icelandic horse trek, as they are emphatically Not Ponies. I was introduced to my guide for the next hour, a young woman called Erla on grey Fálki, and my own steed, a sturdy bay gelding named Spaði (‘Spade’, after the shape of a white marking on his nose). This mostly went quite well: the four of us set off from the… horse place and followed a narrow trail out among the pseudocraters and lava formations. The horses are incredible sure-footed, finding their way easily along paths I would have trouble with on foot. One some wider tracks I (or, more accurately, Spaði) managed a tölt, the unique fifth gait of the Icelandic horse. This is a similar speed to a trot, but much smoother; you don’t get bounced up and down in the saddle as you do at a trot, so it’s a little easier for an inexperienced rider to sit.

           Then, about halfway through the ride on one of these wider tracks, Spaði got a bit overexcited – possibly trying to show off in front of Fálki – and broke into a gallop. I hung on for about two strides, and then my horsemanship abruptly gave out and I fell off onto the hardstanding in spectacular fashion. Spaði seemed quite apologetic afterwards – he kept nosing me while I was down on all fours trying to force some air into my very startled lungs, possibly trying to see if I was OK but also possibly just scratching himself – but fortunately nothing broke apart from the blood vessels that will doubtless give me some impressive bruises by morning [they did] and I managed to get back in the saddle to finish the ride at a sedate walk. We returned to the stable, where I bid farewell to Spaði and staggered back to the hotel for – in order – some ibuprofen, some hot chocolate, and the hottest bath I could stand. Unlimited hot water is one of the nice things about Iceland.

           The hotel itself, I would say, falls roughly in the middle in terms of niceness; better than Höfn and with a more scenic location than Hérað, but not quite up to Kría on either count. Dinner, however, was very good with an extensive buffet on offer, and the bath is definitely a big plus; all the previous hotels have just had showers.

[jesseneufeld]

All About NAC: Supplement Benefits, Side Effects, Dosages

Our understanding of how antioxidant supplementation works has changed in the last decade. Rather than act directly as antioxidants, most of these compounds stimulate the body’s own production of endogenous antioxidants. That’s right—most of the popular and beneficial “antioxidant” supplements work by provoking a mild hormetic stress response that activates our own antioxidant defenses.

But homegrown antioxidants aren’t made out of thin air. They are material substances that require physical building-blocks. Probably the most important antioxidant is glutathione, and its most important building block is NAC.

What is NAC?

N-acetyl-cysteine, or NAC, is the stable, supplement form of the amino acid cysteine. Cysteine provides one of the most crucial backbones undergirding the body’s premier antioxidant: Glutathione.

In the conventional medical world, NAC is mainly used to rescue people from acetaminophen toxicity. If you overdose on Tylenol and get to a doctor within 8 hours, they’ll give you a big dose of NAC to save your liver and your life. But how does it work? How does NAC beat Tylenol toxicity?

By increasing glutathione stores in the liver. Glutathione binds to the toxic Tylenol metabolite and makes it harmless, but it doesn’t last forever. A big dose of a major toxin like Tylenol is enough to deplete glutathione stores and increase acute glutathione requirements. NAC provides the raw material for glutathione production, allowing it to commence and get to protecting.

Might this have other effects? Does glutathione do anything else?

It reduces reactive oxygen species down to less damaging metabolites.

It is the master detoxifier, a major line of defense against invading mutagenic, carcinogenic, and inflammatory agents.

It defends against glycation.

It controls hundreds of proteins in the body.

Instantly access our FREE download: Guide to a Healthy Gut

It protects against lung damage and maintains respiratory function, especially in the context of infectious respiratory diseases.1

It regulates glutamate levels in the brain, reducing over-excitation.

In other words, it does a lot. We should probably try to keep our levels up. If we don’t?

Well…

Low levels of glutathione have been linked to such disparate conditions as diabetes, tuberculosis, cancer, HIV, and aging.2 Heart failure patients tend to have low glutathione.3 Low glutathione levels are generally associated with elevated markers of inflammation, like CRP.

Okay, so glutathione is important, low levels are linked to many different diseases and health conditions, it’s a good idea to have adequate levels for general health, and NAC is one of the better ways to replenish glutathione.4 At normal doses of Tylenol, taking NAC along with it prevents glutathione depletion without negatively affecting the therapeutic effect of the drug.5

NAC helps the liver metabolize alcohol, too, by speeding up the clearance of its most toxic metabolite—acetaldehyde. In rats, NAC even mitigates the hypertensive effect of drinking alcohol, suggesting general detoxification effects.6

Detoxification with NAC

All those “experts” who say detox is a myth and your body is perfectly able to detoxify everything it needs to without fancy supplements and therapies are half-right. The body is able to detoxify a wide range of toxins, provided we give it the substrates it requires. NAC is one such substrate that seems to help us deal with incoming toxins.

In workers with chronic lead exposure, NAC increases antioxidant capacity in red blood cells, reduces oxidative stress, and lowers blood levels of lead.7

In adults with acute pesticide poisoning, NAC (600 mg 3 times per day) reduces inflammatory markers and the need for atropine (a pharmaceutical that treats pesticide poisoning).8

After exposure to diesel fumes, taking NAC reduces blood vessel damage and, in asthmatic patients, lowers the airway responsiveness.910

NAC even reduces the toxic effects in people who eat poison mushrooms or get dosed with mustard gas.1112

If large doses of NAC can help people deal with serious toxin loads, moderate doses of NAC can probably help people deal with normal loads.

NAC and Lung Health

In bronchitis and Chronic Pulmonary Obstructive Disease (COPD), the lungs lose glutathione and accumulate too much thick mucus, reducing their function and making it harder to breathe. When you take NAC in this situation, it replenishes lung glutathione and thins out the mucus.

The result is that bronchitis patients who take NAC over the course of 3-6 months experience lower rates of “exacerbations” (worsening episodes) and see their symptoms improve.13 Same goes for COPD patients on a year-long course of NAC; they enjoy improved lung capacity.14

Flu Resistance

One study in older adults had some remarkable results.15 Subjects were randomized to one of two groups. The first group got placebo. The second group got 600 mg of NAC, twice a day, for 6 months. Over the course of the study, they tracked “influenza-like” symptoms, finding that the NAC group had far fewer than the placebo group. Then they tested the subjects for influenza antibodies and found that both groups had equal seroconversion rates. Both groups were equally likely to have gotten the flu over the 6 months, but just 25% of the infected NAC group ever showed symptoms versus 79% of the infected placebo group who showed symptoms.

NAC Reduces Inflammation and Oxidative Stress

The modern world is a stressful place. We have long commutes to jobs we often dislike. We’re stuck indoors when we’d rather be outside in the fresh air and sunlight. We have to closely read labels—or avoid them altogether—to make sure we’re eating healthy fare. The air is polluted, we’re disconnected from nature, we sit too much and move too little. I’m not saying this to be a downer or alarmist—the world remains a beautiful place full of joy and wonder—but a realist. Life is good but our bodies are under constant, chronic low-level assault from evolutionarily novel physiological and psychological stressors.

Increased oxidative stress is the baseline for too many people, and NAC has been shown to be one of the best “all-purpose” supplements for reducing it.16

Mental and Psychological Health

NAC checks off a few important boxes for mental health. It crosses the blood brain barrier, reduces oxidative stress, and regulates glutamate levels in the brain. Now, glutamate isn’t “bad,” but too much glutamate in the wrong places can lead to over-excitation. That’s often what we see in mental and psychological disorders—over-excitation, excessive activity.

NAC smoothes that out. It sticks glutamate where it belongs in the right concentrations. It provides the right amount of inhibition to counter the excitation.17

This is probably why NAC supplementation has shown preliminary promise in treating a number of disorders, including autism, Alzheimer’s disease, cocaine and cannabis addiction, bipolar disorder, depression, trichotillomania, nail biting, skin picking, obsessive-compulsive disorder, schizophrenia, anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and even mild traumatic brain injury.18

NAC and Fertility

Both male and female infertility often come down to elevated oxidative stress. Can NAC reduce stress? Yes. Can NAC improve fertility? Yes.

In men visiting a fertility clinic, an NAC supplement (600 mg/day for 3 months) increased serum antioxidant capacity, reduced oxidative stress, and improved sperm quality, motility, and consistency.19

A combo of selenium and NAC was also able to improve semen quality in men with fertility issues.20

As for women’s fertility, NAC seems to be most effective in women with PCOS already taking clomiphene citrate (a PCOS drug meant to stimulate fertility). A pair of studies found that NAC increased both ovulation and pregnancy rate in women with PCOS who had proven resistant to clomiphene citrate alone.2122

Should Everyone Take NAC?

Not necessarily. Most of its benefits occur in people with depleted glutathione levels and/or elevated inflammatory status.

One paper found that NAC was only helpful in patients with depleted glutathione levels.23 Those with low glutathione saw platelet function improvements, while those patients with normal glutathione levels saw no improvements in their platelet function.

Another paper found similar results with depression. Only those patients with elevated CRP levels at baseline experienced a reduction in depressive symptoms after taking NAC.24

And most of the studied health conditions are quite serious and, relatively speaking, rare. What draws me in is the fact that glutathione is upstream of so many different physiological processes. It’s not some specific compound with very limited application or relevance. It’s a specific compound with broad applications.

You may not have the glutamate over-excitation issues of someone with full-blown schizophrenia or social anxiety disorder, but a little NAC might help you focus or improve your internal self-talk.

You may not have COPD, but making sure your lung glutathione stores are replete isn’t a bad idea.

You’re probably not completely infertile, but reducing oxidative stress and improving sperm or endometrial quality never hurt anyone’s chances.

All that said, NAC is one of the safer supplements available. It probably won’t hurt to try a small dose whether you have elevated inflammation or depleted glutathione or not—and many people do have suboptimal glutathione status without knowing it.

What’s a Good NAC Dosage?

Many of the therapeutic effects used in the studies I referenced today were in the 500-600 mg range. Sometimes higher, but not necessarily.

I included 500 mg of it in my broad-spectrum micronutrient supplement, Primal Master Formula, because that is a well-tolerated, well-attested dose that’s safe to use and quite effective at glutathione maintenance.

I am a very light/moderate drinker these days, but whenever I do have more than usual, I’ll take 500 mg of NAC and 500 mg of vitamin C about an hour before drinking. This dose seems to improve the positive effects and reduce any negative side effects, probably by increasing glutathione, enhancing ethanol metabolism, and clearing acetaldehyde more quickly.

That’s it for NAC, folks. If you have any questions or comments, drop them down below.

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References

https://ift.tt/2zC044p

https://ift.tt/2yPamxP

https://ift.tt/2Skpr1k

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2129149/[ref] But does taking a NAC supplement actually improve health?

Let’s look at the evidence.

NAC Benefits

What areas of health can you expect to benefit from NAC supplementation?

Liver support

Detoxification

Lung health

Flu resistance

Inflammation and oxidative stress

Mental and psychological health

Fertility

NAC and Liver Support

NAC protects the liver against acetaminophen (Tylenol) toxicity, keeping liver enzyme levels down.[ref]https://ift.tt/35rjkxH

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The post All About NAC: Supplement Benefits, Side Effects, Dosages appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.

All About NAC: Supplement Benefits, Side Effects, Dosages published first on https://drugaddictionsrehab.tumblr.com/

[lauramalchowblog]

All About NAC: Supplement Benefits, Side Effects, Dosages

Our understanding of how antioxidant supplementation works has changed in the last decade. Rather than act directly as antioxidants, most of these compounds stimulate the body’s own production of endogenous antioxidants. That’s right—most of the popular and beneficial “antioxidant” supplements work by provoking a mild hormetic stress response that activates our own antioxidant defenses.

But homegrown antioxidants aren’t made out of thin air. They are material substances that require physical building-blocks. Probably the most important antioxidant is glutathione, and its most important building block is NAC.

What is NAC?

N-acetyl-cysteine, or NAC, is the stable, supplement form of the amino acid cysteine. Cysteine provides one of the most crucial backbones undergirding the body’s premier antioxidant: Glutathione.

In the conventional medical world, NAC is mainly used to rescue people from acetaminophen toxicity. If you overdose on Tylenol and get to a doctor within 8 hours, they’ll give you a big dose of NAC to save your liver and your life. But how does it work? How does NAC beat Tylenol toxicity?

By increasing glutathione stores in the liver. Glutathione binds to the toxic Tylenol metabolite and makes it harmless, but it doesn’t last forever. A big dose of a major toxin like Tylenol is enough to deplete glutathione stores and increase acute glutathione requirements. NAC provides the raw material for glutathione production, allowing it to commence and get to protecting.

Might this have other effects? Does glutathione do anything else?

It reduces reactive oxygen species down to less damaging metabolites.

It is the master detoxifier, a major line of defense against invading mutagenic, carcinogenic, and inflammatory agents.

It defends against glycation.

It controls hundreds of proteins in the body.

Instantly access our FREE download: Guide to a Healthy Gut

It protects against lung damage and maintains respiratory function, especially in the context of infectious respiratory diseases.1

It regulates glutamate levels in the brain, reducing over-excitation.

In other words, it does a lot. We should probably try to keep our levels up. If we don’t?

Well…

Low levels of glutathione have been linked to such disparate conditions as diabetes, tuberculosis, cancer, HIV, and aging.2 Heart failure patients tend to have low glutathione.3 Low glutathione levels are generally associated with elevated markers of inflammation, like CRP.

Okay, so glutathione is important, low levels are linked to many different diseases and health conditions, it’s a good idea to have adequate levels for general health, and NAC is one of the better ways to replenish glutathione.4 At normal doses of Tylenol, taking NAC along with it prevents glutathione depletion without negatively affecting the therapeutic effect of the drug.5

NAC helps the liver metabolize alcohol, too, by speeding up the clearance of its most toxic metabolite—acetaldehyde. In rats, NAC even mitigates the hypertensive effect of drinking alcohol, suggesting general detoxification effects.6

Detoxification with NAC

All those “experts” who say detox is a myth and your body is perfectly able to detoxify everything it needs to without fancy supplements and therapies are half-right. The body is able to detoxify a wide range of toxins, provided we give it the substrates it requires. NAC is one such substrate that seems to help us deal with incoming toxins.

In workers with chronic lead exposure, NAC increases antioxidant capacity in red blood cells, reduces oxidative stress, and lowers blood levels of lead.7

In adults with acute pesticide poisoning, NAC (600 mg 3 times per day) reduces inflammatory markers and the need for atropine (a pharmaceutical that treats pesticide poisoning).8

After exposure to diesel fumes, taking NAC reduces blood vessel damage and, in asthmatic patients, lowers the airway responsiveness.910

NAC even reduces the toxic effects in people who eat poison mushrooms or get dosed with mustard gas.1112

If large doses of NAC can help people deal with serious toxin loads, moderate doses of NAC can probably help people deal with normal loads.

NAC and Lung Health

In bronchitis and Chronic Pulmonary Obstructive Disease (COPD), the lungs lose glutathione and accumulate too much thick mucus, reducing their function and making it harder to breathe. When you take NAC in this situation, it replenishes lung glutathione and thins out the mucus.

The result is that bronchitis patients who take NAC over the course of 3-6 months experience lower rates of “exacerbations” (worsening episodes) and see their symptoms improve.13 Same goes for COPD patients on a year-long course of NAC; they enjoy improved lung capacity.14

Flu Resistance

One study in older adults had some remarkable results.15 Subjects were randomized to one of two groups. The first group got placebo. The second group got 600 mg of NAC, twice a day, for 6 months. Over the course of the study, they tracked “influenza-like” symptoms, finding that the NAC group had far fewer than the placebo group. Then they tested the subjects for influenza antibodies and found that both groups had equal seroconversion rates. Both groups were equally likely to have gotten the flu over the 6 months, but just 25% of the infected NAC group ever showed symptoms versus 79% of the infected placebo group who showed symptoms.

NAC Reduces Inflammation and Oxidative Stress

The modern world is a stressful place. We have long commutes to jobs we often dislike. We’re stuck indoors when we’d rather be outside in the fresh air and sunlight. We have to closely read labels—or avoid them altogether—to make sure we’re eating healthy fare. The air is polluted, we’re disconnected from nature, we sit too much and move too little. I’m not saying this to be a downer or alarmist—the world remains a beautiful place full of joy and wonder—but a realist. Life is good but our bodies are under constant, chronic low-level assault from evolutionarily novel physiological and psychological stressors.

Increased oxidative stress is the baseline for too many people, and NAC has been shown to be one of the best “all-purpose” supplements for reducing it.16

Mental and Psychological Health

NAC checks off a few important boxes for mental health. It crosses the blood brain barrier, reduces oxidative stress, and regulates glutamate levels in the brain. Now, glutamate isn’t “bad,” but too much glutamate in the wrong places can lead to over-excitation. That’s often what we see in mental and psychological disorders—over-excitation, excessive activity.

NAC smoothes that out. It sticks glutamate where it belongs in the right concentrations. It provides the right amount of inhibition to counter the excitation.17

This is probably why NAC supplementation has shown preliminary promise in treating a number of disorders, including autism, Alzheimer’s disease, cocaine and cannabis addiction, bipolar disorder, depression, trichotillomania, nail biting, skin picking, obsessive-compulsive disorder, schizophrenia, anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and even mild traumatic brain injury.18

NAC and Fertility

Both male and female infertility often come down to elevated oxidative stress. Can NAC reduce stress? Yes. Can NAC improve fertility? Yes.

In men visiting a fertility clinic, an NAC supplement (600 mg/day for 3 months) increased serum antioxidant capacity, reduced oxidative stress, and improved sperm quality, motility, and consistency.19

A combo of selenium and NAC was also able to improve semen quality in men with fertility issues.20

As for women’s fertility, NAC seems to be most effective in women with PCOS already taking clomiphene citrate (a PCOS drug meant to stimulate fertility). A pair of studies found that NAC increased both ovulation and pregnancy rate in women with PCOS who had proven resistant to clomiphene citrate alone.2122

Should Everyone Take NAC?

Not necessarily. Most of its benefits occur in people with depleted glutathione levels and/or elevated inflammatory status.

One paper found that NAC was only helpful in patients with depleted glutathione levels.23 Those with low glutathione saw platelet function improvements, while those patients with normal glutathione levels saw no improvements in their platelet function.

Another paper found similar results with depression. Only those patients with elevated CRP levels at baseline experienced a reduction in depressive symptoms after taking NAC.24

And most of the studied health conditions are quite serious and, relatively speaking, rare. What draws me in is the fact that glutathione is upstream of so many different physiological processes. It’s not some specific compound with very limited application or relevance. It’s a specific compound with broad applications.

You may not have the glutamate over-excitation issues of someone with full-blown schizophrenia or social anxiety disorder, but a little NAC might help you focus or improve your internal self-talk.

You may not have COPD, but making sure your lung glutathione stores are replete isn’t a bad idea.

You’re probably not completely infertile, but reducing oxidative stress and improving sperm or endometrial quality never hurt anyone’s chances.

All that said, NAC is one of the safer supplements available. It probably won’t hurt to try a small dose whether you have elevated inflammation or depleted glutathione or not—and many people do have suboptimal glutathione status without knowing it.

What’s a Good NAC Dosage?

Many of the therapeutic effects used in the studies I referenced today were in the 500-600 mg range. Sometimes higher, but not necessarily.

I included 500 mg of it in my broad-spectrum micronutrient supplement, Primal Master Formula, because that is a well-tolerated, well-attested dose that’s safe to use and quite effective at glutathione maintenance.

I am a very light/moderate drinker these days, but whenever I do have more than usual, I’ll take 500 mg of NAC and 500 mg of vitamin C about an hour before drinking. This dose seems to improve the positive effects and reduce any negative side effects, probably by increasing glutathione, enhancing ethanol metabolism, and clearing acetaldehyde more quickly.

That’s it for NAC, folks. If you have any questions or comments, drop them down below.

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References

https://ift.tt/2zC044p

https://ift.tt/2yPamxP

https://ift.tt/2Skpr1k

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2129149/[ref] But does taking a NAC supplement actually improve health?

Let’s look at the evidence.

NAC Benefits

What areas of health can you expect to benefit from NAC supplementation?

Liver support

Detoxification

Lung health

Flu resistance

Inflammation and oxidative stress

Mental and psychological health

Fertility

NAC and Liver Support

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The post All About NAC: Supplement Benefits, Side Effects, Dosages appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.

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