Platinum Naturals NAC 8.5x (N-Acetyl-L-Cysteine) - 120 Softgels

WHAT IS NAC?

N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) is a derivative of the amino acid L-cysteine and is a more stable form of this amino acid for supplementation. NAC is a precursor to the important antioxidant, glutathione. NAC is also an antioxidant in its own right. It detoxifies heavy metals like mercury, cadmium and lead.

It protects all cells of the body from damage due to aging, helps immune cells kill invading microbes (especially viruses) and stops cells from being harmed by radiation and chemotherapy. NAC is recommended by natural health practitioners for conditions such as frequent colds and flus, asthma, bronchitis, acetaminophen toxicity, heavy metal toxicity, side effects of cell treatment, AIDS and decreased liver functioning. Supplementation of NAC has been shown to improve the body’s glutathione levels.

What Is Glutathione?

Glutathione is a sulphur-based molecule made from three amino acids cysteine, glycine and glutamic acid. It is an important antioxidant in the liver’s detoxification pathways. Glutathione changes chemicals and metabolic byproducts into harmless substances for excretion from the body, by deactivating harmful free radicals.

Glutathione is responsible for detoxifying many compounds, including those found in cigarette smoke, alcohol, aspirin and acetaminophen. As an antioxidant in other parts of the body, glutathione protects red blood cells, helps immune cells kill invading microbes and stops cells from being harmed by radiation. Glutathione can be administered directly to the lungs to help reduce free radical damage in conditions such as chronic bronchitis, emphysema and asthma. Glutathione is recommended by natural health practitioners for conditions such as frequent colds and flus, hair loss, peptic ulcers, drug and alcohol overdose and decreased liver functioning

What Is An Antioxidant?

Antioxidants are nutrients that help to protect your body from the damage caused by free radicals - the toxic molecules that play a role in the development of diseases including cataracts, heart disease and arthritis. While our bodies produce some of these free radicals as the "garbage" from some its natural processes, we are now exposed to more and more of them from our environment than ever before.

The chemical pollution of our air and water now leave us exposed to very powerful free radicals that we have never been exposed to in the past. In combination with the nutrient depletion of our foods from modern chemical agriculture, we now also get less of the important nutrients from it that would normally help our immune systems fight these chemical invaders. This is why many nutritional doctors recommend their patients take supplements of antioxidants.

How Antioxidants Protect Your Cells:

When a free radical enters your body, it is attracted to the cells that make up the different tissues of it just like a magnet to metal. It then bonds to parts of the cell, which causes it to deteriorate in a way similar to that which oxygen causes metal to rust. If the cell gets damaged enough, it dies. Worse yet, if the cell DNA is damaged and then the cell reproduces, it reproduces abnormally as a result. When this happens to our skin, we get wrinkles; when it happens to our oxygen carrying blood vessels, we get hardening of the arteries; when it happens to our joints, we get arthritis; in some people - if it happens enough - they may even get unhealthy cell growths.

Antioxidants work by bonding with the free radical before it can bond to the cells of your body, thus neutralizing it. This now harmless substance is then deconstructed or merely excreted.

Common Disorders Caused By Oxidative Damage

Cataracts, macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, wrinkles, premature aging, cardiovascular disease are all affected and exacerbated by oxidative damage to different parts of the body. It is now widely accepted even among mainstream practitioners that free radical damage is a major cause of these diseases.