It’s the most important molecule
you need to stay healthy and prevent disease yet you’ve probably
never heard of it. It’s the secret to prevent aging, cancer, heart
disease, dementia and more, and necessary to treat everything from
autism to Alzheimer’s disease. There are more than 89,000 medical
articles about it but your doctor doesn’t know how address the
epidemic deficiency of this critical life-giving molecule...
What is it? I’m talking about the mother of all antioxidants, the
master detoxifier and maestro of the immune system: GLUTATHIONE
(pronounced “gloota-thigh-own”).
The good news is that your body produces its own glutathione. The
bad news is that poor diet, pollution, toxins, medications, stress,
trauma, aging, infections and radiation all deplete your
glutathione.
This leaves you susceptible to unrestrained cell disintegration from
oxidative stress, free radicals, infections and cancer. And your
liver gets overloaded and damaged, making it unable to do its job of
detoxification.
In treating chronically ill patients with Functional Medicine for
more than 10 years, I have discovered that glutathione deficiency is
found in nearly all very ill patients. These include people with
chronic fatigue syndrome, heart disease, cancer, chronic infections,
autoimmune disease, diabetes, autism, Alzheimer’s disease,
Parkinson’s disease, arthritis, asthma, kidney problems, liver
disease and more.
At first I thought that this was just a coincidental finding, but
over the years I have come to realize that our ability to produce
and maintain a high level of glutathione is critical to recovery
from nearly all chronic illness and to preventing disease and
maintaining optimal health and performance. The authors of those
76,000 medical articles on glutathione I mentioned earlier have
found the same thing!
So in today’s blog I want to explain what glutathione is, why it’s
important and give you 9 tips that will help you optimize your
glutathione levels, improve your detoxification system and protect
help yourself from chronic illness.
What is Glutathione?
Glutathione is a very simple molecule that is produced naturally all
the time in your body. It is a combination of three simple building
blocks of protein or amino acids cysteine, glycine and glutamine.
The secret of its power is the sulfur (SH) chemical groups it
contains. Sulfur is a sticky, smelly molecule. It acts like fly
paper and all the bad things in the body stick onto it, including
free radicals and toxins like mercury and other heavy metals.
Normally glutathione is recycled in the body except when the toxic
load becomes too great. And that explains why we are in such trouble
...
In my practice, I test the genes involved in glutathione metabolism.
These are the genes involved in producing enzymes that allow the
body to create and recycle glutathione in the body. These genes have
many names, such as GSTM1, GSTP1 and more.
These genes impaired in some people for a variety of important
reasons. We humans evolved in a time before the 80,000 toxic
industrial chemicals found in our environment today were introduced
into our world, before electromagnetic radiation was everywhere and
before we polluted our skies, lakes, rivers, oceans and teeth with
mercury and lead.
That is why most people survived with the basic version of the
genetic detoxification software encoded in our DNA, which is
mediocre at ridding the body of toxins. At the time humans evolved
we just didn’t need more. Who knew we would be poisoning ourselves
and eating a processed, nutrient-depleted diet thousands of years
later?
Because most of us didn’t require additional detoxification
software, almost of half of the population now has a limited
capacity to get rid of toxins. These people are missing GSTM1
function one of the most important genes needed in the process of
creating and recycling glutathione in the body.
Nearly all my very sick patients are missing this function. The
one-third of our population that suffers from chronic disease is
missing this essential gene. That includes me. Twenty years ago I
became mercury poisoned and suffered from chronic fatigue syndrome
due to this very problem. My GSTM1 function was inadequate and I
didn’t produce enough glutathione as a result. Eventually, my body
broke down and I became extremely ill ...
This is the same problem I see in so many of my patients. They are
missing this critical gene and they descend into disease as a
result. Let me explain how this happens ...
The Importance of Glutathione in Protecting Against Chronic
Illness
Glutathione is critical for one simple reason: It recycles
antioxidants. You see, dealing with free radicals is like handing
off a hot potato. They get passed around from vitamin C to vitamin E
to lipoic acid and then finally to glutathione which cools off the
free radicals and recycles other antioxidants. After this happens,
the body can “reduce” or regenerate another protective glutathione
molecule and we are back in business.
However, problems occur when we are overwhelmed with too much
oxidative stress or too many toxins. Then the glutathione becomes
depleted and we can no longer protect ourselves against free
radicals, infections, or cancer and we can’t get rid of toxins. This
leads to further sickness and soon we are in the downward spiral of
chronic illness.
But that’s not all. Glutathione is also critical in helping your
immune system do its job of fighting infections and preventing
cancer. That’s why studies show that it can help in the treatment of
AIDS.
Glutathione is also the most critical and integral part of your
detoxification system. All the toxins stick onto glutathione, which
then carries them into the bile and the stool — and out of your
body.
And lastly, it also helps us reach peak mental and physical
function. Research has shown that raised glutathione levels decrease
muscle damage, reduce recovery time, increase strength and endurance
and shift metabolism from fat production to muscle development.
If you are sick or old or are just not in peak shape, you likely
have glutathione deficiency.
In fact, the top British medical journal, the Lancet, found the
highest glutathione levels in healthy young people, lower levels in
healthy elderly, lower still in sick elderly and the lowest of all
in the hospitalized elderly.
Keeping yourself healthy, boosting your performance, preventing
disease and aging well depends on keeping your glutathione levels
high. I’ll say it again ... Glutathione is so important because it
is responsible for keeping so many of the keys to UltraWellness
optimized.
It is critical for immune function and controlling inflammation. It
is the master detoxifier and the body’s main antioxidant, protecting
our cells and making our energy metabolism run well.
And the good news is that you can do many things to increase this
natural and critical molecule in your body. You can eat
glutathione-boosting foods. You can exercise. And you can take
glutathione-boosting supplements. Let’s review more specifics about
each.
9 Tips to Optimize your Glutathione Levels
These 9 tips will help you improve your glutathione levels, improve
your health, optimize your performance and live a long, healthy
life.
Eat Foods that Support Glutathione Production
1. Consume sulfur-rich foods. The main ones in the diet are garlic,
onions and the cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, kale, collards,
cabbage, cauliflower, watercress, etc.).
2. Try bioactive whey protein. This is great source of cysteine and
the amino acid building blocks for glutathione synthesis. As you
know, I am not a big fan of dairy. But this is an exception — with a
few warnings. The whey protein MUST be bioactive and made from
non-denatured proteins (“denaturing” refers to the breakdown of the
normal protein structure). Choose non-pasteurized and
non-industrially produced milk that contains no pesticides,
hormones, or antibiotics. Immunocal is a prescription bioactive
non-denatured whey protein that is even listed in the Physician’s
Desk Reference.
Exercise for Your Way to More Glutathione
3. Exercise boosts your glutathione levels and thereby helps boost
your immune system, improve detoxification and enhance your body’s
own antioxidant defenses. Start slow and build up to 30 minutes a
day of vigorous aerobic exercise like walking or jogging, or play
various sports. Strength training for 20 minutes 3 times a week is
also helpful.
Take Glutathione Supporting Supplements
One would think it would be easy just to take glutathione as a pill,
but the body digests protein so you wouldn’t get the benefits if you
did it this way. However, the production and recycling of
glutathione in the body requires many different nutrients and you
CAN take these. Here are the main supplements that need to be taken
consistently to boost glutathione. Besides taking a multivitamin and
fish oil, supporting my glutathione levels with these supplements is
the most important thing I do every day for my personal health.
4. N-acetyl-cysteine. This has been used for years to help treat
asthma and lung disease and to treat people with life-threatening
liver failure from Tylenol overdose. In fact, I first learned about
it in medical school while working in the emergency room. It is even
given to prevent kidney damage from dyes used during x-ray studies.
5. Alpha lipoic acid. This is a close second to glutathione in
importance in our cells and is involved in energy production, blood
sugar control, brain health and detoxification. The body usually
makes it, but given all the stresses we are under, we often become
depleted.
6. Methylation nutrients (folate and vitamins B6 and B12). These are
perhaps the most critical to keep the body producing glutathione.
Methylation and the production and recycling of glutathione are the
two most important biochemical functions in your body. Take folate
(especially in the active form of 5 methyltetrahydrofolate), B6 (in
active form of P5P) and B12 (in the active form of methylcobalamin).
7. Selenium. This important mineral helps the body recycle and
produce more glutathione.
8. A family of antioxidants including vitamins C and E (in the form
of mixed tocopherols), work together to recycle glutathione.
9. Milk thistle (silymarin) has long been used in liver disease and
helps boost glutathione levels.
So use these nine tips and see how they work to help you optimzie
your glutathione levels.