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Can a ALA/NAC combo result in fat loss?

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What's your reasoning behind this? – April S. May 27 at 19:14

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I think I can see where you are going with this, especially if we are working on the theory that obesity starts in the liver. The question is, are you obese, and how is your liver doing?

In people with metabolic syndrome NAC has shown a decrease in waist size when taken for a year. In people without metabolic syndrome I've read that it can actually increase subcutaneous fat when taken long term. So, only take it if you need it.

ALA (as in alpha lipoic acid?), I have no idea, and supposedly your body can manufacture as much of it as you need. It can also lower blood sugar, as can NAC, so taken together I'd be worried about inducing hypoglycemia, especially if you are already lowish on carb intake.

If you have type II diabetes or metabolic syndrome and fatty liver these things might be helpful in getting your liver back in shape and normalizing your insulin levels, but I'd watch out for low blood sugar symptoms.

Exercise and avoiding seed oil and refined sugars, and leaving plenty of space between meals without snacking would probably do the same thing over the course of a year and save you some money too.

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@Happy Now - can you provide a reference for the effect of NAC on subcutaneous fat? I'm interested. – Stephen May 28 at 11:27
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2721538 So, I guess the dealio is that if you need the NAC for increased glutathione production (like with metabolic syndrome) there is a benefit to taking it, and that can reduce visceral fat, however, it seems that the cysteine can uncouple leading to an overall increase in plasma cysteine, which can increase subcutaneous fat. – Happy Now May 28 at 19:57

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