Antioxidant
Glutathione, SOD, catalase — quenching oxidative stress
Aerobic life has a cost: making energy generates reactive oxygen species that damage DNA, proteins, and membranes if left unchecked. The antioxidant network neutralizes them through enzymes — superoxide dismutase needs zinc / copper / manganese, glutathione peroxidase needs selenium — and direct scavengers like vitamins C and E. NAC supplies the cysteine that is the rate-limiting raw material for glutathione, the body's master antioxidant. The goal isn't to eliminate oxidation (some is essential signaling) but to keep the balance from tipping into the chronic oxidative stress that accelerates aging and disease.
How your supplements + diet feed this pathway right now — the cofactors driving it, where the gaps are, and your own lab readouts.
The load-bearing nutrients — if these are deficient, this pathway slows down. Click any to see daily targets, food sources, and supplements that supply it.
Nutrients that contribute to this pathway but aren’t the single load-bearing inputs.
Lab markers that report on how well this pathway is running. When one of these is out of range, this pathway is often where the upstream issue lives.
Save a lab session under My Journey → Biomarkers to see your own values for these.
Pathways that share a load-bearing cofactor with this one.