What is going on with NAC supplements?

[pvw2]

NAC supplements have disappeared from Amazon. Is this a shortage, or has it been removed from the market?

[MBAnderson]

Here is an email I got from health website I subscribe to.

I just ordered 2, 3.5 oz packs from Bulk Supplements.

"Hi Marc,

Amazon has removed any trace of NAC!

If you haven’t heard, the FDA has waged a battle with the supplement industry about N-acetyl cysteine (NAC).

When I found out this was happening, I immediately bulk ordered any NAC I could find because it's actually one of my favorite supplements and I am worried it's going to become very difficult to find.

NAC is a potent antioxidant and creates glutathione in the body, which is extremely helpful for a number of reasons.

But now, the FDA has determined that it's not a dietary supplement.

Off-Limits for Consumers

Even with 1000 clinical trials, the FDA is claiming that NAC isn’t legal for you to take as a supplement. And now they’re forcing companies like Amazon to pick a side.

It’s been virtually swept off Amazon’s shelves!

The jury is still out on whether NAC will be available without a prescription at other retailers for much longer.

I’m honestly pretty disappointed because NAC is such a good supplement that helps replenish glutathione, one of the body’s most important antioxidants.

The "Mother" Antioxidant

Glutathione is nicknamed the Master Antioxidant (GSH), and it’s necessary to live a healthy life. When you take NAC, your body converts it to cysteine, which is a key building block to make glutathione.

It’s powerful enough to protect your entire body from disease and health issues. Here’s just a few of its benefits:

• Lowers inflammation

• Anti-Aging effects

• Protects the Brain

• Regenerates other antioxidants like Vitamin C and E

The problem with most supplements claiming to raise glutathione is that they have one major flaw - they don’t make it through the blood-brain barrier.

NAC is so effective because it’s one of few supplements that makes it to the brain.

Alternatives to NAC

The reason I love NAC so much is because my body really needs more glutathione. And this is largely due to my genes.

For example, I’ve got variants of the UGT2A1 gene that put me more at risk for oxidative stress and lower glutathione levels.

Even though NAC has been my go-to, my SelfDecode Cognitive DNA Wellness Report told me about another supplement that can make it through the blood-brain barrier: liposomal glutathione.

And there’s even more good news - your body can make glutathione on its own... if you give it the building blocks through diet or supplements.

You just have to know what your body needs, and you can do that by looking at your genes!

NAC was one of my own recommendations on my SelfDecode Cognitive DNA Wellness Report, but luckily there are 22 MORE supplement, diet and lifestyle recommendations to keep me going.

Whether you want to optimize your cognitive function or enhance your immune defense system, your genes are the first place you should start.

They can tell you where you might be more at risk so that you can implement the right changes to give your body exactly what it needs.

And there’s almost always more than one way to accomplish your goal.

So, start looking at your DNA today and discover your own personalized health plans designed to help you take control of your own health, no matter what surprises get thrown your way."

[pvw2 in reply to MBAnderson]

It appears that the sellers are jumping to Walmart.com

[pvw2 in reply to MBAnderson]

If the FDA wants to do something useful with NAC, they could require manufacturers to include NAC with Acetaminophen to make it safer. There are many over-the-counter drugs that are much more dangerous than NAC

[Canddy in reply to MBAnderson]

Interestingly - this study on clinicaltrials.gov will read out in December 2021 - Physiological Effects of Nutritional Support in Patients With Parkinson's Disease

clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show...

Interventional (Clinical Trial)

Estimated Enrollment : 65 participants

Allocation: Randomized

Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open Label)

Masking Description: This is an Open Label study. Randomization will occur via a 2:1 ratio of the NAC group and the waitlist control groups using the method of random permuted blocks with random block sizes without stratification. 28 subjects in the NAC arm and 14 subjects have been enrolled in the standard of care arm.

Primary Purpose: Supportive Care

Official Title: Physiological Effects of Nutritional Support in Patients With Parkinson's Disease

Study Start Date : March 2014

Estimated Primary Completion Date : December 6, 2021

Estimated Study Completion Date : December 6, 2021

It is being run out of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, PA, USA

It is active but recruitment is complete.

[MBAnderson in reply to Canddy]

Will be eager to see the results.

[chartist]

I think Amazon is detestable and am shifting my business away from them. They did the same thing with Vinpocetine and one other supplement that I am aware of. They don't want to do anything to rock their multibillion dollar boat !

Art

[MBAnderson in reply to chartist]

I left Amazon (whenever possible) because (they hired a ton of lobbyist who made huge campaign contributions so) they'd pay no taxes and, and their stuff is now often cheaper from the manufacturer's websites.

[pvw2 in reply to MBAnderson]

Amazon charges sales tax now.

[chartist]

Vitacost seems to have plenty of NAC :

vitacost.com/productsearch....

Art

[pvw2 in reply to chartist]

It appears to only be Amazon that stopped selling

[Rhyothemis in reply to chartist]

Not anymore. I bought NOW NAC from Vitacost since they did not have my preferred Thorne, but I realize that the NOW also contains molybdenum and selenium and I want to take things separately. So today I went back to Vitacost to look for another brand and ... they are out of stock on NAC. I'm scared. I really need NAC. I usually take 2 caps / day (prefer 500 mg caps). I have some Thorne stashed, but that is for my daughter if she needs it.

[chartist in reply to Rhyothemis]

Rhyothemis,

Pure Formulas :

pureformulas.com/benefits/b...

iHERB :

iherb.com/search?kw=nac

Lucky Vitamin :

luckyvitamin.com/sb-nac

eVitamins :

evitamins.com/s/search?keyw...

Swanson, but I avoid them as much as possible because they have shown products in stock and taken my order only to send me an email a day or two later saying they are out of stock and the product will be sent out as soon as it is back in stock. I feel this is bad business practice. Vitacost tells you when things are in stock and when they're not as does Pure Formulas.

Art

[Rhyothemis in reply to chartist]

Thanks so much Art! I can stop having a panic attack now ...

[chartist in reply to Rhyothemis]

Rhyothemis,

It looks like Vitacost is starting to slowly rebuild their stock of NAC already!

vitacost.com/productsearch....

Art

[LAJ12345]

Because people have suggested it is helpful for covid?

[ssrs in reply to LAJ12345]

BINGO

[LAJ12345]

It is in restore gold

[Zella23]

One of the first supplements my husband took from researching about it. Still does. I’m positive it helps and stops the coughing! We don’t have supply issues in U.K. thank goodness.

[MichelleHarris in reply to Zella23]

NAC stops my cough too x

[janemadison]

amazon.com/s?k=NAC&ref=nb_s...

[SilentEchoes]

Melatonin is the master antioxidant according to my functional medicine doctor and is the precursor to glutathione.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/875...

[PDGal4 in reply to SilentEchoes]

HOW much do you take and at what time of day?

[Gioc in reply to SilentEchoes]

SilentEchoes,

You can always find a precursor to every complex compound in the body. In this case melatonin has tryptophan which in turn is not produced in the absence of niacin (vitamin b3NA) which is very deficient in PWPS. In my opinion, like a car that is always stopped in the garage after a few years it is no longer able to start, the chronic use of complex substances such as melatonin compromises in part the function of the organs responsible for their production.

So I prefer to solve the shortcomings than to use complex derivative products because it keeps the organ efficient by stimulating its function. (provided that the organ is not already compromised as in the PD). Furthermore, many compounds for sale such as NAC are old and easily lose their effectiveness, actually vitamins too.

PS: NAC oral bioavailability is limited, as it degrades over 90% in the intestine, which is why its clinical use usually has an intravenous route of administration to increase its bioavailability.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/477...

[pvw2 in reply to Gioc]

Over 90% is definitely true 50mg injected NAC causes an overdose.

[Jmwg45]

Pipingrock.com in US has it

[Ewalt]

Big Pharma strikes again! Watch them jack up the price for a prescription!

[Astra7]

I just ordered some from iherb. A lot of brands were out of stock.

[pvw2]

What's bad about NAC being prescription is a doctor can only prescribe it for the FDA designated reasons. So, if the only reason is Tylenol overdose, that's all they can prescribe it for. However NAC is injected for that. Oral is too slow.

[Gioc in reply to pvw2]

In fact, orally, in my experience it has no side effects even at high doses prolonged for one month.

[silvestrov]

Pharmaceutical grade NAC: nutrabio.com/category/n-ace...

[Despe in reply to silvestrov]

Good find, Silvestrov. Thanks!

Are you taking it?

[ElliotGreen]

The FDA is cracking down.

The following is from a Mercola article, so some may wish to take it with a grain of salt, but I think it contains basic information so I think it's okay.

articles.mercola.com/sites/...

"Amazon Removes All NAC Products

"May 6, 2021, Natural Products Insider reported that Amazon is removing all NAC products from the site, following warning letters being sent out by the FDA stating NAC cannot be lawfully marketed as a dietary supplement because it was first studied as a drug in 1963.

"Consequently, products containing the ingredient are excluded from the definition of a dietary supplement under section 201(ff)(3)(B)(i) of the Federal Food, Drug & Cosmetic Act (FDCA). The thing is, NAC has been sold as a supplement for 57 years, and the FDA never did a thing about it — until now, when more than a dozen studies are investigating its usefulness against COVID-19.

"As reported by Natural Products Insider, there are at least 1,170 NAC-containing products in the National Institutes of Health’s Dietary Supplement Label Database. The FDA suddenly put NAC in its crosshairs in July 2020, when it sent out warning letters to seven companies that marketed NAC as a remedy for hangovers.

"CRN’s Legal Arguments as to Why FDA Is Wrong

"In December 2020, the trade group for the supplement industry, the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), challenged the FDA’s position, calling it “legally invalid.”11 CRN argued that FDA records fail to prove that the FDCA section in question actually applies to NAC.

"In response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the FDA for information proving NAC was investigated as a drug in 1963, all they received was a handwritten letter containing “what appears to be a handwritten approval date of 1963” for an inhaled drug. According to CRN:

"“This handwritten notation raises a number of questions about the reliability of this record, not the least of which is whether the approval date was actually 1963 or sometime later, why was the approval data handwritten, when was the notation made, and who made it. This is not the type of document that should be regarded as authentic.”

"Moreover, an inhaled substance cannot be treated the same as an orally ingested product, hence the NAC drug approved in 1963, if valid, still would not apply to oral supplements. The FDA did approve an NAC drug for oral-only use in 2016, but by then dietary supplement companies had already been marketing NAC supplements for several decades, and therefore cannot be canceled by a new drug approval. As reported by Natural Products Insider:

" “FDA’s interpretation of section 201(ff)(3)(B)(i) in the warning letters also conflicts with ‘the presumption against statutory retroactivity,’ according to CRN. Mister and Olsen highlighted ‘a well-established canon of statutory interpretation that legislation shall not be read to have a retroactive effect on private rights unless Congress expresses a clear, unambiguous intent to the contrary.’"