What’s keeping you alive right now? Air, water, food? No, it’s a molecule which can stop a single glass of wine from killing you. It lives in every one of your cells and without it, you would die.
It’s so powerful, it can fight Cancer, Heart Disease, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, Autism and much much more. But if we continue to live the way we do, we deplete our bodies of this crucial life force, giving rise to chronic illness and death. So what is this superpower and where can you get it?
It’s glutathione: the most important antioxidant known to mankind.
How it works
Glutathione is produced within our bodies and suppresses free radicals from causing oxidative stress. According to Dr. David Perlmutter, a leading neurologist, oxidative stress damages our DNA which means we age faster and become prone to illness.
Glutathione acts as a magnet, attracting free radicals and disposing of them, reducing oxidative stress. When alcohol is consumed, the antioxidant provides a neutralizing effect in the liver, without which, the effects would be deadly.
”Glutathione is different from other antioxidants in that it is intracellular. It has the unique ability of maximizing the activity of all the other antioxidants, including vitamins C and E, CoQ10, and alpha lipoic acid.” (source: Dr. Mercola)
It is the only antioxidant that can recycle itself, this makes it very unique and powerful. To do this, certain genes must be activated, but our modern lifestyles get in the way. Exposure to toxins in our food, air, cell phones, and even medications damage our DNA and disable the glutathione genes.
Dr. Mark Hyman, a ten-time #1 New York Times best-selling author, believes that glutathione deficiency is the root cause of most chronic diseases. And, according to the CDC, 7 out of 10 deaths in the United States arise from chronic disease. In other words, our ability to produce and maintain optimal glutathione levels is critical if we are to live well.
How to increase your glutathione levels
There is some debate over the efficacy of glutathione supplementation. One of the most talked about and controversial supplements is Protandim (see here).
What most scientific literature does however support, is the intake of foods and supplements containing the precursors required for glutathione production. Here are some easy nutritional fixes you can implement, to ramp up your glutathione levels.
- Sulfur containing foods like garlic, onions and cruciferous vegetables: glutathione is made up of three amino acids, the scarcest of which is cysteine. Cysteine is found in foods rich in sulfur.
- Milk thistle herb: contains the antioxidant compound silymarin, known to minimize the depletion of glutathione in the liver, caused by alcohol and other toxic substances.
- Undenatured Whey Protein: whey protein that has not been altered and is abundant in cysteine amino acid. Look for undenatured or bioactive varieties.
- NAC supplement: an antioxidant traditionally used in Emergency Rooms for treating Tylenol overdoses. It is a potent precursor for glutathione.
- Alpha lipoic acid (ALA): another powerful cofactor in glutathione production, ALA is also key to the recycling process.
Glutathione is the one antioxidant you can’t live without; so don’t neglect it. Be sure to keep your levels in check through the simple steps outlined above.
As always, pushing for health.