MOTS-C NAD Glutathione for Injury Recovery

MOTS-C, NAD+, glutathione: do these belong in an injury conversation at all?

Thread summary

You are mostly rationalizing. (shared by @LabRatLouis)
That is a great point. (shared by @Dr_Rehab_Ray)
I take glutathione because night shifts leave me completely cooked, not for my shoulder. (shared by @NightShiftNurse)
This is exactly why I track 'tendon rehab' and 'overall systemic energy' in separate columns in my spreadsheet. (shared by @tendon_tinker)

Top answer from @LabRatLouis. Jump to reply

posted by mito_mike OP 2mo ago

Serious question rather than a provocation. This board exists, people are prescribed these, and I use two of them. MOTS-C is metabolic and mitochondrial. NAD+ is cellular energy pathways. Glutathione is antioxidant support. None of them are tissue repair peptides and none of them claim to be. So what is the actual argument for them being in an injury recovery conversation? Is it just "you are a body, everything is connected," which is true and also unfalsifiable? I am asking because I like these and I want to know if I am rationalizing.

Watts do not lie. Neither do lactate strips.

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LabRatLouis Top answerBoston, MA8 points2mo ago

You are mostly rationalizing. The steelman argument is that tendon repair is metabolically demanding and oxidative stress is present in tendinopathy. But the jump from 'oxidative stress exists in pathological tissue' to 'exogenous antioxidants improve clinical tendon repair' is massive, and we lack the in vivo data to bridge it. Plus, blunting oxidative signaling can actually impede necessary mechanical adaptations, much like chronic NSAID use blunts muscle hypertrophy post-training. Where these agents actually belong is general energy support and overall systemic tolerance during a heavy rehab block. That has real value, but it is not tissue healing.

Preclinical is not a promise.

mito_mikeOPBoulder, CO8 points2mo ago

Appreciate the honesty. I use them for endurance training, but honestly neither did a thing for my two tendon issues.

Watts do not lie. Neither do lactate strips.

NightShiftNurseSacramento, CA5 points2mo ago

I take glutathione because night shifts leave me completely cooked, not for my shoulder. People just call it injury recovery because of where they happen to be posting.

Recovery happens at 3am, if it happens.

Dr_Rehab_RayCleveland, OH6 points2mo ago

That is a great point. Context heavily dictates reporting. If you are on an injury board, any boost in general energy or systemic baseline gets credited to your tendon rehab, even when the underlying loading progression is doing the actual heavy lifting.

Load is the drug with the best data.

tendon_tinkerAustin, TX4 points2mo ago

This is exactly why I track 'tendon rehab' and 'overall systemic energy' in separate columns in my spreadsheet. They diverge all the time.

Measure it or it did not happen.