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"Prevention is better than cure." -Desiderius Erasmus

The Master Antioxidant

You have probably heard the word “antioxidant” many times during the course of your life. You also probably know some common antioxidants like vitamin C and vitamin E. However, I’m willing to bet that most people are sleeping on a molecule that is produced inside of your cells and is considered to be the most powerful antioxidant in the human body. This “master antioxidant” that I am referring to is GLUTATHIONE.

While it has gained significantly more mainstream notoriety in recent years, glutathione is not just a trendy new supplement that has popped up on social media out of the online scammer abyss. It has been extensively studied for a long time and its positive impact on the body’s health is legitimate.

Whether you are an athlete, a busy adult, or someone simply trying to age well, understanding what glutathione is, why it declines as we age, what it does for your health, and how you can support your levels is genuinely valuable information. The goal of today’s newsletter is to provide that information as well as my own experience with glutathione supplementation.

I want to make it clear that I am just providing information on this subject, not trying to persuade anyone to take or not to take glutathione. Always consult a licensed medical professional before you begin taking any supplements.

With that being said, let’s dig into today’s topic!

So What Is Glutathione?

Glutathione is a tripeptide, meaning it is made from three amino acids. These amino acids are cysteine, glycine, and glutamate. Your body produces glutathione naturally, primarily in the liver, and it exists in your cells. This tripeptide is sometimes referred to as the "master antioxidant" because of the large range of vital functions it performs.

While most antioxidants that you consume through food or supplements work from the outside in, glutathione works from the inside out. This is due to the fact that it is produced from within your cells where oxidative damage actually occurs. Glutathione neutralizes harmful free radicals, regenerates other antioxidants like vitamins C and E, and plays a central role in the liver's detoxification process. The “Master Antioxidant” binds to liver toxins and helps flush them out of the body.

Glutathione is basically your body's internal cleanup crew, security system, and repair team all rolled into one molecule.

Glutathione Levels Decline With Age

While it is not particularly shocking, glutathione levels decline significantly as we age, just like NAD+, as we discussed in a previous newsletter. Research from Baylor College of Medicine has confirmed that older adults have markedly lower glutathione synthesis rates compared to younger individuals, and that this deficiency is directly tied to increased oxidative stress and cellular damage. In fact the study found that simply supplementing older adults with the glutathione precursors cysteine and glycine for two weeks restored their glutathione synthesis to levels comparable to younger subjects and meaningfully reduced markers of oxidant damage.

Beyond aging, several other factors accelerate glutathione depletion. These factors include a cast of the usual unhealthy suspects such as chronic stress, poor nutrition, environmental toxins, alcohol, excessive training without adequate recovery, and certain medications. Simply put, the mainstream way of life is working against your glutathione levels on multiple fronts simultaneously.

The Many Benefits Of Glutathione

Reduces Oxidative Stress and Helps Fight Disease

Oxidative stress occurs when free radicals overwhelm your body's ability to fight them. High levels of oxidative stress over the long-term are a precursor to a large list of serious conditions including diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and rheumatoid arthritis. Glutathione is one of your body's primary defenses against this occurrence. Therefore, maintaining optimal levels is vital to help shield you from chronic disease and keep your body functioning properly.

Liver Health and Detoxification

If there is one organ that depends on glutathione the most, it’s your liver. The liver uses glutathione to bind directly to toxins such as environmental chemicals, alcohol byproducts and medication metabolites. This process signals to the body that the toxin must be removed. Furthermore, research has shown that glutathione supplementation at 300mg per day for four months produced meaningful improvements in liver enzyme levels in people with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. In some cases of acute liver failure, such as an acetaminophen overdose, restoring glutathione levels through N-acetylcysteine is actually the primary medical treatment. So as you can see, glutathione is a key player in supporting your liver’s detoxification capabilities.

Immune Function Support

This one is really important for anyone over the age of forty. As glutathione levels decline with age, immune function gradually weakens alongside it. Your body’s immune cells, such as T cells, natural killer cells, and dendritic cells, are highly dependent on glutathione. Research shows that glutathione is essential for T cell growth, replication, and maturation. So if you find that colds and infections are nastier and lasting longer than they used to, declining glutathione is one factor worth looking into.

Improved Insulin Sensitivity

A very interesting development occurred when a 2021 clinical trial found that oral glutathione supplementation improved insulin resistance in obese males both with and without type 2 diabetes. Due to how essential insulin sensitivity is to metabolic health, body composition, and long-term disease prevention, this is a significant yet relatively unknown benefit of glutathione supplementation.

Athletic Recovery

Glutathione plays a crucial role in athletic recovery. This is because athletic events and high intensity training generate a significant amount of reactive oxygen species. Basically, your body becomes flooded with free radicals that your antioxidant system has to manage. Extensive research has shown that glutathione play a key role in minimizing the oxidative stress that leads to immune dysfunction and muscle damage following intense exercise. However, it is important to note that excessive training without adequate recovery can actually temporarily deplete glutathione levels. This is yet another thing that highlights the critical nature of proper recovery. If you do not allow your body to recover properly, you will deplete your body of the essential antioxidant it needs to stay healthy.

Skin Improvements

Last but not least, let’s talk about a result of optimal glutathione levels that perks up people’s ears because it’s a very visible benefit. I’m talking about improvements in your skin health and aesthetic. First off, glutathione fades dark spots and brightens skin. It naturally tells your body to produce lighter pigment instead of dark pigment, which helps fade sun spots, age spots and acne marks for a more even skin tone. Another skin benefit of glutathione is that it helps fight wrinkles and aged-looking skin. Visualize it as a protective shield against daily damage caused by pollution and sun exposure. By eliminating this potential damage, your skin’s collagen and elastin remain protected, keeping your skin firm, bouncy and smooth. Lastly, it lowers inflammation deep inside the skin which helps diminish redness, speeds up the healing of irritated skin, and keeps conditions like acne or eczema from leaving permanent marks.

How To Maintain Your Glutathione Levels

With Food

If you would like to increase your body’s glutathione levels through your diet, sulfur-rich foods should be your go-to. Cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and kale, as well as garlic and onions, provide the sulfur compounds your body needs to synthesize glutathione. In addition, cysteine, one of glutathione's three building blocks, is found in whey protein, eggs, and poultry. Consuming more cysteine-containing food is beneficial because it is the most limiting factor in glutathione production. Other beneficial food groups are those rich in vitamin C, because vitamin C has value both as a standalone antioxidant and as a glutathione regenerator. Some studies have determined that vitamin C alone can boost glutathione levels by up to 30%.

With Lifestyle

Sleep, exercise, and stress management are lifestyle factors that can greatly affect your glutathione levels. Good habits in these areas will help you maintain the proper amount of glutathione in your body while bad lifestyle habits will leave your body depleted of its master antioxidant. For example, when your body falls into a deep sleep, your body restores its antioxidant reserves. Furthermore, when you engage in consistent exercise, both cardio and resistance training, glutathione production is upregulated over time. Also, and not surprisingly, chronic stress is one of the fastest ways to drain your levels. So in order to achieve the healthiest version of yourself, learning how to manage stress is not optional.

With Supplementation

If you want to go beyond your food and lifestyle choices, there are a few different glutathione supplement options available. Here is what you need to know:

As was the case with the NAD+ pills that we discussed in a previous newsletter, standard oral glutathione pills are also very ineffective. This is because glutathione, like NAD+, is poorly absorbed in the digestive tract where enzymes break it down before it can reach your bloodstream. You want to avoid pills labeled simply as "glutathione" because purchasing these products would be a waste of money.

A more legit oral option is to supplement with glutathione precursors. The two most well-researched glutathione precursors are NAC (N-acetylcysteine) and glycine, which directly provide the building blocks your body needs to produce its own glutathione. The Baylor study I mentioned earlier specifically showed these two working together to restore glutathione synthesis in older adults. This is an affordable, well-studied, and effective option.

As far as direct oral glutathione supplementation, liposomal glutathione is the most promising direct supplementation option currently available. This supplement is effective because the liposomal delivery system wraps glutathione inside tiny phospholipid spheres that protect it from digestive breakdown. A Penn State clinical study showed that liposomal glutathione at 500 to 1000 mg per day measurably increased glutathione levels in whole blood, plasma, and immune cells within just two weeks. This is the form I would recommend if you want to supplement directly.

As for injections and IV infusions, glutathione delivers near 100% bioavailability. However, this exceptional bloodstream bioavailability is tempered by major drawbacks that include difficulty penetrating the cells, a high cost, inconvenience and no proven advantage over oral precursors for the average healthy individual.

My Experience And Final Thoughts

Glutathione is definitely not widely known about amongst the general population. I had never even heard of it until the last year or two. I discovered liposomal glutathione online, looked up what it was and became intrigued by it. So much so that I decided to try it out for three months this past winter. I figured the cold winter months of Central New York would be an ideal time to increase my levels of this “master antioxidant.” While I never did get sick during this time period, I know that it’s impossible to know if I would have fallen ill without it.

However, the wildest visible effect glutathione had was on my skin. You see, the inside air during winter months here is very dry. As a result, I get very dried out, cracked and sometimes bleeding skin on my hands, especially on my left one. During the dead of winter, my hand looks like it belongs more to a reptile than a human. I believe it’s the result of frostbite that I got long ago. Well let me tell you, in less than ten days, the skin on my left hand looked 80-90% better. It seemed almost as hydrated as it does during the more humid months of the year. I couldn’t believe the drastic change and neither could anyone else who knew about my hand. Although it’s only anecdotal evidence, I can personally attest that liposomal glutathione had a profound impact on my skin and I plan on taking glutathione for three months again next winter.

The only minor negative thing about the Rho Liposomal Glutathione that I used was that it had a slight sulfur taste and smell which, after deeper research, makes complete sense.

Key Takeaway: Glutathione is your body's master antioxidant and internal defense system. It is arguably one of the most important molecules in your body for long-term health. Like most things in the body that support good health, glutathione levels decline with age and poor lifestyle habits. The positive part is that both your diet and smart supplementation can help you make up for age and lifestyle-related depletion. If you are eating sulfur-rich vegetables, sleeping well, training consistently, and managing your stress, you are already supporting your glutathione levels more than most people. If you want to go a step further, NAC and glycine as precursors or a quality liposomal glutathione supplement are worth considering. I want to again emphasize that I am neither encouraging nor discouraging people from taking a glutathione supplement. I want to make that clear. I wrote this article because I want people to be aware of glutathione and its role in the body. Using the information I have provided, as well as your own research, make the choices best for you and as always, make sure that you consult a licensed medical professional before taking any supplement.

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