Glutathione

Glutathione. What is glutathione, how is glutathione made and how to safely increase glutathione
levels answered on the Web Site. Glutathione used to treat toxicity, acne, cancer, HIV, allergies,
Alzheimer's disease, cystic fibrosis, diabetes, hepatitis, liver dysfunction and more.

What is Glutathione
Glutathione is a small molecule made up of three amino acids, which exists in almost every cell of
the body. However, Glutathione, must be generated within the cell from its precursors before it
can work effectively in the body.

The presence of glutathione is required to maintain the normal function of the immune system. It
is known to play a critical role in the multiplication of lymphocytes (the cells that mediate specific
immunity) which occurs in the development of an effective immune response.

Furthermore, the cells of the immune system produce many oxiradicals as a result of their normal
functioning, resulting in a need for higher concentrations of antioxidants than most cells.
Glutathione plays a crucial role in fulfilling this requirement.

How to Make Glutathione Naturally Within the Body

There are several ways a body can manufacture glutathione. It is true it takes 3 amino acids for
the body to manufacture glutathione but our bodies can take food, turn the foods into the
substance to manufacture the 3 needed amino acids needed to manufacture glutathione. This is
also the natural method for a body to create glutathione.

As an example, asparagus and watermelon will make glutathione.

With all of the breaking news regarding glutathione as an antioxidant as well as part of the reason
for the development of autism, many supplements are suddenly jumping on the glutathione
bandwagon.

Glutathione is not new to this Web Site. We have been using glutathione for years to assist
individuals to taper off psychotropic medications.

One thing that has been overlooked by many still is the role of glutathione within the liver as well
as the role of glutathione transporting a toxin to the liver.

The whey proteins mentioned on this site do not activate glutathione within the liver or create the
glutathione enzyme necessary to transport the toxin to the liver.

The non-essential amino acid homocysteine is produced in the body with the metabolism of the
amino acid methionine.

Homocysteine is usually broken down into the amino acid cysteine. Cysteine is one of the amino
acids needed by the cells to make intracellular glutathione. If your body does not convert
homocysteine to cysteine the intracellular glutathione conversion will not take place.

The rapid conversion of homocysteine is critical. If conversion takes place too slow, homocysteine
will accumulate in the body and damage cell membranes, damage blood vessels, increase the
risk of cardiovascular disease, and atherosclerosis.
Rapid conversion of homocysteine requires an individual to have adequate amount of vitamin B6,
B12, and folate. Over 50% of the population in the world has a genetic defect in the pathway
needed to metabolize B6, B12, and folate.

Metabolism of homocysteine (sulphur-containing amino acid) is accomplished in the

remethylation cycle where vitamin B12 and folic acid are essential coenzymes and degraded to
methionine or through transsulfuration, which use as cofactors folate, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12
and is degraded to cystathionine.

The physician can check for hyperhomocysteine (higher than normal amount of homocysteine)
with a blood test. Many medication side effects, physiological symptomology and other body and
mental symptoms can be eliminated with treatment with vitamins B6, B12 and folate.

Age is a factor of B6, B12 and folate metabolism despite an individuals DNA. With age, the
enzyme needed to metabolize B6, B12 and folate will be depleted and the need to supplement
through nutrition increases proportionally.

The only way for an individual to receive adequate amount of B6, B12, and folate is with nutrition.
The supplemental capsule or tablet form will not metabolize.

High levels of homocysteine will be toxic on cells that line the arteries which will make the blood
prone to clotting and promote bad cholesterol (LDL) which will be deposited as plaque in blood
vessels.

Cysteine helps to detoxify toxins and protect the body from radiation damage. Cysteine as well as
selenium work hand in hand with vitamin E. Cysteine also needs selenium to be effective.

Cysteine will bind with soluble iron, chelates heavy metals, and breaks down mucus in the
respiratory tract, beneficial for bronchitis, emphysema, and tuberculosis.

Of note: Cysteine as a stand-alone supplement should be avoided due to toxicity.

Glutathione - Recap

Cysteine is the pre-cursor to glutathione, the body’s natural antioxidant. Glutathione regulates the
antioxidant redox state, and allows the body to recycle its store of antioxidants including: vitamin
A, C, E and Co-enzyme Q10.

Free cysteine in unstable and is readily oxidized producing compounds that could have
harmful effects. Glutathione cannot be absorbed by cells and so must be re-synthesized
intracellularly.

Glutathione is the antioxidant that is prevalent in every cell in the human body. Glutathione is
primarily synthesized in the liver where it is abundantly present.

80-90% of the blood that leaves the stomach and intestines passes through the liver. The blood
carries important nutrients to the liver where they are metabolized into substances vital to life. In
the same way, exogenous toxic substances reach the liver where they are either activated or
transformed into less toxic derivatives. Glutathione plays a crucial role in the liver’s
biotransformation system.

The liver biotransformation system comprises important functions:

 1. Filtering alcohol and other toxic substances from the blood.

2. Processing drugs and medications absorbed through the digestive system, enabling the
body to use them effectively and ultimately dispose of them.

The liver uses glutathione to process; alcohol, caffeine, medications, nicotine as an example, to
process such substances and remove them from the blood. Cysteine is the limiting factor in
glutathione synthesis, ensuring an adequate supply of glutathione helps cleanse the blood of
toxins and substances.

The role of glutathione and its inter-workings with alcohol and the metabolism has received the
attention of scientist for years. With alcohol metabolism using the P 450 enzymes, much of the
alcohol studies can be transformed into applicable knowledge with antidepressants and other
medications that use the same system.

Ethanol and Glutathione

Reduced glutathione plays a critical role in the cellular detoxification processes including the
metabolism of peroxides, the conjugation with electrophils and the scavenging of the free
radicals. The relevance of glutathione in ethanol metabolism consists mainly in compensating for
alcohol-related oxidative stress. Oxidative stress is a disturbance in the pro-oxidant/antioxidant
balance (increased pro-oxidant levels), which may be achieved by either an enhancement of
oxidative reactions leading to the increased formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) or by a
decrease of the antioxidant defense.

Whether you are working with alcohol or most medications, both will activate the microsomal
Cytochrome P450-dependant enzyme system, especially the subclass CYP2E1, that plays an
important role in the liver detoxification. With antidepressants it will usually be with the subclass
CYP2D6 or the CYP2C9 pathways.

Glutathione (GSH) will be depleted within the cells and liver and also in other organs in the body
due to the absorption of toxins by glutathione.

The Creation of Glutathione

Knowing the theory of glutathione is useful but without the correct application of the data it is
pointless.

Increasing glutathione intracellularly can be done in only a few ways. Using a whey protein
designed in such as way to present to the cells the required amino acids in the exact sequence or
by nutrients and or foods.

The natural way for our body to produce intracellular glutathione is with all natural nutrients. This
is also how I recommend an individual increase intracellular glutathione.

Why?

If you use a whey protein designed to produce glutathione, you will have an increase but the
process is being accomplished in an unnatural manner.

Imagine you have a car that will not start because the battery is low in power. You can give the
car a jumpstart and drive down the road but the chances are you will need to keep getting a
jumpstart every time you wish to drive.
The above example is what is happening when you bypass the natural structure of the body.

If you were to fill the battery with water and put it on a slow charge until it was at full power you
should not have to rely on a jumpstart again.

This example is what should take place within the body regarding the creation of glutathione.

Putting the correct nutrients in the body and allowing the body to use the nutrients to eventually
manufacture glutathione not only gets those body parts working again but also promotes long-
term health.

Your body can manufacture glutathione with the correct nutrients.

Glutathione as a Detoxicant
Supplemental detoxicants become necessary as our environment becomes increasingly polluted.
Our food and water sources are contaminated with chemicals. One of our main defenses against
pollutants is glutathione, which is present in the liver in high concentrations. Glutathione acts as a
detoxifying agent by combining with undesirable substances and ridding the body of them through
urine and bile. It is important to note that unless the Colon, Liver and Blood are also detoxified,
the benefits of Glutathione as a detoxicant may be minimized.

To Get a Little More Technical About Glutathione

"Glutathione is a ubiquitous tripeptide molecule, consisting of three amino acids joined together.
These are cysteine, glutamic acid and glycine - three of the twenty two amino acids which
comprise the building blocks of all known proteins. In general, the amino-end of one amino acid
combines with the acid-end of another to form a peptide bond with the elimination of water.
Chains of amino acids are called proteins. The sequence of amino acids and the arrangement in
space of each peptide bond defines some specific structural features of all proteins and
olegopeptides (few amino acids in sequence) that relate to their function."

Glutathione (Psychoneurobiology)

"Free radicals and oxyradicals have been recognized by psychoneurobiologist as playing an

important role in the development and progression of many of these disorders. The brain is
particularly susceptible to free radical attack because it generates more oxidative-by-products per
gram of tissue than any other organ. The brain's main antioxidant is glutathione- it's importance
cannot be overstated."

"Oxidative stress and glutathione are important factors in such various disorders as brain injury,
neurodegenerative disease, schizophrenia, Down syndrome and other pathologies."

Disorders of the brain and nervous system that are linked to oxidative stress

Neurodegenerative
Brain Injury Others
disease
Brain injury Parkinson's disease Schizophrenia
Trauma Alzheimer's dementia Down syndrome
Stroke Multiple sclerosis (MS) Tardive dyskinesia
Ischemia Lou Gehrig's disease (ALS) Sleep deprivation
Lipofuscinosis (Batten's
Toxicity of lead, mercury, etc. Huntington's chorea
disease)
"Many neurological and psychiatric disease processes are characterized by high levels of
oxidative stress and free radical formation, as well as abnormalities in glutathione metabolism
and antioxidant defenses."

Source Dr. Gutman M.D. Glutathione GSH

Dr. Perlmutter: "Eighty to ninety percent improve dramatically. It's felt that the mechanism that
allows it to work is in increasing the sensitivity to certain receptors to dopamine. Glutathione
doesn't raise dopamine levels, but it allows the dopamine in the brain to be more effective. That's
not a new idea in medicine. Diabetic drugs work not by increasing insulin, but by increasing the
receptors to insulin. Glutathione not only increases sensitivity to dopamine, but also to serotonin,
which may explain why many of our depressed PD patients have a remarkable improvement."

Increasing glutathione in the body has been proven to be essential in the treatment of disease.
Antidepressants and other medications deplete the body and brain of glutathione.

Functions of Glutathione

Enhancing the Immune System - Your bodies immune activity, involving unimpeded
multiplication of lymphocytes and antibody production, requires maintenance of normal levels of
glutathione inside the lymphocytes.

Antioxidant and Free Radical Scavenger - Glutathione plays a central protective role against
the damaging effects of bacteria, viruses, pollutants and free radicals.

Regulator of Other Antioxidants - Without glutathione, other important antioxidants such as

vitamins C and E cannot do their job adequately to protect your body against disease.

A Detoxifying Agent - Another major function of glutathione is in the detoxification of foreign

chemical compounds such as carcinogens and harmful metabolites.

Link from website: http://www.prozactruth.com/gluta.htm