The ages old debate. N-Acetyl-L-Tyrosine VS L-Tyrosine. Well, maybe not age old. But debate worthy for sure. I’ve taken L-Tyrosine for about 8 years, on and off, and I love the stuff.

Tyrosine is a precursor to thyroid hormones, and a few nifty neuro-chemicals (Dopamine, Epinephrine, Norepinephrine).

It’s incredibly stimulating, stacks well with caffeine, L-theanine, Selenium, Iodine, and some cholinergic compounds, and seems sustainable to take in low doses with appropriate co-factors (particularly Iodine and Selenium).

But there is another form of L-Tyrosine, that the nootropics community likes to discuss. Some people swear by it, actually. And it’s the acetylated version of L-Tyrosine, N-acetyl-l-tyrosine.

NALT, for short, is technically a step closer in the metabolism process of L-Tyrosine, by adding acetic acid to L-Tyrosine, forming “N-acetyl-l-tyrosine. It’s suppose to make L-Tyrosine more “bioavailable.”

And perhaps it does. But the real question is: is it more useful to take NALT over L-Tyrosine? And my personal answer to that question is: no. Here are the details:

1. NALT, IS in fact effective at inducing stimulatory effects in my brain, and a lot of other people’s brains. But, my own personal experience is that it doesn’t seem to last as long, and be as sustainable and strong as regular L-Tyrosine. This study demonstrates that NALT is excreted via urine at a relatively high rate. Perhaps this means that the bioavailability of NALT = faster and higher excretion of NALT? Maybe. And maybe this means that it doesn’t last as long, in terms of effects, which would match my anecdotal experience.
2. This doesn’t immediately mean that NALT is definitively less effective than regular L-Tyrosine. It means that lots of NALT is excreted via Urine, and blood levels of NALT, though increased, do not remain considerably high.
3. Some people have taken this to mean that NALT is not as powerful as Tyrosine, and that’s not what this means. It merely means: NALT does not have an advantage over L-Tyrosine. 

And that’s the major takeaway. There is no biological advantage, it seems, in taking NALT over L-Tyrosine. NALT itself does in fact create a stimulatory response in most people, me included, but my own personal experience tells me that L-Tyrosine is more stable, lasts longer, and is just as effective, in terms of onset.

Therefore: I am concluding, as I do in the video below, that NALT is not more effective than L-Tyrosine, and you’re better off just using L-Tyrosine. L-Tyrosine by itself is considerably strong, onsets quick, and lasts long. For more information on the granular chemical details of N-Acetyl-L-Tyrosine, head over to Pubchem’s page on it, here.

Enjoy the video!