You’ve probably heard of glutathione, and researchers and scientists continue to discover its importance in health and disease. In the years to come, the term will be as common as vitamins and cholesterol are now. Your life depends on glutathione, and without it, your liver would wither and die from a buildup of toxins, and your cells would disintegrate from oxidative stress. What’s more, your body would have little resistance to bacteria, viruses, and cancer. Many of the body’s defenses, including the use of vitamins C and E, depend on this important molecule.
The importance of glutathione
The importance of glutathione to your health should not be overlooked. Your immune system is constantly searching for pathogens (agents that damage, poison, or make cells sick) to neutralize. The body needs a good supply of glutathione. If it doesn’t have enough, some disease and virus invaders will bypass defenses and infect the body, contributing to aging, cumulative cellular damage, and eventually cancer. We can’t avoid getting sick or aging, but by raising our glutathione levels, we keep our immune system in tip-top shape. Glutathione is essential for immune response.
Research on Glutathione
Over the past 20 years, the volume of research on glutathione has increased dramatically. A vast number of theoretical studies, laboratory experiments, epidemiological studies, animal studies, and human clinical trials have linked glutathione to a wide variety of diseases. Hundreds of medical studies have described how raising glutathione levels helps combat diseases of aging such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, cataracts, macular degeneration, and cancers of aging (such as prostate cancer).
The role of glutathione in different systems
Glutathione plays a crucial role in the cardiovascular system, helping to prevent heart disease, stroke, and atherosclerosis. In many cases, atherosclerosis can be reversed by raising glutathione levels. In the digestive system, glutathione helps the body fight intestinal infections, hepatitis, colitis, malnutrition, pancreatitis, and peptic ulcers.
Glutathione and Detoxification
Glutathione is a powerful detoxifier of substances that can harm the body, including those from cigarette smoke, vehicle waste, pollutants such as heavy metals and pesticides, and many other known carcinogens. Believe it or not, evidence suggests that glutathione helps prevent hearing loss from hearing pollution.
Glutathione and Infectious and Immunological Diseases
In infectious and immune diseases, glutathione’s antiviral properties help the body fight off AIDS, hepatitis, herpes, and the common cold. The role of glutathione in fighting bacterial infections is well described. Raising glutathione levels increases and maintains the natural immune response, providing the boost to deal with threats and reduce their damage. Glutathione has potential applications against autoimmune diseases, chronic fatigue syndrome, and immunosuppressive conditions.
Glutathione and Cancer
The immune system is constantly on alert against the threat of cancer. Glutathione helps prevent carcinogenesis (the transformation of normal cells into cancer cells), eliminates carcinogens and mutagens from the body, and slows down the oxidation process of DNA and other sensitive cell structures. In diagnosed cancer cases, glutathione has been shown to inhibit tumor growth, prevent weight loss, and eliminate the side effects of chemotherapy and radiation therapy.
Glutathione and Pulmonary Medicine
In pulmonary or respiratory medicine, raising glutathione levels has been used in Europe for many years. Glutathione can clear mucus (especially in cystic fibrosis), reduce damage from asthma attacks, help with chronic and acute bronchitis, and combat pulmonary fibrosis and emphysema.
Glutathione and other diseases
Glutathione plays an important role in preventing the development of diabetes and controlling its complications, lowering cholesterol and oxidizing bad cholesterol (LDL), and has an important role in patients suffering from kidney failure.