Afterburner — After You Get Home
Afterburner is the stack you take as soon as you walk in the door. It is the highest-leverage stage of the protocol because acetaldehyde is still being produced, glutathione is still recoverable, and sleep has not yet collapsed into fragmentation.
What this stack does
Afterburner is the highest-dose intervention stage. Peak acetaldehyde is still in circulation and the clearance pathways are still active — every mg of L-cysteine and DHM now has more leverage than the same mg tomorrow morning.
Ingredients in this stage
Core stack
Non-negotiable. Take all of these.
- L-Cysteine Tier 1 · Core High impact RCT 1000 mg Peak-exposure chemical trap (1000 mg)
- NAC (N-Acetyl Cysteine) Tier 1 · Core High impact RCT 600 mg Glutathione restoration
- DHM (Dihydromyricetin) Tier 1 · Core High impact RCT 900 mg Liposomal; accelerated enzymatic clearance
Extended stack
Strong support. Add when you can.
- Silymarin (Milk Thistle) Tier 2 · Strong Medium impact Obs 500 mg Suppress CYP2E1 — reduce ROS backup path
- Ubiquinol (CoQ10) Tier 2 · Strong Medium impact Mech 100 mg Mitochondrial ALDH2 protection
- Benfotiamine Tier 2 · Strong Medium impact Mech 300 mg TPP cofactor restoration
- Glycine Tier 2 · Strong Medium impact Obs 3 g Second amine trap plus sleep-onset support
Tier 3 · Situational Optional enhancements Situational. Helpful for specific symptoms. 2 ingredients
- Magnesium Glycinate Tier 3 · Situational Medium impact Obs 400 mg NMDA modulation, cofactor, sleep support
- Ge Gen (Kudzu Root) Tier 3 · Situational Medium impact RCT 500 mg Puerarin adjunct for ongoing clearance support
Tier 4 · Experimental Experimental layer Mechanistic or traditional support. Optional. 3 ingredients
- Suan Zao Ren Tier 4 · Experimental Low impact Mech 300 mg Sleep-calming seed if rebound is predictable
- Fu Shen Tier 4 · Experimental Low impact Mech 200 mg Shen-calming support for restless rebound
- Wu Wei Zi Tier 4 · Experimental Low impact Mech 200 mg Traditional liver-resilience adjunct
Quick start
Mechanisms
Why this stage exists
Why this window is the one that matters most
Morning interventions can only reduce damage that has already happened. Afterburner interventions prevent it. A dose of L-cysteine right now reacts with acetaldehyde before it reaches the brain or the gut; the same dose in the morning is cleaning up after the fact.
This is why the Afterburner doses are the largest in the protocol for most ingredients. 1000 mg L-cysteine. 900 mg DHM. 500 mg silymarin. 3 g glycine. The biology will accept more than you might expect in this window because there is more acetaldehyde to trap and more glutathione to rebuild.
Deep science · Why Afterburner — After You Get Home is built this way
Timing
Take Afterburner within 30 minutes of getting home. The caps go down with a full glass of water. The stack is designed to work whether you fell into bed or are still sitting up talking — nothing here will keep you awake or knock you out.
What this stage sets up
Afterburner is the foundation for Nightcap and Debrief. If Afterburner is dosed correctly, Nightcap becomes a tune-up for the 3am transition and Debrief becomes a clean-up, not an emergency response. If Afterburner is skipped, Debrief has to do everything from behind.