• echeng
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  • Registered: 2005-01-13
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Topic: NAC (n-acetyl-cysteine) + Vitamin C

"NAC (n-acetyl-cysteine) has been shown to neutralize acetaldehyde, but it is catabolized in the body too quickly to be of much use vis a vis the allergic reaction. "  Vitamin C is recommended when taking NAC to offset oxidation of the amino acids in the body.  Discuss in this thread...

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Prior discussion:

posted by (guest1 ) on Wed, October 06, 2004 @ 19:52:27
n-acetyl-cysteine neutralizes acetaldehyde, instead of just combating the allergic effects.

posted by (guest1 ) on Wed, October 06, 2004 @ 19:54:33
followup to the last comment- they have pills of just n-acetyl-cysteine. i would suggest not taking pepcid, not only because it gets you extra wasted, but also because it does nothing about the acetaldehyde, which is an industrial solvent, and should never be in your bloodstream.

posted by (echeng ) on Wed, October 06, 2004 @ 20:03:37
Interesting. I looked here:
http://www.health-marketplace.com/N-Acetyl-Cysteine.htm

... which gives the warning, " When taking L-cysteine, N-acetyl-cysteine, or glutathione, it is recommended that three times as much vitamin C should be taken at the same time to prevent these amino acids from being oxidized in the body."

Now, who is the guinea pig who wants to try taking 600mg n-acetyl-cysteine and a bunch of vitamin C before having alcohol? Come back and report results! :)

posted by (guest1 ) on Thu, October 07, 2004 @ 13:46:07
http://home.goulburn.net.au/~shack/antiox.htm

has some info. tried it the other day, seemed to have a minimal effect, but will continue to try different doses. when NAC is used to treat acetaminophen(tylenol) poisoning, they use massive doses. there is no real danger of overdosing on nac.

posted by (guest1 ) on Thu, October 07, 2004 @ 13:54:39
one other thing- the website above says that only 10% of the NAC you ingest remains in the bloodstream for an extended period of time. the rest is metabolized into glutathione, another antioxidant, but not overly effective against ACH. the good thing is, NAC combats ACH directly, as opposed to assisting the main metabolizing enzyme, which in our case is crippled from one displaced DNA pair. so cheng, im thinking 600mg is too small. first, one might want to take a pre-dose, to push glutatione levels to normal(NAC does not cause cells to over-produce), then a main dosage, to skyrocket the blood-NAC level. Its a pain in the ass, but it might work. being a biochem major in college, ill be working on something better alright guys-

posted by (guest1 ) on Thu, October 07, 2004 @ 15:56:01
i would skip the pepcid. chasers are basically vitamin supplements so no big deal. famotidine (pepcid AC) is an antihistamine, and is probably dangerous to mix with alcohol. i would take some nac earlier in the day, without vitamin C, then about ten NAC pills (6000mg), with three times as much vitamin C (uh...18000mg). that would be to start. i haven't tried it yet, but will soon. as of now this is megavitamin therapy. although the big numbers are somewhat scary, Vitamin C and NAC are not harmful in large amounts. Massive amounts of anything is bad. I would avoid having NAC pills for dinner. one more thing- NAC contains sulfur, which makes the pills themselves smell like shit, and makes your farts galaxy-class. if you plan on getting wasted, dont fart in front of girls. tell me if any of you try this, and i will too.

posted by (guest1 ) on Thu, October 07, 2004 @ 16:37:35
sorry, 6000mg and 18000 of Vitamin C may be a little exciting. i will try 3600 and 10000. there are people who take in excess of 10000mg of vitamin C a day as a health supplement, but i wouldnt recommend it.

posted by (red face guy ) on Thu, October 07, 2004 @ 19:05:50
guest1....are you sure your body just won't reject the excess NAC and Vitamin C? I think you'll just poop or pee the NAC or Vitamin C that your body can't use. 6 pills of NAC and about 18 vitamin C pills is ALOT to take at one time.

posted by (guest ) on Thu, October 07, 2004 @ 22:16:08
yeah, i tried six with the vitamin C but it didn't really seem to work. i'm still convinced that NAC would be the way to go, but its converted too quickly. any non-freshman biochemists out there- how do you maximize blood NAC levels?

posted by (don ho the singer ) on Thu, October 07, 2004 @ 23:36:48
^ Did you take all 6 pills at one time or did you spread out the dosage? How much time was between dropping and drinking?

posted by (guest1 ) on Fri, October 08, 2004 @ 19:39:32
about an hour

posted by (guest1 ) on Sat, October 09, 2004 @ 16:43:53
So heres the bottom line- NAC has been shown to neutralize acetaldehyde, but it is catabolized in the body too quickly to be of much use vis a vis the allergic reaction. There are several compounds being patented and researched right now(search on google for N-terminal Dipeptides of D- Penicillamine), but it may be a few years before it hits the market. Unless of course, you want to go to a lab and make your own, lets see, D-penicillamyl-beta-alanine, in which case youre all set. So until then, pepcid and NAC, and a lot of caution.

posted by (guest2 ) on Wed, October 27, 2004 @ 14:57:00
Some info http://www.lef.org/protocols/prtcl-004.shtml

echeng's Website

  • Registered: 2006-06-16
  • Posts: 28

Re: NAC (n-acetyl-cysteine) + Vitamin C

There's this stuff i found at Super Supplements called N-A-C Sustain, by jarrow formulas which has these bilayer tablets that are designed to release both quick doses of acetyl cysteine and also a prolonged release in the intestine.  I have found that taking like 7 or 8 of these before drinking makes the experience much better.  I don't know if this is a placebo or not but i will keep researching.  the sustained release part is important because cysteine disappears from the body so quickly.

  • Registered: 2006-06-16
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Re: NAC (n-acetyl-cysteine) + Vitamin C

oh yeah i still get red at first but in the long run (a few hours of drinking) it seems to help.  expecially if you combine it with pepcid.

  • Registered: 2006-06-16
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Re: NAC (n-acetyl-cysteine) + Vitamin C

also,
NAC (n-acetyl-cysteine) definitely improves symptoms other than redness like heartbeat, headache, and hangover.  id say as of now that just nac tablets reduces redness by about 25-50 percent and the other symptoms a LOT, as in almost non existent.  seriously, you guys should try it

  • Registered: 2006-10-14
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Re: NAC (n-acetyl-cysteine) + Vitamin C

absucks - but does it make your farts smell worse?  (that's what an earlier post pasted by echeng said)

  • Registered: 2006-06-16
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Re: NAC (n-acetyl-cysteine) + Vitamin C

i dunno, is this something youre worried about?  i would NOT be worrying about the smell of my farts; they smell bad, so dont fart around people you are trying to impress... i love this forum by the way

7 Reply by tai4ji2x (edited by tai4ji2x 2007-08-23 05:55:03)

  • Registered: 2006-10-14
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Re: NAC (n-acetyl-cysteine) + Vitamin C

absucks: lol, yeah, but sometimes it's hard to control ;)  haha

still, are you saying, YES indeed they DO actually smell WORSE with NAC??

  • Registered: 2006-10-14
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Re: NAC (n-acetyl-cysteine) + Vitamin C

bump

  • Registered: 2008-03-21
  • Posts: 3

Re: NAC (n-acetyl-cysteine) + Vitamin C

I've done some research on the web on this and I like the sound of it. I will try it sometime in the next month. What I do right now is just pregame 1-2 hours before I go out then the glow is gone by the time I'm out partying. I've tried the Pepcid and it mostly works but it's treating the symptoms and not the underlying cause. NAC sounds like it treats the underlying cause by detoxing acetaldehyde directly. Not only does it do that but it's also supposed to be a very powerful antioxidant and healthy in many other ways so it's like a win-win situation. I'm not going to go crazy and take 6-7 tablets like some of you guys. I'm just going to take 1 or 2 sustain 600mg tablets with 1500 mg of Vitamin C and see how that works for me.

10 Reply by johanowns (edited by johanowns 2008-03-29 02:17:22)

  • Registered: 2008-03-21
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Re: NAC (n-acetyl-cysteine) + Vitamin C

Ok, so I gave this a shot last night. This is basically what I did, started drinking around 8 PM and took 1 tablet of 600mg NAC sustain with 1 capsule of 1g vitamin c with my first drink. Took a second NAC sustain at 9:30 pm along with 2 more 1g vitamin c, then took a third NAC sustain at midnight along with a fourth vitamin C then a fifth vitamin C later around 2 AM. In all, I had 3 beers, 3 mixed drinks and 1 shot along with 1.8g NAC sustain and 5g vitamin C spread throughout about 5 hours of drinking. In the past, I got the full asian glow effect for about 2 hours then it would wear off for the rest of the night and I'd be fine. I'd say the redness from the initial glow was reduced about 50% (it was still clearly visible though) and maybe it was a placebo effect, but I *felt* like I was detoxing the alcohol a lot quicker. I felt completely sober by 3 AM (about 2 hours after I stopped drinking).

I think taking the pills in intervals is a lot more effective than taking it all at once because it keeps the dosage in your system sustained at a high level the entire night. I just carried them in a ziplock bag in my pocket. One of my friends thought I was popping E (lol). I will try it again next time I go drinking but I will probably take 2 NAC sustain initially instead of just 1 to see if it has a greater effect on the initial glow period. The other reason to stagger vitamin C intake is so that it doesn't cause diarrhea.

P.S. If you take pepcid with it, it'll probably reduce redness altogether, but I don't like mixing drugs with alcohol so I don't do it.

  • Registered: 2008-04-24
  • Posts: 1

Re: NAC (n-acetyl-cysteine) + Vitamin C

imma try this out and see what happens. if the NAC combats the acetaldehyde, then im guessing taking this with pepcid ac would be a good combo right? pepcid for the symptoms and the NAC for acetaldehyde?

awesome thread. 
holla!

  • Registered: 2006-06-16
  • Posts: 28

Re: NAC (n-acetyl-cysteine) + Vitamin C

i really dont know why it doesnt work 100%, since based on my reading on the internet about the effectiveness of NAC it should be a full cure.  i know there are researchers in scandinavia who are doing research on the anti-cancerous effects of NAC and its effect on acetaldehyde (look up mikko salaspuro- he is researching an orally taken pill that reduces oral salivary acetaldehyde following smoking, i think).  i dont think it works 100% because ive tried taking a ridiculous amount of that jarrow stuff (like 10 pills) and it still doesnt seem to work. 

johanowns- ive read about vitamin C too and apparently its required to keep the NAC in our system longer.  but why doesnt the extended release on the NAC tablets work?  is it still not enough?

if NAC gets rid of the acetaldehyde, why should it be necessary to still take pepcid?

  • Registered: 2006-06-16
  • Posts: 28

Re: NAC (n-acetyl-cysteine) + Vitamin C

a follow up to the last post- when i say it doesnt work i mean ive tried it, and i still take NAC whenever i drink, because i think it does protect you, just not a lot.  i think pepcid is more effective overall, but NAC strikes me as being much healthier and more likely to lead to a real cure.

  • Registered: 2007-11-02
  • Posts: 5

Re: NAC (n-acetyl-cysteine) + Vitamin C

I picked up a bottle of the Jarrow's NAC Sustain and a bottle of generic stuff both bottles are 600mg pills.  I tried both brands one at a time but using the same method:  4 pills with food a fruity smoothie type drink high in vitamin C.  Wait about 45 minutes to an hour then start drinking beer/liquor. 

Conclusion
No Pepcid AC:
Jarrows - worked pretty well, I found that my heart rate stayed low, I got a little pink but definitely less than pepcid AC alone.  It is a different buzz and I had a good idea of what it is like to process alcohol normally.  Lasts about 3 hours so make sure to take another full dose sometime during the night so that you won't get a full on asian reaction.

Generic: Works ok, tried it once and liked the Jarrows NAC Sustain better.  Just about the same price online so just go for the Jarrows. 

With Pepcid AC (Regular dose about 1 hour before taking NAC on an empty stomach)

Jarrows: AMAZING results.  I never drink beer because Pepcid doesn't seem to work all that well against it.  Well with the NAC I don't have much of a reaction at all.  I normally didn't start my night of drinking with shots because I would get a reaction.  Not with the Pepcid and NAC combo.  Just be sure to remember to take more NAC after about 3 hours to keep the levels up.

I have been doing this since early March (Spring Break) and I am much happier now that I'm taking this Jarrow's stuff, I'm sure it'll work for you.

15 Reply by OCD

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Re: NAC (n-acetyl-cysteine) + Vitamin C

Would this be a safer way than pepsid or the like?

  • Registered: 2008-06-20
  • Posts: 1

Re: NAC (n-acetyl-cysteine) + Vitamin C

Has anyone done any research or heard anything about using Molybdenum.

Molybdenum is one of the nutrients required for the manufacture of several of the Phase 1 detoxification enzymes such as aldehyde dehydrogenase and aldehyde oxidase. These two enzymes neutralize acetaldehyde, a metabolic byproduct of yeast, fungi, and alcohol.

I 've ordered some in liquid form and I am thinking about trying it. I am half Asian and I hate the accelerated heart rate and rise in body temperature; if I were just red i dont think I would have a problem. Let me know what anyone has heard about this.

  • Registered: 2008-07-13
  • Posts: 6

Re: NAC (n-acetyl-cysteine) + Vitamin C

this NAC method seems to work for some of you guys. I just ordered some online (im in Australia and the custom here is fairly strict I hope this NAC jarrows stuff can get pass quarantine!) I have been using Zantac in the past year but im always paranoid about the side effects might have on me in a long run. It works great when i take 2 pills about 30hr before drinking but I always want to take a more nature approach. Will definitely let you guys know how i go. PS: is this Jarrow's NAC Sustain made of nature ingredients? is it just like a supplements to ur body therefore its safe to take in a long run?
THANKS!

18 Reply by OCD

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Re: NAC (n-acetyl-cysteine) + Vitamin C

NAC sustain doesn't seem to work for me, Famotidine works better

  • Registered: 2008-07-29
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Re: NAC (n-acetyl-cysteine) + Vitamin C

I tried Jarrow's NAC Sustain last week. 30 minutes before drinking, i took 2 pills. Then i started to drink a bottle of wine. During drinking i took 2 pills and after floored the bottle i took further 2 pills. This drinking experiment lasts 2 hours. Unfortunately NAC seems not to work. Again, i was confrontated with flushing.

As a chemistry student, i can tell u, that NAC has hardly no effect on acetaldehyde-breakdown. Cause NAC is not en enzyme, we need the same amount of NAC as acetaldehyde, respectively ethanol. Assuming that the ingested NAC-sustain is completly absorbed and not metabolized, 10 pills of NAC-sustain (10x600mg) can just neutralize 40 ml beer!

(for the interested guys: M(NAC)=163,2 g/mol; m(NAC)=6g; n(NAC)=m(NAC)/M(NAC)=36,76 mmol; so we able to neutralize 36,76 mmol acetaldehyde. As 1 mol acetaldehyde results from 1 mol ethanol, we calculate: m(ethanol)=36,76mmol x M(ethanol)= 36,76mmol x 46,07g/mol=1,694 g, V(ethanol)=m(ethanol)/d(ethanol)=1,694g/0,79g/ml=2,14ml; V(beer;5%)=2,14ml/0,05=42,8ml)

  • Registered: 2008-07-13
  • Posts: 6

Re: NAC (n-acetyl-cysteine) + Vitamin C

i tried the Jarrows NAC Sustain thing last week. took 3 pill about an hour before drinking.i was drinking spirit and beer for 2-3 hrs. But it didnt seem to work at all :( i might give it another goal tho but wont get my hopes up at all...

  • From: Las Vegas
  • Registered: 2010-04-29
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Re: NAC (n-acetyl-cysteine) + Vitamin C

^ i think you should take Jarrow before you go to bed and sleep. so that it may take effect while sleeping. it's an anti oxidant, so it may take a while to take effect. and please, don't drink alcholic beverages while on any medication or vitamin supplements, it voids the effect to 0%. cheers!

22 Reply by uli

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Re: NAC (n-acetyl-cysteine) + Vitamin C

bobthebob, I like your quantitative approach, and your calculations are solid!

However I don't no if your statement that "we need the same (molar) amount of NAC as acetaldehyde [and thus ehtanol]" is valid.

NAC seems not to be directly involved in the reaction of acetaldehyde to acetic acid (Acetyl-CoA), but is involved in the catalyzation by acetaldehyde dehydrogenase of the reaction:

CH3CHO + NAD+ + CoA → acetyl-CoA + NADH + H+

Wiki: "Cysteine-302 is one of three consecutive Cys residues and is crucial to the enzyme’s catalytic function"

i.e. the 1:1 molar ratio assumption might be incorrect, though it's unclear to me how much cysteine is "used up" and wether the mentioned cysteine replenishing will work (or is wise)

Looking forward to your (or anyone's) reactions, nice discussion!

23 Reply by appypaddy (edited by appypaddy 2012-03-03 00:52:10)

  • Registered: 2012-02-24
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Re: NAC (n-acetyl-cysteine) + Vitamin C

Vitamin C and NAC (N-Acetyl Cysteine) significantly inhibited the spread of lymphoma or prostate cancer cells that were implanted in mice.  Scientists had previously believed that the ability of antioxidants to protect against cancer was mainly due to protecting the DNA of cells from damage.  In this new study it was proven that these antioxidants actually worked by preventing cancer cells from replicating.





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  • Registered: 2013-01-12
  • Posts: 3

Re: NAC (n-acetyl-cysteine) + Vitamin C

I guess I'm to new to post a new thread, but this specific thread did absolute wonders for me. I've always known the pepcid AC trick, but nothing has combated the redness as fully as a NAC+pepcid AC+a few more different supplements/vitamins, over a period of time, did for me tonight.

  • Registered: 2013-01-12
  • Posts: 3

Re: NAC (n-acetyl-cysteine) + Vitamin C

So, I tried this again tonight. And against all odds (and my own suspicions), it worked. It worked beautifully. I'll be honest, the cocktail of pills I've taken is still yet to be determined as being actually "safe" to take.. ha.. but it's really worked.