Mention the word antioxidant and glutathione most certainly won’t first come to mind! Antioxidant vitamins A, C and E seem to get the most press these days while humble glutathione receives little recognition.
Found in every cell of the body, glutathione is a tripeptide, made of three amino acids: glutamic acid, cysteine, and glycine. What is most amazing about glutathione as an antioxidant is that when it neutralizes or quenches a free radical, it does not become a free radical itself as almost all other antioxidants do.
lung locations proclaim antioxidant superiority, glutathione is actually king of the scientific hill. This can be documented on the website of the National Library of Medicine, www.pubmed.gov, which contains over 18 million peer- reviewed studies published in scientific journals. The ever-popular antioxidant vitamin C is the topic of about 37,000 studies while little-known glutathione has nearly 83,000 such studies.
Glutathione levels in the body decline as we age1 which is discouraging since free radical attacks seem to grow in number as this protector’s numbers dwindle. Simply taking a glutathione supplement doesn’t help as glutathione doesn’t appear to survive the digestive tract well enough to cause an increase in the blood.2
Supplying the body with the component amino acids, however, does support the creation of cellular glutathione.
Many people experience increased energy when glutathione levels rise. As energy is created in cell "factories" called mitochondria where free radical generation is high, ensuring a good supply of glutathione allows the energy process to continue unhampered by devastating free radical damage.
Free radical (oxidative) damage is believed to play a role in the development of age- related neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease. A 2008 study of the relationship between Mild Cognitive Impairment and the progression to Alzheimer’s disease, showed a similar pattern of oxidative damage as evidenced by a decrease in glutathione levels.3
New York Times bestselling authors Michael Roizen, MD and Mehmet Oz, MD wrote in their book You: Staying Young, "To add serious years to your life . . . slow your rate of aging on the cellular level." Arming yourself with protective antioxidants is just what the doctors ordered!
Notes:
1. Mosani L, et al., "Age-related changes in glutathione availability and skeletal muscle carbonyl content in healthy rats," Exp Gerontol. 2004 Feb;39(2):203-10.
2. Witschi A, et al., "The systemic availability of oral glutathione," Eur J Clin Pharmacol. 1992;43(6):667- 9.
3. Bermejo P, Martin- Aragon S, et al., "Peripheral levels of glutathione and protein oxidation as markers in the development of Alzheimer’s disease from Mild Cognitive Impairment," Free Radic Res. 2008 Feb;42(2):162-70.