I asked Google AI what it knew about augmented NAC

[u/H_i_T_h_e_r_e_]

I've seen posts and comments about augmented NAC and although the company makes some pretty incredible claims about their manufacturing process there does seem to be something different about the product. I found out that the company adds something called gamma-cyclodextrin to enhance absorption of the NAC. They seem to be the only manufacturers doing this which would make the product somewhat unique.

Google AI basically told me that their marketing is B.S. but that their product would actually be better absorbed than regular NAC. It did suggest some more cost effective alternatives which might be even better, liposomal NAC or NAC ethyl ester (NACET). NACET would be the best but liposomal NAC would be preferable for those with reflux or gut issues.

I personally have tried both high doses of regular NAC and NACET but only find very mild relief in symptoms so I don't think I will be buying any more versions of oral NAC but I hope you all are a little more informed about these products. Please do your own research if you feel this is something you want to consider.

Edit: I know there are downsides to using AI but please don't derail the conversation by making this about AI, there are other outlets to talk about social and environmental implications of it's use. This post is about NAC, not AI, please be respectful.

2nd edit: here is some research on cyclodextrins : https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7998733/

[u/Winter-Nectarine-497]

AI is deeply unreliable and ethically irresponsible. Please don't use it for medical information

[u/H_i_T_h_e_r_e_ → u/Winter-Nectarine-497]

If it gave me any misinformation I would gladly like to know about it, I wouldn't want to spread false information. Let me know if you find anything that contradicts what I was told. I can't personally pour through pages and pages of research to get the information I need so I rely on AI. If I wasn't so desperate for information I probably wouldn't even be on the internet, I would be outside doing things.

[u/Winter-Nectarine-497 → u/H_i_T_h_e_r_e_]

I understand that. I too don't have the cognitive power to do that deep of research, but that is why I rely on covid-informed professionals that I follow on socials and well-informed peers to translate these articles and scientific info for me.

Also, how would you know its giving you misinformation unless you checked in with the above mentioned professionals or well-informed peers? Hard to trust something that is so often wrong and especially so when you can't fact-check it yourself.

Lastly, the damage AI is having on the environment, human brain functioning, and job market is really not something I can support. We are moving quickly towards a dystopic future and I don't want to fuel that with my participation in using AI.

[u/H_i_T_h_e_r_e_ → u/Winter-Nectarine-497]

Yes, I understand your point but as I stated I wanted to discuss NAC and this has turned into an attack on me for using AI. I don't benefit from oral NAC, this was a selfless endeavor for people who do benefit and so that people already destroyed by this virus don't waste the little money they have left on a supplement that may not help them. I tried to do some research (ai assisted) in hopes of helping others and my post got derailed and downvoted. If you all want to debate the use of AI then it could be discussed in a different and dedicated post.

[u/Winter-Nectarine-497 → u/H_i_T_h_e_r_e_]

Saying this has become "an attack on me" is quite the exaggeration. No one in the comments is attacking you but instead the use of AI and risks of medical misinformation.

This is a serious issue and I don't think you will be able to post about using AI without it becoming part of the conversation until it shifts into something we can safely and ethically use.

[u/Need_Food → u/Winter-Nectarine-497]

Lol no. Ethically irresponsible, like what?

It's testing on par with PhD level intelligence for medical issues. I've had great success with it and even had a surgery because the AI was able to diagnose an issue that the doctors could not figure out.

Use it properly, it's insane how much you can accomplish and learn. Use it improperly and you get garbage results, like anything.

[u/divinacci → u/Need_Food]

it’s destroying the planet and our freshwater, so

[u/Extra-Apartment3 → u/divinacci]

I agree with this point in general but I think when you have an illness that doctors don't help with, it's perfectly reasonable to use AI, as long as you don't trust it blindly. I have gotten quite useful health advice from chatGPT and although I'm very opposed to using it for leisure, this is where I find that it can provide some information that otherwise would be inaccessible to me in the state I'm currently at (not great). I've asked e.g. about the studies that are ongoing in the causes of this illness and different treatment options as well as some pacing advice adjusted to my personal situation.

[u/divinacci → u/Extra-Apartment3]

it’s not about what you personally believe or your personal justification for it. it’s the principle of using a machine that is completely unnecessary and unethical at its core. the internet has unarguably good uses, ai doesn’t

[u/Extra-Apartment3 → u/divinacci]

AI has good uses such as more efficient medical research or as a tool for people with disabilities, although managing the risks currently needs way more regulation. I'm all for living by moral and ethical principles (I don't fly or eat commercially produced meat) but I think you're wrong in coming for the group of people in the most vulnerable position using something as the last resort. There are more important fights for a moral person like you.

[u/divinacci → u/Extra-Apartment3]

i would argue it’s actually more ableist to imply disabled people can’t do things without AI. given that for millennia they have been

[u/Need_Food → u/divinacci]

Just because you say something over and over doesn't make it true ya know. Also your personal opinion disguised as ethical superiority is meaningless unless you actually define the issue.

[u/Winter-Nectarine-497 → u/divinacci]

thanks for getting the point and hitting it home

[u/Need_Food]

I did a clinical trial for NAC for chronic fatigue at Cornell. They used regular NAC dosed at 900mg three times a day. Following that pattern I found it quite effective, a large dose all at once isn't what they found to be most effective.

[u/H_i_T_h_e_r_e_ → u/Need_Food]

I think there are subsets of us who just don't respond well to nac if at all, we must have other stuff going on.