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-leverage intervention window. NAD⁺ pools haven't fully crashed, glutathione is still resynthesizable from precursors, and electrolyte loss can still be replaced before sleep amplifies it. Each of those is a step function — easier to maintain than to restore.
Before any supplement matters
Drink 500 mL water with electrolytes before any supplement. If you have not stopped drinking yet, this stage doesn't start until you do — see drink timing. The pre-bed electrolyte load preempts the morning sodium and potassium deficit and is the single highest-leverage non-prescription move on this page.
Ingredients in this stage
Core stack
Non-negotiable. Take all of these.
- Electrolytes (Sodium + Potassium) Tier 1 · Core High impact Mech 1000 mg Na + 200 mg K in 500 mL water Replace what alcohol diuresis flushed
- NAC (N-Acetyl Cysteine) Tier 1 · Core High impact RCT 600 mg Glutathione restoration; APAP safety net
- Nicotinamide Riboside (NR) Tier 1 · Core High impact RCT 300 mg Restore the NAD⁺ pool ALDH2 needs to keep clearing
Extended stack
Strong support. Add when you can.
- L-Cysteine Tier 2 · Strong Medium impact RCT 1000 mg Parallel sulfur substrate; local trap in portal flux
- DHM (Dihydromyricetin) Tier 2 · Strong Medium impact RCT 900 mg Liposomal; trial evidence is mixed
- Magnesium Glycinate Tier 2 · Strong Medium impact Obs 400 mg NMDA modulation; cofactor; sleep-architecture support
- 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. 1 ingredient
- 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
The Afterburner window is when three independent things are still recoverable: NAD⁺ pools haven't fully crashed, glutathione is still resynthesizable from precursors, and electrolyte loss can be replaced before sleep amplifies it. Each of those is a step function — easier to maintain than to restore.
This is why the Afterburner doses are the largest in the protocol for most ingredients. 1000 mg sodium + 200 mg potassium. 600 mg NAC. 300 mg NR. The substrate-class layers (L-cysteine, DHM, glycine) sit one tier down because they're parallel paths into the same enzymatic and redox machinery — useful, but not the lead lever in this window.
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.