Glutathione or GSH is produced naturally inside our liver. GSH is made out of three amino acids namely cysteine, glycine and glutamine and is a vital element for our cellular metabolism. Glutathione not only protects us against oxidative stress which are caused by the free radicals, but it is also a potential detoxifier that helps the immune system to function properly.
It has often been said by several medical scientists, that GSH is just as essential for our optimal health as oxygen, food and water.
The secret power of GSH lies in its sulfur (SH) content. Sulfur molecules found in Glutathione are sticky and smelly molecular compounds, that acts like fly paper as all bad things inside our body gets stuck onto it including toxins and heavy metals like mercury, not to mention, even the free radicals.
In general GSH is recycled inside the body, except when its toxic load becomes too great and so then Glutathione supplements and pills are prescribed for those people to minimize such effects.
Here are a few notable health benefits of GSH:
Works as an antioxidant and detoxifier
As vitamins like Vitamin C, Vitamin E and Alpha-lipolic acid becomes unstable after they have neutralized the free radicals in our body, GSH which is the master detoxifier and antioxidant, re-stabilizes these vitamins which makes them perform their job again and again. So while other antioxidants are only needed for certain parts of our body Glutathione is needed by every part of the human body as its deficiency makes the rest of the antioxidants ineffective in fighting the harmful effects of free radicals inside us.
Anti-inflammatory properties
Free radicals are produced as a result of intake of oxygen in the cells which creates energy. Glutathione which is present in our body immediately gets rid of these free radicals, which prevents cellular inflammations. It has been often quoted that Glutathione is our body’s fire fighter as cellular inflammations can cause many serious conditions such as internal bleeding and blood clots.
Transport protein and nutrients to the cells
GSH pulls nutrients and proteins to be absorbed inside the cells. So when we drink multivitamin supplements or eat foods that are rich in protein contents such as fish, meat or eggs, CSH opens the doors for these nutrients to pass through the cellular membrane. It has been noticed clinically that people who have low GSH levels suffers from malnutrition even though they eat good and healthy foods.
Slows down ageing
Many researches done on GSH has shown that Glutathione helps in fighting many age related diseases like Alzheimer’s disease, Cardiac diseases, Arthritis, Cancer and Parkinson’s disease which are caused by cellular damage done to our body by the free radicals. In other words, Glutathione mops up the free radicals before they can cause harm to our cells.
Improves our hair, nail and skin
With optimal amount of Glutathione in our body, we can improve the condition of our hair, skin and our nails. GSH keeps our skin healthy and moist and also reduces pigmentation due to the effects of ultraviolet rays on the surface of our skin. Glutathione also allows the collagen in our skin to stay intact, so that our skin don’t age prematurely.
Apart from these health benefits GSH also protects our eyes from the harsh UV rays and acts as a savior against insomnia by inducing deep and restful (delta wave) sleep.
