Reduce Exercise-Induced Oxidative Stress
Health-conscious people know that regular moderate exercise is vital to maintaining the integrity of the human body. Of course, everything has its price, and the rapid increase in metabolic activity during exercise produces some unwanted side effects.20 These include an increase in oxidative stress that can overwhelm the body’s antioxidant defense mechanisms and lead to tissue damage and abnormal activity of certain immune system cells.47,48 Exercise also increases plasma levels of inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-alpha and various interleukins.49 The solution, of course, is not to reduce your exercise regimen, but rather to look for ways to optimize the way your body handles those metabolic challenges.
Bring Glucose Levels Under Control
NAC, with its powerful antioxidant and gene-regulating powers, is an excellent means of maintaining good exercise performance and limiting the damage caused by oxidative stress in the process. Supplementation with NAC (2,000 mg daily for 3 days, followed by 800 mg prior to exercise) in strenuously exercising adults lowered key interleukin levels to undetectable amounts and abolished the exercise-induced TNF-alpha response.49 And in patients with severe COPD, NAC supplementation improved exercise endurance time by 25% compared with placebo, while significantly reducing levels of oxidative molecules released by stimulated immune cells.50 NAC supplementation also dramatically curtailed production of oxidized proteins in this group of highly oxidant-stressed chronically ill patients.
In vigorously exercising men, 1,800 mg per day of NAC prevented the expected decline in intracellular antioxidant levels and increased activity of the enzyme responsible for recycling and restoring glutathione to normal levels, protecting cells from oxidative stress.51 And in mice, NAC supplementation significantly protected brain tissue against exercise-induced oxidative changes.52 NAC also preserves normal levels of vital lymphocytes, which can decline after vigorous exercise.48,53-55
Regular supplementation with NAC at up to 1,800-2,000 mg per day may be an effective means of optimizing exercise performance while minimizing the effects of exercise-induced metabolic stress.
