Guest Column | Glutathione: the – master antioxidant'

Glutathione is often referred to as the body’s “master antioxidant” and is the most important molecule in your body that you’ve never heard of. It is involved in preventing everything from cancer, dementia, heart disease and even wrinkles. 

There are more than 89,000 medical articles about its importance, but most physicians know little or nothing about this molecule.

The good news is that your body produces its own glutathione. The bad news is that poor diet, pollution, toxins, medications, stress, trauma, aging, infections and radiation all deplete your glutathione.

So what’s all the fuss anyway? The secret power of glutathione is the sulfur (SH) chemical groups it contains. Sulfur is a sticky, smelly molecule. It includes free radicals and toxins like mercury and other heavy metals. 

When glutathione becomes depleted — resulting in the inability for us to protect ourselves against free radicals, infections, cancer — we can’t get rid of toxins. Keeping yourself optimally healthy and preventing diseases depends upon keeping your glutathione levels high. 

Boosting levels

Here are seven tips to help boost your glutathione levels:

•Eat sulfer-rich foods like onions and cruciferous vegetables (like broccoli, cabbage, kale). 

•Eat bio-active whey protein — This is a great source of cysteine and other amino acids needed as raw ingredients for your body to make its own glutathione.

•Exercise boosts your glutathione levels. Start with 20 minutes of aerobic-type exercise you love (that way you will do it), and work up to doing it five days per week.

•N-acetyl-cysteine — This can be taken as a supplement. I have many patients who have asthma or COPD who use this in a nebulized form to protect their lungs.

•Methyl molecules (folate, B6 and B12) — These are at the top of the importance list for our bodies to produce glutathione. Of note, stress depletes these in our bodies and they are not stored, so we need to restock the supply on a regular basis. 

•Selenium and vitamins C and E — These important antioxidants help your body produce more glutathione.

•Glutathione IV push —IV glutathione can give an immediate boost to the body or to those recovering from any kind of illness or stressor (like travel). 

When glutathione is taken by mouth, the acid in the stomach destroys it. By receiving it in IV form, you receive all the benefits immediately without wondering if your body is producing enough.

DR. TAMI MERAGLIA, M.D., is owner and medical director of Vitality Medispa and Medical Clinic (www.VitalityMedicalClinic.net) in Queen Anne. To comment on this column, write to QAMagNews@nwlink.com.