What to take after drinking
The moment you get home from drinking is the most valuable intervention window of the whole protocol. Acetaldehyde is still being produced, glutathione is depleted but recoverable, and the sleep cycle has not yet started to collapse. You can prevent most of the damage with the right stack taken now.
What is happening
The ranked answer
1. L-cysteine, high dose (1000 mg). This is the leverage point. Dose-responsive acetaldehyde scavenging in the peak-exposure window. No substitute.
2. DHM, liposomal, high dose. Speeds up the enzymatic clearance of whatever acetaldehyde is still being produced and starts blunting the GABA-A rebound that will hit later.
3. NAC 600 mg. Rebuilds glutathione. Also the reason the small acetaminophen dose in the protocol is safe.
4. Silymarin 500 mg. Suppresses CYP2E1 so less of the remaining ethanol gets metabolized through the dirty pathway.
5. Glycine 3 g. Second chemical trap plus sleep-onset support.
6. Cofactor layer: benfotiamine, magnesium, ubiquinol. Not individually dramatic but collectively they keep the Tier 1 ingredients operational.
Ingredients that address this, ranked
- L-Cysteine Tier 1 · Core Impact: high — Chemical trap for acetaldehyde at the source.
- DHM (Dihydromyricetin) Tier 1 · Core Impact: high — Accelerates alcohol clearance; blunts GABA rebound.
- NAC (N-Acetyl Cysteine) Tier 1 · Core Impact: high — Glutathione precursor; acetaminophen safety net.
How tiers compare for this mechanism
| Goal | Best (Tier 1) | Strong support (Tier 2) | Situational (Tier 3+) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acetaldehyde clearance | L-Cysteine, DHM (Dihydromyricetin), NAC (N-Acetyl Cysteine) | Glycine | |
| Glutathione support | L-Cysteine, NAC (N-Acetyl Cysteine) | Silymarin (Milk Thistle) | |
| Liver protection | L-Cysteine, DHM (Dihydromyricetin), NAC (N-Acetyl Cysteine) | Silymarin (Milk Thistle) | |
| Neurotransmitter modulation | DHM (Dihydromyricetin) | Glycine | |
| Ros mitigation | Silymarin (Milk Thistle) | ||
| Sleep support | Glycine |
Deeper science · In more detail
Why now and not in the morning
Morning interventions can only reduce the damage that has already happened. Now interventions prevent it. A 1000 mg dose of L-cysteine at 1am is worth five times a 500 mg dose at 8am.
The full stack
The full Afterburner formulation with doses and order is at Afterburner.