The Body’s Major Antioxidant: Glutathione
If I were stranded on a remote island, and only one mineral supplement could be shipped to me for the rest of my life, I would of course choose calcium, due to its role in bone strength, muscle contraction and relaxation, nerve transmission, healthy blood pressure, and heart rate regulation. Perhaps the answer would not be so clear if you had to choose only one antioxidant; however, recent research leads me to now be able to choose: my answer would be Glutathione!
Glutathione is a small molecule of 3 linked amino acids (glutamine, cysteine, and glycine), which are the building blocks of proteins. Glutathione is the most important and widely-distributed antioxidant in the body. Just so we are clear, let us define antioxidant: it is a substance (vitamin, mineral, enzyme) that can protect our cells against the damaging effects of free radicals. What are free radicals? They are chemically reactive, highly-unstable substances that damage cells, proteins, and DNA. The bad news is, we can’t avoid them. They arise as a normal result of respiration (breathing), metabolism, and inflammation. They are created by pollution, strenuous exercise, smoking, alcohol, X-rays, even radiation from loss of the earth’s ozone layer. This same process is responsible for apples turning brown, oils going rancid, and iron turning to rust.
Now for the good news: the antioxidant glutathione! It does an excellent job of neutralizing free radicals; maintaining other antioxidants like C and E in their active forms; detoxifying (by binding to toxins, pollutants, cancer-causing chemicals, heavy metals, drug metabolites); modulating the immune system (down-regulating hyperactive cells, stimulating depressed cells – very important in autoimmune conditions); increasing energy, muscular strength, endurance; and slowing the aging process.
However, glutathione is very poorly absorbed; when taken in oral form, only about 4% is absorbed, as it is eliminated by the liver before it reaches the blood and cells. The most effective ways of increasing the body’s glutathione levels are by intravenous administration, by inhalation, and by taking it in an oral liposomalized form (a liposome is a microscopic fluid-filled pouch, made of the same phospholipids that make up the cell membrane – hence, more efficient absorption into the bloodstream and cell). All 3 delivery systems are utilized at Alpha Medical.
Glutathione deficiency is virtually universal in autoimmune disease (rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, Crohn’s, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, etc.). First, there is a failure to detoxify from free radical damage, then a viral/microbial activation begins, then the body begins to ‘attack’ itself. The body slowly becomes toxic, storing poisons in fatty tissue, muscles, organs, and brain. These are some of the symptoms that may ensue: fatigue, sleep disturbances, low blood sugar, depression, memory problems, low thyroid, environmental sensitivities, depression, mood swings, headaches, digestion problems, pain and muscle aches, and recurring infections. Raising glutathione levels within the cell can effectively stop the replication of almost any pathogen, and bring the ‘sides’ of the immune system into balance, stopping the exaggerated inflammatory response that is the characteristic of autoimmune conditions.
Thanks to the recent research of Dr. David Perlmutter in the use of glutathione in Parkinson’s patients, we know that the use of IV glutathione can greatly help alleviate symptoms in patients with neurodegenerative disease. Treatment helps prevent the destruction of nerves by free radicals, and increases the brain’s sensitivity to dopamine and serotonin; hence, the patient experiences a remission of many symptoms, and associated depressions lift due to increased uptake of serotonin.
As well as autoimmune disease and neurodegenerative conditions (Parkinson’s, Multiple Sclerosis, etc.), low levels of glutathione are associated with many other illnesses, including cancer. It has been found that the use of IV glutathione along with chemotherapy enhanced the medication’s effect in reducing the size and numbers of tumors, as well as minimizing the undesirable side effects of the chemo. There have also been both animal and human studies suggesting that glutathione alone achieves tumor reduction, as well as conferring protection against the ‘wasting’ (cachexia) that is associated with cancer.
As holistically-minded practitioners, the Alpha doctors seek, first of all, to ‘do no harm,’ and to adopt the most effective natural treatments to help our patients. We feel that glutathione is a significant addition to many of our programs…and, more good news, we are not on a remote island, but just over the Mexican border, in beautiful Playas…