L-Lysine vs NAC for immunity
Short answer: For immunity, more users report improvement with L-Lysine — 100% of 9 reports, versus 95% of 40 for NAC.
L-Lysine has 7 meta-analyses and 59 randomized trials on PubMed; NAC has 387 and 767.
Based on 53 reports about L-Lysine and 2,058 about NAC. Not medical advice.
| L-Lysine Supplement | NAC Supplement | |
|---|---|---|
| Users say it helped | 65%helped21 reports · medium confidence | 54%helped947 reports · high confidence |
| Verdict | Mostly positive | Mixed |
| Research | AResearch: Strong | AResearch: Strong |
| Meta-analyses / RCTs | 7 / 59 | 387 / 767 |
| Mainly used for | ||
| Mood % reporting improvement | — | 65% (323) |
| Anxiety % reporting improvement | 100% (2) | 90% (301) |
| Focus % reporting improvement | 100% (2) | 81% (170) |
| Energy % reporting improvement | — | 73% (91) |
| Sleep % reporting improvement | 50% (2) | 71% (48) |
| Common side effects | stomach issues | anhedonia, stomach issues, depression, emotional blunting |
| Typical dose reported | 2 g / before bed | 600 mg |
Based primarily on case reports ornithine levels can be reduced by using a protein restricted diet, pyridoxine supplementation (variation-dependent) and/or lysine supplementation. The lack of pre-defined clinical outcome measures and structural follow-up in all included studies impeded conclusions on clinical effectiveness. Future research should be aimed at 1) Unravelling the OAT biochemical pathway to identify other possible pathologic metabolites besides ornithine, 2) Pre-defining GACR specific clinical outcome measures, and 3) Establishing an international historical cohort.
Mol Genet Metab, 2021 ↗“Finally, I started to take L-lysine for a different issue. Immediately I saw that I could lay my head down at night and go to sleep like I could before. That was several months ago and I continue to sleep regularly.”
Taken together, these preliminary findings suggest that dietetic approaches might be included as part of BD treatment. Also considering the high risk of metabolic disorders in individuals with BD, they should be encouraged to choose healthy dietary lifestyles, including daily intake of fruits, vegetables, seafood and whole grains.
Nutr Neurosci, 2023 ↗“NAC has helped me stay calm and reduce anxiety as well as gives me loads of energy if I am sleep deprived.”
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Percentages come from first-hand user reports and are not clinical outcomes. Talk to a doctor before starting, stopping or combining anything. How we rate