GLUTATHIONE: YOUR MASTER ANTI-OXIDANT

I am posting this video, one, because it's got Dr. Mark Houston, a cardiologist expert, and two, he recommends glutathione. I liked what he said about glutathione, and I'd certainly read enough about this over the years, but my attentions get distracted by the value of this, that, or the other nutritional compound. But being a cardiovascular expert, Dr. Houston pointed out how glutathione is the master anti-oxidant for the heart. This is good news.

Antioxidants neutralize free-radicals. 

Exogenous anti-oxidants can be found in food and other nutritional sources, including certain fruits and certain vegetables.  But there are also endogenous antioxidants, or radical scavengers, found within the cells of the human body. 

Glutathione, the master anti-oxidant, performs the following functions:

Increases average life lifespan.

Strengthens immune system.

Neutralizes free radicals.

Protects DNA

Removes toxins & Carcinogens. 

Improves Athletic performance.

Increases Stamina & Endurance.

Slows the Aging process.

Yeah, help me find the downside to any of these. 

Houston adds that 

Glutathione is the master antioxidant within the cell. Neutralizes huge numbers of free radicals.  Detoxifies. Slows down aging, prevents cardiovascular disease. 

Experts say that it is nothing short of extraordinary. 

From this point, the video turns more to promoting a product called Action Whey.  I am sure that it provides some benefits.  The formulator of the product, Rob Keller, talks about how his dad's Parkinson's Disease improved with this whey product.  He says, and I quote, "Glutathione brought remarkable results."  And I guess like every other nutritional compound, we can suffer from a deficiency of it.  In this case, what might be called Glutathione deficiency.  The key then is to figure out how to help the body maintain or increase glutathione levels. 

Houston explains that 

Glutathione is deficient in our culture.  Precursor to Glutathione called Cysteine, rate limiting step, difficult to get that into your diet. 

The Action Whey, according to the video, improves recovery time.  Houston endorses the product, saying that whey is a good product to get get good glutathione levels.  Interesting. 

But there are other ways of getting glutathione.  In Bill Sardi’s list of vitamin C benefits, he lists at #16 how to activate more glutathione in your liver by way of adding vitamin C to you diet.

Does you doctor say you have a liver problem?  Take vitamin C to improve liver glutathione levels (glutathione is a key antioxidant).  

So, what you often and unfortunately get from folks who review nutritional compounds is a lot of general information that is not actionable, that does not provide you with any answers to yours or anyone else's particular situation.  Believe me, even the nurses and doctors I know are incapable of providing actionable information.  It's like people have a low-grade interest in life and have come to accept low-level production if not the inevitability of death. 

 Then there's Bill Sardi.  He is the nutritional guy's guy.  Andrew Saul had this article by Bill Sardi published at his site.  Sardi explains in detail that just blows your hair back:

There is also no daily requirement for sulfur, a mineral required for the production of glutathione, the major antioxidant produced within all living cells (plants, insects, animals, humans). Glutathione consumption from foods ranges from 25-125 milligrams per day. With the provision of sufficient amounts of sulfur, the liver will produce far more glutathione (up to 14,000 milligrams per day) than what the diet provides. Sulfur-rich foods (garlic, eggs, asparagus, onions) may be lacking in various diets and the provision of sulfur in food supplements (sulfur-bearing amino acids like N-acetyl cysteine, taurine, and lipoic acid) or glutathione itself, may be advantageous. 

So you need sulfur to get adequate amounts of Glutathione.  What foods get you from here to there?  Superiorsites explains

Garlic, onions, asparagus, and eggs—in all cases, raised without pesticides. In regard to eggs, he told us about chickens that ate purslane, which gave their eggs high levels of omega-3 fatty acids that are protective for our nerves.  

Dr. Russell Jaffe, Md, makes some pretty good scientific points that are terrific if you're a, well, scientist.  If you're a member of the lay community, however, you can and will still understand him.  He is certainly intelligent and his points are intelligible, but sometimes when people don't breakdown scientific or chemical terms it tends to leave readers or listeners puzzled.  One, he says that we tend to use up faster than we replenish sulfur-rich, myalenating compounds in our bodies.  And he attributes this to lifestyle, diet, food, activities, and so forth.  Mindbodygreen explains that

Glutathione contains sulfur groups, which are sticky compounds that adhere to toxins and heavy metals and carry them out of the body. This is a good thing and you want lots of it! I haven't met anyone (including me) with any type of autoimmune condition that has adequate methylation and levels of glutathione.

Second, Jaffe made the point about metallothionien, another compound used to sponge up toxic metals in our bodies, is perfect for health, but again we tend to use these up faster than we replenish them.  He's clearly knowledgeable. 

In terms of how to get Glutathione--you get it through sulfur-rich foods: onions, shallots, garlic, and others.  If you rolled your eyes at any of these because, well, you're not a 5-Start Hotel chef, then you can always rely on capsules to get the benefits.  One of the products I use regularly is Bill Sardi's Garligest.  I seem to prefer a formulated product than to experiment with any products that you might find at a health food store or online at Amazon.  I still shop for a few things on Amazon, but for the most part I buy formulated products from vendors whose products I've researched, that I've tried, and that I've liked, meaning who benefits do what I want and expect.  As to taking any supplement, one, it is best to take with food.  I can attest to this. You just get a better effect than taking them without food.  Oh, you'll get an effect without food, but when taken with food you the effects are exponentially better.  Two, take nutritional compounds togther.  So when you take vitamin C, be sure to take a D, an E, B vitamins, A, and so forth; in other words, a multivitamin.  Yep.  Again, what makes a nutritional compound good or great is absorption.  And when taking all the vitamins together you are getting a synergistic effect that activates and that potentiates all vitamins at once.  So, multivitamin.  The one I take has been the best stopgap for me.  Again, on this score of multivitamins, I rely on Bill Sardi.  His Molecular Multi is excellent.