Glutathione: Can’t Live Without It
By Bryon Verhaeghe

Here is a complex story with a simple statement: We have glutathione in our bodies. When levels are low we get sick. Not everyone knows about glutathione so let me make an introduction. It is pronounced glu’te-thi’on’ and GSH is the abbreviation. It is made by plants and animals from three amino acids. Every cell in our body has it for protection. The cell’s health and function can be measured based on the level of GSH. This makes it the most important molecule in our body.

Why is it so important? Cells are constantly being made and replaced. The production of a new cell requires GSH – it is important in making red and white blood cells everyday. When a cell finishes its life span and dies, there is a release of toxins into the body. These toxins are cleaned up with GSH.

Stress factors can shorten the life span of a cell and tissues. Damage from UV rays can harm our eyesight. The lens, cornea and retina use glutathione for protection. The liver has the highest reserves of GSH to deal with the toxins carried by the blood plus those that are ingested with food and drink.

Another important function of a cell is to make hormones in the pituitary, thyroid, thymus, liver, ovaries, and testis with the help of glutathione. Daytime energy and night time sleep relies on the kidneys using glutathione to produce adrenalin and cortisol.

When levels are low we have more health issues than I can list here, but here are some interesting findings.

Cavities: 8 young men with cavities were compared to 10 without. The GSH levels were significantly lower in the group with cavities. (PMID18982196)

Lungs: Low levels of GSH are linked to a long list of diseases, including: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) which is now also known as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), neonatal lung damage and asthma.

Parkinson’s disease: New evidence suggests that GSH depletion may itself play an active role in the disease development. (PMID19542204)

Stomach: In older people, low levels of GSH allow a higher incidence of stomach ulcers from H.Pylori bacteria. In Crohn’s disease of the bowel, they also find low GSH levels.

Metal storage: Wilson’s disease is where excess copper levels exist with low levels of Glutathione.

Diabetes: Diabetics have low levels of GSH in both red and white blood cells.

Heart Attack: Doctors are beginning to zero in on a new set of heart attack risk factors. One is the C-Reactive Protein (CRP) and the other is levels of Glutathione.

Heart Attack: 21 acute myocardial infarction patients aged between 39 and 70 were age and sex matched to healthy controls. At days 1, 3, 5, and 7 GSH levels averaged 11.5% lower than the healthy controls. (PMID8676544)

Skin: Depressed GSH levels were observed in patients with psoriasis, eczema, atopic dermatitis, vasculitis, mycosis fungoides and dermatitis herpetiformis. (PMID6179360)

Aging: Glutathione deficiency contributes to oxidative stress, which plays a key role in aging. (PMID14988435)

Blood transfusions: Fresh blood has high levels of glutathione but when stored the levels drop.  Receiving a blood transfusion helps the blood count but glutathione levels are not improved. (PMID623427)

Oral supplementation: Mice were given a drug to stop GSH production in the body to create low levels in all tissues. Oral supplementation restored levels even while the drug was continued. This proves that it is absorbed from digestion. (PMID1913980)

Dietary glutathione: Dietary GSH can be absorbed intact and results in a substantial increase in blood plasma GSH. This indicates that oral supplementation may be useful to enhance tissue availability of GSH. (PMID2221062)

Liver glutathione: Oral intake of glutathione is a safe and efficient form of administration to replenish liver levels. (PMID2605158)

Virus: Patients with Influenza A (H5N1) or “bird flu” have a better rate of survival and a reduced rate of major complications when taking glutathione. (PMID16624496)

Low levels: Vegetarian diet, malnutrition and alcohol abuse. (PMID6179360)

Glutathione is used up rapidly and must be constantly replaced from enzyme activity in the cell or from the diet. Other important sulphur based molecules in the body are alpha lipoic acid, methyl-sulfonyl-methane (MSM) and taurine.

We at Rebound Health are always looking for ways to achieve optimal health. You are welcome to schedule a free diet consultation to learn about eating well. More information is on our “in progress” web site www.reboundhealth.com or telephone us in Hong Kong at (852) 2544-4055.

References:

1 Search the PMID number at www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/PubMed.

2 Alternative Medicine Review. Pgs 601-607: Volume 6, Number 6, 2001. Thorne Research, Inc.

3 Dr. J Gutman MD, FACEP. www.usatoday.com/news/health/2003-10-22-heartdisease-usat_x.htm.

4 Harrison’s Principals of Internal Medicine 14th Edition. Anthony S. Fauci [et al.]. Chapter 71.