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Showing posts with the label nutrition

NAC: Is this the one supplement everyone should be taking?

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The nutritional supplement N-acetylcysteine is like the Swiss Army knife of supplements. It’s used to treat a wide range of health conditions, including allergies, Alzheimer disease, bipolar disorder, bronchitis, chronic kidney disease, cirrhosis, heart disease, hepatitis, infertility, schizophrenia, and upper respiratory infections.  The nutritional supplement N-acetylcysteine is used to treat a wide range of health conditions. Then again, many dietary supplements are believed to have a variety of uses. The big question is whether they actually work. To answer that question, here’s some of the research that supports a few of the many uses of N-acetylcysteine. What is N-acetylcysteine? N-acetylcysteine is a precursor of the amino acid cysteine, which bonds with two other amino acids in the body—glutamate and glycine—to form the powerful antioxidant glutathione.  Glutathione is found in high concentrations in most cells of the body. It regulates a range of cellular functions and immune

L-Arginine for COVID: Effects of adding L-arginine orally to standard therapy in patients with COVID-19

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The protein in the food we eat — especially rich in meats, fish, shellfish, dairy products, and legumes such as lentils, peas, and beans — is made of building blocks called amino acids. One of those building blocks is L-arginine, or just “arginine.” Arginine is the raw material from which we make  nitric oxide. Nitric oxide plays three critical roles that are likely to be extremely important for COVID protection: Since nitric oxide is antimicrobial, the immune system always makes massive amounts of nitric oxide to kill pathogens. Nitric oxide is the main vasodilator. This means it dilates your blood vessels, making them wider, and allowing blood to flow more freely. This would protect against clotting. In the lungs, nitric oxide combines with another molecule we make from the protein we eat, glutathione, to make  nitrosoglutathione . Nitrosoglutathione is our own natural bronchodilator. This means it opens up the airways, just like nitric oxide opens up the blood vessels. This allows u