Table of Contents
full article is available at this LINK
we want to give full credit for this article to Ocean Robbins - CEO of Food Revolution Network ; we made a summary of interesting points on Glutathione:
1. What Is Glutathione?
2. The Health Benefits of Glutathione
3. Ways to Boost Glutathione Levels
4. Glutathione Deficiency
5. Do Glutathione Supplements Work?
6. Who May Want to Supplement with Glutathione?
7. How Much Glutathione Should You Take?
Preface:
Due to an extreme shortage of auto parts in the Soviet era, Russians often couldn’t just get a new pair of windshield wipers at the store when the old ones wore out. It was common for someone to return to their car to discover that someone had nicked their wipers. The afflicted party might then grab a pair from a nearby car to replace their own. And so on, until large segments of the motoring population became engaged in a never-ending game of musical chairs (or rather wipers), grabbing them wherever they could.
This chain reaction became so widespread during the Soviet Union that almost no parked cars had visible windshield wipers. Instead, drivers would remove them with a screwdriver, and only put them back in case of heavy rain.
Bear with me, but there’s something similar going on in your body all the time: a process known as lipid peroxidation. Basically, the thief here is a free radical, and the stolen object is an electron taken from a lipid molecule in the membrane of a cell. That lipid molecule then becomes unstable, and in turn, grabs an electron from a neighboring cell, and so on and so on.
This process can really damage your health, affecting most chronic diseases, including type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s, atherosclerotic plaque (which itself can lead to heart disease and stroke), and cancer.
Fortunately, your body also contains crime-fighting compounds called antioxidants that fight free radicals and protect against oxidative damage. And one of the most powerful and ubiquitous antioxidants is glutathione.
First discovered in 1888 by J. de Rey-Paihade, a French doctor, glutathione was found in high concentrations in most of the cells of the human body, especially in the liver. These days, many health influencers talk about its benefits for a number of conditions, and also tout its potential to slow the aging process.
But what exactly is glutathione? What claims for its benefits are valid, and what’s currently just speculation or hype? How do you make sure you have enough in your body? And can you make it all yourself, do you need to get it from food, or do you need to supplement?
What Is Glutathione?
Glutathione is one of the most potent antioxidants in the body. It binds to fat-soluble toxins — the electron thieves that we just met — as well as heavy metals that make their way into the body. As such, it supports the liver and kidneys as they work to detoxify harmful compounds, both organic and inorganic. Glutathione also helps make proteins in the body and regulates the function of the immune system.
Your body naturally produces glutathione in your cells. The largest producer is the liver, which creates it from three amino acids: cysteine, glutamate, and glycine. That’s why glutathione is characterized as a tripeptide (“three peptides”).
Since glutathione serves to fight the free radicals that cause oxidative damage, we want our bodies to increase the concentration of glutathione in cells in response to oxidation. And one of the safest and most effective ways to raise resting levels of glutathione appears to be exercise. Just as lifting weights can grow your muscles and cardio can strengthen your heart, temporarily raising free radical levels through physical activity creates adaptations that increase glutathione activity throughout the body.
Benefits of Glutathione
Glutathione and the Liver
Since the liver is ground zero for glutathione production, it makes sense that glutathione levels are lower in people with a variety of liver disorders and diseases.
Medical research has found that glutathione supplementation can help mitigate the effects of liver disease. A small 2017 clinical trial found that people with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) had their liver function improve when given supplemental glutathione. This is good news, as NAFLD is associated with the development of insulin resistance (a root cause of type 2 diabetes), obesity, and high blood pressure.
Glutathione also appears to restore some liver function in those with alcoholic liver disease.
Glutathione and the Immune System
When your glutathione stores are low, your body is less able to fight off viral infections. And glutathione also participates in the development of trained immunity, whereby your immune system gets better at defeating pathogens through exposure. A 2021 study showed that high concentrations of glutathione in plasma cells were associated with some immune cells’ ability to “remember” past infections and deal with new ones more effectively.
One way glutathione supports the immune system is by inducing a phenomenon called macrophage polarization, in which macrophages (the immune cells that gobble up pathogens; their name is Greek for “big eaters”) can adjust their programming based on environmental signals. A 2022 microbiology paper argued that glutathione deficiency could even be a risk factor in life-threatening cases of COVID-19.
Glutathione and the Brain
One of glutathione’s impressive list of feats is its ability to regulate brain metabolism. It turns out that when glutathione function is impaired, the brain loses more neurons — a process that’s associated with cognitive decline, Alzheimer’s, and increased risk of depression and anxiety. It’s also clear that insufficient glutathione may contribute to Parkinson’s disease.
One of the challenges in glutathione research is knowing how to measure it accurately. Researchers are still debating the best way to determine brain concentrations of glutathione. Doing so is important because there’s evidence that too little and too much glutathione may contribute to mood disorders like depression and schizophrenia.
Glutathione and Type 2 Diabetes
There’s definitely a link between glutathione deficiency and the presence of type 2 diabetes. But it’s not entirely clear yet which one causes the other (or whether both are caused by an as-yet-unknown initial factor).
A 2018 study of just 24 people (16 with type 2 diabetes and 8 matched controls who did not have the disease) found that the people with type 2 diabetes had lower glutathione concentrations, suggesting that something about the disease might cause less tripeptide production. Additionally, it appears that there’s something about excess blood sugar that requires more glutathione, leaving less for other critical functions.
For someone with type 2 diabetes, the question of causality may be less important than finding out if glutathione supplementation can improve symptoms and mitigate progression.
A 2021 controlled trial out of Denmark sought to answer that question, studying the effects of three weeks of oral glutathione supplementation in 20 obese males — 10 with type 2 diabetes, and 10 without. The 20 were randomized to receive either 1,000 mg GSH (a common form of glutathione present in the body) or a placebo.
The results were promising: the group receiving glutathione improved their whole-body insulin sensitivity, meaning that it became easier for them to move glucose from the bloodstream into the cells. And the glutathione had apparently been absorbed and sent to where it was needed; a muscle biopsy confirmed that GSH concentrations increased by 19% in skeletal muscles. These findings occurred in subjects both with and without type 2 diabetes, suggesting that oral glutathione could help prevent prediabetes from developing into full-blown diabetes.
Ways to Boost Glutathione Levels
Vitamin C: A group of researchers discovered that consumption of vitamin C supplements resulted in a rise in glutathione levels in the white blood cells of healthy adults. One particular study found that consuming 500mg of vitamin C daily led to a 47% hike in glutathione levels in red blood cells.
Selenium: One investigation analyzed the impact of selenium supplementation on 45 adults suffering from chronic kidney disease. The participants got a daily dose of 200mcg of selenium for a period of three months. The results revealed a significant increase in the levels of glutathione peroxidase in all of the participants. Another study demonstrated that the consumption of selenium supplements led to an elevation in glutathione peroxidase levels among patients undergoing hemodialysis. Perhaps the best way to ensure an adequate supply of selenium is to eat 1–2 Brazil nuts per day.
Turmeric: Turmeric is a brightly colored herb with vast therapeutic and anti-inflammatory properties. Several animal and laboratory studies have demonstrated that turmeric and its extract, curcumin, have the potential to raise glutathione levels. Researchers believe that the curcumin found in turmeric can enhance the functioning of glutathione enzymes.
Glutathione Deficiency
Because glutathione is so important across so many systems and functions, if you’re in good health, you’re probably not deficient. But it is possible to develop a deficiency, due to either aging, certain medical conditions, or a combination of the two.
You can test for glutathione levels via a blood test. Optimal glutathione levels are between 177 and 323 μg/ml (which you say as “micrograms per milliliter”).
The tests can measure glutathione levels in both red blood cells and plasma. And another biomarker for glutathione levels is an enzyme called gamma glutamyltransferase, or GGT. When it’s high, glutathione is often low.
If you need to check your numbers, talk with your health care provider about which measure is more appropriate for you.
Do Glutathione Supplements Work?
The two forms of glutathione supplements that show the most promise are liposomal and sublingual. Liposomal glutathione supplements are prepackaged in a packet of fat cells, made to mimic the structure of our own cells. This can protect the glutathione from being broken down by digestive enzymes during the digestive process. Sublingual (under the tongue) glutathione gets absorbed into the mucous membranes of the mouth, which also increases transit time and bioavailability.
Another option is intravenous glutathione supplementation, which may also be more effective in raising blood levels than oral intake. (That kind of makes sense, since you might imagine that when you inject something into your blood, doing so would increase your blood levels of it.)
A different supplement, N-acetylcysteine (NAC), is currently being studied as a supplement for glutathione support. Again, the research is not conclusive — results differ from disease to disease. But it appears people who supplement with NAC in conjunction with cysteine and glycine may experience a boost in glutathione levels, especially among those who may not have adequate quantities of the amino acids or who need higher levels of glutathione.
Who May Want to Supplement With Glutathione?
As we’ve seen, glutathione does a lot of things. Two of its most urgent and therefore prioritized jobs are dealing with oxidative stress — basically, protecting cells from ROS and other free radicals — and detoxifying heavy metals and other contaminants. When that job becomes overwhelming, your body may not be able to produce enough glutathione to take care of other, less immediate concerns.
So if someone is dealing with lots of stress, which can also include malnutrition or exposure to environmental contaminants, they may need to supplement with glutathione just to keep up with demand.
For example, smokers and those with alcohol abuse problems tend to have decreased glutathione levels and may benefit from supplementation. And people with AIDS or cystic fibrosis may benefit from (or may need to take) glutathione supplements as well.
The elderly may also experience decreased glutathione levels as their natural supplies of the amino acids glycine and cysteine diminish.
And there’s some research showing that glutathione supplementation may aid in recovery from extended aerobic exercise, and so may become a helpful part of the regimen for endurance athletes.
A word of caution: for cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, it’s important not to get too much, as glutathione can increase their resistance to chemo drugs.
How Much Glutathione Should You Take?
The recommended dose for adults who are choosing to supplement is generally going to be 500–1,000 mg/day of liposomal glutathione.
For glycine, the standard dosage is 3 grams per day, and it’s considered safe up to 6 grams. And for NAC, a standard dose is 600–1,200 mg (that is, 0.6–1.2 grams). And it’s safe up to 3 grams, while 7 grams or more may be toxic.