Power Supplement: N-Acetyl Cysteine (NAC)

Greetings Friends,

As an Integrative Physician with a passion for natural measures, I am excited to bring you the first in a series of articles we will call “Power Supplements”. The goal is to educate and inspire you towards optimal health, with an emphasis always on natural, inexpensive, and practical ideas. 

Our very first candidate?  N-Acetyl Cysteine (NAC)

Truly a heavy-hitter, this supplement has proven itself for decades and helped saved countless lives during this pandemic (at the same time that the FDA was trying to ban its distribution). Besides that, it has potent anti-cancer properties, tremendous antioxidant and anti-inflammatory roles, and enormous benefit for the brain.

Reasons to love NAC:

1. Strengthens your immune system, especially in the lungs. NAC gets converted to glutathione, which is one of the two most important antioxidant systems in your body (more on that later). Glutathione is necessary in high quantities for the white blood cells in your lungs to mount an effective immune response -- whether to The Virus, influenza, RSV, bacterial pneumonia, or whatever.

              Bonus: NAC also thins mucus.  When patients mention problems with thick phlegm, my go-to home remedies are NAC and Mucinex.  

2. COVID prevention and treatment. NAC has direct anti-viral activity against SARS-COV2 and decreases cytokine storm. Read more here or watch this video.