N-Acetyl-Cysteine (NAC) is an amino acid that promotes the formation of glutathione, one of the body’s most important and potent antioxidants.

Our NAC is made in our Melbourne compounding laboratory. It is pure, ultra-micronised, vegan friendly, gluten free, egg free, preservative free, nut free with no artificial colours or flavours and contains no fillers or binders.

Compounded and ultra-micronised, Elixir’s NAC is up to five times more bio-absorbed than a comparable, commercially manufactured product.

Cysteine is a semi-essential amino acid.

N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) is a supplement form of cysteine. Consuming adequate NAC is important for a variety of health reasons - including replenishing the most powerful antioxidant in your body, glutathione. These amino acids also help with chronic respiratory illness, fertility and brain health.

Here are the top 9 health benefits of NAC.

1. It’s essential for making the powerful antioxidant glutathione

Glutathione is one of the body’s most important antioxidants, which helps neutralise free radicals that can damage cells and tissues in your body. It’s essential for immune health and fighting cellular damage. NAC helps replenish glutathione, arguably your body’s most powerful antioxidant.

2. It helps with detoxification to prevent or diminish kidney and liver damage

NAC helps detoxify your body and can treat acetaminophen overdoses.

3. It improves psychiatric disorders and addictive behaviour

NAC helps regulate levels of glutamate, the most important neurotransmitter in your brain. While glutamate is required for normal brain action, excess glutamate paired with glutathione depletion can cause brain damage. This contributes to mental health conditions, such as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and addictive behaviour.

4. It 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.

5. It improves brain health

The brain neurotransmitter glutamate is involved in a broad range of learning, behaviour and memory actions, while the antioxidant glutathione helps reduce oxidative damage to brain cells associated with aging. Because NAC helps regulate glutamate levels and replenish glutathione, it can benefit those with brain and memory ailments.

The neurological disorder Alzheimer’s disease slows down a person’s learning and memory capacity. Studies have shown that NAC can slow the loss of cognitive ability in people with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.

6. It can improve fertility in both men and women

Approximately 15% of all couples trying to conceive are affected by infertility. In almost half of these cases, male infertility is the main contributing factor.

Many male infertility issues increase when antioxidant levels are insufficient to combat free radical formation in your reproductive system. The oxidative stress can cause cell death and reduced fertility.

NAC can help improve fertility in men by reducing oxidative stress that damages or kills reproductive cells. It can also aid fertility in women with PCOS.

7. It stabilises blood sugar by decreasing inflammation in fat cells

High blood sugar and obesity contribute to inflammation in fat tissue. This can lead to damage or destruction of insulin receptors and put you at a higher risk of type 2 diabetes.

Studies have shown that NAC stabilises blood sugar by decreasing inflammation in fat cells, improving insulin resistance. When insulin receptors are intact and healthy, they properly remove sugar from your blood, keeping levels within normal limits.

8. It reduces heart disease risk by preventing oxidative damage

Oxidative damage to heart tissue often leads to heart disease, causing strokes, heart attacks and other serious conditions. NAC can reduce heart disease risk by reducing oxidative damage to tissues in your heart.

It has also been shown to increase nitric oxide production, which helps veins dilate and improves blood flow. This expedites blood transit back to your heart and can lower your risk of heart attacks.

9. It improves immune function

NAC and glutathione also boost immune health, reducing the risk of contracting a variety of diseases.

Research has demonstrated that NAC effectively targets both oxidative stress and mitochondrial function. It is a powerful antioxidant and detox nutrient. It plays an important role in managing a wide range of conditions including cancer, heart disease, heavy metal toxicity, macular degeneration, cataracts and mental illness.

NAC also has strong anti-inflammatory properties and is therefore very effective in the treatment of Respiratory Illness and chronic pain including Fibromyalgia.