Glutathione

[AustinsMom]

Austin is entering the third month of his vitamin protocol and one thing we add this month is glutathione (cream form for topical application), so I found a book (isn't the used section at amazon great??) called "Glutathione the Ultimate Antioxidant" that I am reading. (This is the only place I could admit I am reading a book named this without someone looking at me oddly:-)

It has been surprisingly fascinating (said the health geek). Glutathione plays a key role in the recycling of E and C to make it more available. It is also critical for your liver to detox what comes into your body, which is why Austin is taking it. It mentions specifically the handling of artificial dyes and preservatives, so thought I would just throw this out as an area some might want to explore further.

As an aside catatonic, it talks about leaky gut syndrome and how he often sees it brought on in his patients by them taking ibuprofen. I thought of your earlier tale, but didn't remember what it caused for you. I dont remember what your symptoms were either, but the symptoms for this include fatigue, headaches, rashes, abdominal discomfort. His answer for this is glutamine.

By the way, he makes a strong case for using glutathione in your vitamin regimen for cancer prevention.

[catatonic]

There's no doubt that glutathione is extremely important stuff when you're talking about antioxidants. There's also solid scientific evidence that it improves the liver's ability to clear toxins. I haven't heard of a topical glutathione cream before, but have read a bit on other methods of supplementation aimed at increasing glutathione levels. Consuming glutathione orally seems to be about the least effective way to do that. (Weird, I know!) While it's clear that glutathione is critically important, the research on how to increase glutathione levels is less clear.

For a good general overview of glutathione see:
www.healthwell.com/healthnotes.cfm?contentid=2857007&org=newhope

Newer cancer research has discovered a possible link between glutathione metabolism and some forms of cancer. The study below found that certain genotype variants in glutathione receptors had an impact on how well the body detoxified itself from chemical carcinogens:
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15128049

Yet another study (one of many on this topic) confirmed the importance of the glutathione-dependent antioxidant system, particularly in relation to cardiovascular health:
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15126641

In their article "Mechanisms of Cell Death Induced by Cadmium and Arsenic" (Annals of the NY Academy of Science, April 04) authors Jimi et al studied the way glutathione flooded cells exposed to heavy metal toxins and worked to protect the cells from cytotoxicity.

Do glutamine supplements actually improve glutathione status in the body? Probably, particularly the alanine-glutamine variety (as opposed to run-of-the-mill regular glutamine). Both will increase glutathione concentrations, but it may be that only the alanine-glutamine reduce TBARS. (TBARS is measured as an indicator of oxidative stress.)

A cheap way to boost your glutamine levels is to eat a boatload of MSG (monosodium glutamate). This is a terrible chemical, never consumed in this house, which promotes neuronal death and the degenerative diseases of aging (such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's). However, if you want to increase glutamine levels, a study in the Journal of Applied Physiology from Oct 02 demonstrates that this is an effective way to do so.

Because of its close relationship to MSG, I am deeply suspicious of glutamine supplementation. Yes, glutathione is important to detoxifying the body, but are there ways of increasing glutathione without having to consume glutamine or any close MSG relative?

Vitamin C supplementation increases glutathione levels. Alpha lipoic acid does as well, and methionine. To insure your body can build glutathione, check that your multi-vitamin contains B6 and selenium, since they are required for its metabolism. Magnesium deficiency contributes to low overall antioxidant levels, so as I often repeat - TAKE MAGNESIUM.

Many weightlifters, particularly, use glutamine supplements to help reduce the oxidative stress caused by their training. Maybe I'm the only person on earth who worries about taking glutamine, but I remain doubtful that it's healthy.

AustinsMom, what does your book recommend to increase glutathione levels? If glutamine is recommended, does the author address possible neurotoxicity issues?

On the ibuprofen, the fatigue, headaches and abdominal discomfort were definitely some of my symptoms. The headaches have disappeared now that I've stopped taking ibuprofen (which, ironically, I was taking for headaches!). Does your book say that glutamine is good for leaky gut in general? (I think I may have to get a copy of this book myself...said the other health geek.)

[catatonic]

Well, you got me interested in the subject, so I've ordered a copy of the Glutathione book...for a whopping $3.00 from Halfcom. I think I'm going to need to add more bookshelves in the office!