Glutathione - the Facts

Glutathione - The Conundrum - More Energy/Better Sleep

2008-09-08T08:52:00.000-07:00

The previous post dealt with the mechanisms that allow glutathione to maximize cell function, especially in the area of the mitochondria. This is the area of the cell where energy is produced.

We left readers with the conundrum as to how glutathione could maximize cellular energy during our waking hours whilst there is evidence that the same glutathione can enhance sleep patterns.

Sleep is a period for brain and nerve cell detoxification and immune system stimulation. Melatonin is a hormone that initiates sleep when it is released by the pineal gland located beneath the brain.

Sleep is controlled by the hypothalamus where specific brain cells in the area called the Suprachiasmatic Nucleus (SCN) reside. These cells in the SCN regulate melatonin production in the pineal gland. The SCN is the “pacemaker” of the circadian rhythm that governs melatonin release.

Oxidant damage to cells is one of the major mechanisms of the aging process. Melatonin functions as an anti-oxidant in the membranes of cells by stimulating production of Glutathione. When Glutathione takes up oxidants, it becomes “oxidised glutathione” (GSSG) which further promotes sleep. The GSSG also shuts down production of substances that have excitory effects on brain cells thus allowing brain cells to repair themselves.

To re-iterate, Sleep is a time of neurological regeneration and immune system stimulation. It is critical for our survival and impacts significantly on aging. Sleep is a time that the brain and nervous system uses to detoxify themselves using melatonin to stimulate the anti-oxidant Glutathione.

Thus we see that Glutathione is involved in two distinctly different processes: one, involving the maximizing of cellular energy production during the day; the other, inducing better sleep during the night.

What causes people to lack energy?

2008-09-03T03:49:00.000-07:00

When someone asks me to tell them about glutathione, the first thing I say is that glutathione gives you more energy. The real function of glutathione is to maximize the function of every cell in every organ of the body.

In simple terms, the mitochondria is the energy-producing membrane of the cell. Free radicals can pair up with electrons in the membrane of the cell and damage that membrane. They can also pair up with the DNA of a cell and damage that too. As time passes, the amount of ATP produced in the "respiratory chain" is reduced and the cell doesn't get the clean out (or tune-up) that it needs. Acids build up in the cells reducing energy production. This is cumulative. External toxins lower energy levels still further.

Combined, these factors lower the energy quotient of each cell in our body whether it be cells in your feet or cells on the top of your head. Just as a car's performance falls off with age so does the performance of the cells of our body. To get your car engine operating at maximum performance, engine tune-ups are needed. Cellular tune-up is achieved by glutathione.

There is nothing that can compare with the ability of glutathione to maintain cellular health.

Glutathione optimizes the function of every cell in our body.

Coming next... How can glutathione increase energy levels during the day whilst giving you a deeper and more restorative sleep at night.

Glutathione - some simple facts

2008-08-17T22:48:00.000-07:00

Glutathione is a tri-peptide, a molecule containing the 3 amino acids: L-Glutamic acid, L-Cysteine and Glycine.

Glutathione levels in the human body increase continuously from birth up until the age of 20 and then decrease by about 8-15% each decade thereafter so that by the age of 70, the average healthy person would have what he or she had at age 20.

What is interesting, and probably needs more investigation, is that healthy people who reach the ripe old age of 100 often have glutathione levels expected of 30 year olds.

When an elderly person is unhealthy, most of the body's glutathione is utilized fighting the condition leaving healthy cells defenseless against damage from many free radicals.

People with serious viral conditions can have very low glutathione levels.

Autistic children are known to have chronically low levels of glutathione.

There will be more simple facts posted in the next post...

Glutathione - how important is it?

2008-08-17T12:43:00.000-07:00

Just how important is Gluathione in terms of the human body?

Searches on Google reveal the following number of "hits":

gluathione: 266,000

pubmed abstracts gluathione: 250,000

biology glutathione : 234,000

medical facts glutathione : 229,000

types of glutathione: 200,000

importance of glutathione 170,000

Now compare this with other searches, for example:

seratonin: 282,000

"cellular biology": 213,000

carnosine: 44,000

I use these simple facts to begin to describe the importance of gluathione in human biology.

My job in this blog will be to elicit the most pertinent information and distill it into digestible portions. There is a wealth of information on glutathione and I trust that you will find the nuggets uncovered will greatly assist you in your understanding of the importance of glutathione in the biology of the human body.