NAC (N-Acetyl Cysteine)
N-acetylcysteine
Also known as: NAC, N-Acetyl-L-Cysteine
Overview
A precursor to glutathione — often called the body's master antioxidant — NAC supplies the cysteine the body uses to build it. Its best-established uses are respiratory, helping thin mucus and support normal airway clearance; in prescription form it is also the hospital antidote for acetaminophen poisoning. For heavy metals the evidence is much thinner — essentially one open-label randomized trial in 171 lead-exposed workers, where 12 weeks of NAC lowered blood lead and markers of oxidative stress. That makes it a possible adjunct for lead specifically: not an established detox therapy, not endorsed in any clinical guideline, and no substitute for medical evaluation or chelation.
Proposed mechanism
Converts to cysteine, the rate-limiting building block for glutathione, the body's main intracellular antioxidant, which neutralizes reactive oxygen species through its thiol group. Glutathione's thiol also forms complexes with certain metal ions, one of the routes the body uses to move and excrete them — though NAC itself is a weak binder compared with prescription chelating drugs and is not a substitute for medical chelation therapy. Mucolytic properties break disulfide bonds in respiratory mucus, reducing its viscosity.
Mechanisms describe how researchers think a compound may act, often from laboratory work — a proposed mechanism is not proof of a clinical effect in people.
Traditional & studied uses
Related pathways
Pathway tags are a research aid for browsing the glossary — they are not a claim that this ingredient treats any condition.