Robert O Young DSc, PhD, Naturopathic Practitioner
The Many Health Benefits of N-Acetyl-Cysteine (NAC) & Glutathione
Updated: Jul 29, 2021

N-Acetyl Cysteine is a very important essential amino acid!
N-Acetyl Cysteine (NAC) is considered a semi-essential by current scientists because your body can produce it from other amino acids, namely methionine and serine. I have suggested that NAC is essential because most lifestyles and diets are highly acidic reducing the levels of methionine and serine which are needed to produce NAC.
The amino acid Cysteine is found in most alkaline foods, such as avocado, buckwheat, broccoli, spinach, kale, hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds, flax seeds, borage seeds, broccoli seeds, carrot seeds and legumes.
N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) is the supplement form of cysteine. Consuming adequate cysteine and NAC is important for a variety of health, fitness and mental health reasons — including replenishing the most powerful antioxidant or anti-acid in your body, glutathione. These amino acids also help with acute and chronic respiratory conditions, fertility and brain health.
Here are the many health benefits of NAC
NAC is Essential for Making the Powerful Antioxidant Glutathione
NAC is valued primarily for its role in antioxidant production or reducing metabolic, respiratory, dietary and environmental acidic waste in the interstitial fluids of the Interstitium.

Glutathione is one of the body’s most important antioxidants or anti-acids, which helps neutralize acidic toxic waste that can damage cell membranes, genetics of all body cells that make up organs, tissues and glands of an animal and human body.

NAC is essential for supporting the white blood cells in buffering acidic waste that causes cellular damage. My research indicates that it may even contribute to longevity[1].
NAC, antioxidant or acidic neutralizing properties are also important for preventing and reversing numerous other ailments caused by oxidative or acidic stress, such as heart dis-ease, infertility and some bowel, blood and brain health challenges.[2]
SUMMARY
NAC helps to replenish glutathione, your body’s most powerful antioxidant or anti-acid. Therefore, it can improve a variety of health, fitness and mental conditions.
NAC Helps With Detoxification to Prevent or Diminish Kidney and Liver Damage
NAC plays an important role in your body’s detoxification process.
NAC can help prevent the effects of drugs and environmental acidic toxins such as aluminum oxide and dioxide, titanium dioxide, hydrogen arsenic, zinc dioxide, barium poisoning, Technetium 99m, EMF poisoning from electrical and magnetic pulsating fields ranging from 400mHz to 98gHz, carbon monoxide poisoning, black carbon, alcohol poisoning, acetaminophen poisoning, gallium, cadmium, mercury, graphene oxide and/or lead poisoning, just to name a few.[3]

NAC also has applications preventing and/or reversing decompensated acidosis of the interstitial fluids of the liver due to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits.[5]
SUMMARY
NAC helps detoxify your body of metabolic and dietary acids and can neutralize the acid acetaminophen.
NAC May Improve Psychiatric Disorders and Addictive Behavior
NAC helps regulate levels of glutamate — the most important neurotransmitter in your brain.[6]
While glutamate is required for normal brain action, excess glutamate with glutathione depletion can cause brain damage. This may contribute to mental health conditions, such as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and addictive behavior.[7][8]
For people with bipolar disease and depression, NAC may help decrease these acidic symptomologies and improve overall ability to function by reducing metabolic acids or heavy metals in the interstitial fluids of the brain and brain tissue. What’s more, research suggests that it may play a role in reversing moderate to severe OCD.[9][10]
Likewise, an animal study implied that NAC may minimize the negative acidic effects of schizophrenia, such as social withdrawal, apathy and reduced attention spans.[11]
NAC can also help decrease withdrawal symptoms and prevent relapse in cocaine addicts.[12][13]
Additionally, preliminary studies show that NAC may decrease marijuana and nicotine use and cravings.[14][15]
Many of these acidic disorders have limited or currently ineffective treatment options. NAC may be an effective way for individuals with these conditions to reduce the metabolic, dietary, recreation or prescription acidic toxins that can lead to the symptoms associated with mental is-orders.[16]
SUMMARY
By regulating glutamate levels in your brain, NAC may alleviate symptoms of multiple emotional and/or mental disorders and reduce acidic addictive behaviors.
NAC Helps Relieve Symptoms of Respiratory Conditions
NAC can relieve symptoms of respiratory conditions by acting as an antioxidant and expectorant, loosening mucus in your air passageways.

As an antioxidant, NAC helps replenish glutathione levels in your lungs and reduces inflammation in your bronchial tubes and lung tissue.
People with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) experience long-term oxidative or acidic damage causing inflammation of lung tissue, which causes airways to constrict — leading to shortness of breath and coughing.
NAC as a nutritional supplement can be used to improve COPD and pathological blood coagulation symptoms, exacerbations, shortness of breath, dry cough and lung decline.[17][18][19).
In a one-year study, 600 mg of NAC twice a day significantly improved lung function and symptoms in those with stable COPD.[20]
Those with chronic acidic bronchitis can also benefit from NAC.
Bronchitis occurs when the metabolic acids, toxic nano particulate build up in the interstitial fluids of the lungs causing bronchial passageways to become inflamed, swell and shut off airways to your lungs.[21][22]
By reducing acidic contributing factors that cause decompensated acidosis of the interstitial fluids of the lung with NAC this will increase healthy blood flow to the alveoli for releasing carbon dioxide and adsorbing life-giving oxygen. NAC may also help decrease the severity and frequency of wheezing, coughing and respiratory attacks due to its ability to chelate and reduce metabolic, respiratory and dietary acids in the lungs.[23]
In addition to relieving COPD and bronchitis, NAC may improve other lung and respiratory tract conditions like cystic fibrosis, asthma, pulmonary fibrosis and pulmonary embolism, as well as symptoms of nasal and sinus congestion due to acidic contributing factors from what one eats, drinks, breathes, thinks, feels and believes.[24]
SUMMARY
NAC’s antioxidant and expectorant capacity can improve lung function by decreasing the acidic wastes that cause inflammation as well as helping to break up mucus.
