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L-Glutathione

Specific Recommendations (to raise glutathione):

• vitamin C / NAC / alpha lipoic acid / silymarin
• L-glutathione products at iHerb

News & Research:

• Amino acid offers potential therapeutic alternative in psychiatric disorders - Science Daily, 10/8/13 - "drug discovery is at a near standstill for treating psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression and common forms of autism ... According to Professor Berk, there is now an incontrovertible evidence base that these disorders share inflammation and oxidative stress as part of their disease physiology ... The amino acid, NAC, seems to have multiple effects on all these pathways: it boosts glutathione, which is the body’s major antioxidant defence; has anti-inflammatory properties; enhances levels of nerve cell growth proteins and the growth of new neurons; and reduces cell death pathways. It also appears to reduce dysfunction of mitochondria ... NAC reduces the core symptoms of schizophrenia including negative symptoms such as improved apathy, social interaction and motivation. It also appears to reduce depression in people with bipolar disorder and at this meeting ... there is intriguing evidence that it reduces cravings in a number of addictions including cocaine, cannabis and cigarette smoking" - See n-acetyl cysteine at Amazon.com.
• Mechanism for how grapes reduce heart failure associated with hypertension identified - Science Daily, 5/2/13 - "Grapes are a known natural source of antioxidants and other polyphenols ... grapes exert beneficial effects in the heart: influencing gene activities and metabolic pathways that improve the levels of glutathione, the most abundant cellular antioxidant in the heart" - See Jarrow Formulas, OPCs + 95, 100 mg, 100 Capsules.
• Natural antioxidant can protect against cardiovascular disease - Science Daily, 6/16/12 - "The enzyme -- glutathione peroxidase, or GPx3 -- is a natural antioxidant that helps protect organisms from oxidant injury and helps the body naturally repair itself. Researchers have found that patients with high levels of good cholesterol, the GPx3 enzyme does not make a significant difference. However, those patients with low levels of good cholesterol, the GPx3 enzyme could potentially be a big benefit ... The new research, published June 16 by PLoS One, supports the view that natural antioxidants may offer the human body profound benefits ... people with high levels of the GPx3 enzyme and low levels of good cholesterol were six times less likely to develop cardiovascular disease than people with low levels of both"
  • Glutathione supplements pills benefit and side effects - raysahelian.com -  "This antioxidant, made from the combination of three amino acids cysteine, glutamate, and glycine, forms part of the powerful natural antioxidant glutathione peroxidase which is found in our cells ... Supplements that help make glutathione ... Acetylcysteine ... ALA ... Pycnogenol ... The frequent use of acetaminophen (Tylenol) depletes glutathione peroxidase levels" - See n-acetyl cysteine at Amazon.com.
• N-Acetyl Cysteine Effective for Bipolar Depression - Medscape, 6/10/11 - "oxidative stress and inflammation play a role in the pathophysiology of bipolar disorder ... NAC is a cysteine analogue shown to effectively raise plasma levels of the primary antioxidant, glutathione. NAC also modulates cytokines, glutamates neurotransmission, and enhances neurogenesis ... significant differences (P < .001) were found between baseline and week 8 for all study measures. Minimal side effects occurred" - Note:  That seems like a high dose but I would think most would take a lower lower dose over a longer period of time which may be as effective.  See n-acetyl cysteine at Amazon.com.
• CLA may protect against elderly muscle loss - Nutra USA, 7/24/09 - "Supplementation with conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) prevented age-related muscle loss in mice ... After six months the researchers note that both the trans-10 cis-12 and CLA-mix showed “significantly higher muscle mass, as compared to corn oil and cis-9 trans-11 CLA groups” ... Both groups also exhibited increased cellular energy production (ATP), as well as higher levels of the antioxidant enzymes catalase and glutathione peroxidase in the muscles, compared to the corn oil and cis-9 trans-11 CLA groups" - See conjugated linoleic acid at Amazon.com.
• Add-On Therapy Improves Depressive Symptoms In Bipolar Disorder - Science Daily, 9/2/08 - "sought to evaluate whether N-acetyl cysteine (NAC), an over-the-counter supplement that increases brain glutathione, might help alleviate depressive symptoms ... Glutathione is the brain’s primary antioxidant defense, and there is evidence of increased oxidative stress in bipolar disorder. Therefore, we studied the potential benefit of NAC treatment in bipolar disorder and found that it impressively remedied residual depressive symptoms" - See n-acetyl cysteine at Amazon.com.
• Low Antioxidant Level May Damage Fetal Neurons - Science Daily, 12/20/07 - "Fetal neurons that have low levels of a vital antioxidant, glutathione, are the first to die when exposed to alcohol in cell culture and possibly in the living brain"
• Depletion Of One Antioxidant Linked To Parkinson's In Mice - Science Daily, 12/20/07 - "mice suffering from a depletion of the antioxidant glutathione in dopamine-producing neurons developed nerve damage and symptoms associated with Parkinson’s disease (PD) in humans"
• Glutathione: Antioxidant Supports Lung, Liver, Gastric and Cerebral Health while Guarding Against DNA Damage Article - vrp.com, 10/4/05
• NAC supplement for brain damage in boys - Nutra USA, 5/4/04 - "Because it enhances the production of the enzyme glutathione, NAC is thought to both stave off disease and play an important role in boosting the immune system"
• How to Boost Glutathione Levels - Dr. Murray's Newsletter, 7/30/03 - "When healthy subjects were given a single dose of up to 3,000 mg of glutathione researchers found there was no increase in blood glutathione levels.11 ...  In contrast, blood glutathione levels rose nearly 50% in healthy individuals taking 500 mg of vitamin C.12 Vitamin C raises glutathione by helping the body manufacture it. In addition, to vitamin C, dietary sources of glutathione and several other nutritional compounds can help increase glutathione levels including N-acetylcysteine (NAC), alpha-lipoic acid, glutamine, methionine, and whey protein. Also, vitamin B6, riboflavin, and selenium are required in the manufacture of glutathione"
• Oxidative Stress Linked to Cataract Formation in Diabetics - Doctor's Guide, 1/16/03 - "Whole blood glutathione levels and erythrocyte superoxide dismutase activities were lower, while plasma levels of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances were higher in patients with cataracts compared to controls ... The authors suggest that their findings underscore the vital role of glutathione as a lens antioxidant"
• Getting More Glutathione? - Dr. Weil, 8/29/02 - "To my knowledge, the only supplement that effectively raises glutathione levels in the body is N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC). My colleague Kathleen Johnson, a dietician here at the Program in Integrative Medicine, tells me that other glutathione supplements are ineffective because they’re digested before they can get into the bloodstream"
• Glutathione Protects Against Oxaliplatin Neurotoxicity - Medscape, 8/23/02
• Peripheral Arterial Disease Responds to Glutathione Infusion - Medscape, 8/9/02 - "Oxidative stress is considered an important condition in the atherosclerotic process, favoring cellular and vascular damage ... Forty subjects with Fontaine stage II PAD received intravenous glutathione or saline solution twice daily for five days. Those receiving glutathione had significant improvements in pain-free walking distance (196 +/- 15 vs. 143 +/- 11 m; P<.04), macrocirculatory flow after treadmill test with plethysmography, postischemic hyperemia with laser Doppler flowmetry, and reduced time to flow motion"
• The Wizard is Oz - Life Extension Magazine, 11/01 - "Best-selling author and nutritional guru to the rich and famous, Oz Garcia is singing the praises of the Life Extension Foundation and its products in his newest book, The Healthy High Tech Body, published in September 2001 ... Supplements at the top of Garcia's list of recommendations ... DHA ... NADH ... Alpah Lipoic Acid ... Acetyl-L-Carnitine ... An expanded list of his recommendations includes lycopene, gamma tocopherol, vinpocetine, SAMe, folic acid, carnosine, glutathione, DMAE, Huperzine A, probiotics, MSM, secretagogues, arginine pyroglutamate, IP-6, bioflavonoid formulas and grape skin/seed extracts"
• Glutathione: New Supplement on the Block - WebMD, 7/30/01
• Glutathione: The Eye Healer Within - Nutrition Science News, 4/01
• Fighting Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Antioxidants Show Promise in Reducing Inflammation - WebMD, 4/10/01 - "scientists say a combination of antioxidants and drugs may help suppress the inflammation more than either approach could alone ... Grisham and colleagues gave a powerful antioxidant to mice with inflammatory bowel disease. The antioxidant, which was put in the animals' water, helped raise the level of a naturally occurring antioxidant called glutathione, he says. The amount of inflammation was significantly reduced after the mice drank the antioxidant-spiked water"
• What is the difference between N-acetylcysteine and glutathione, and which one should I suggest to customers? - Nutrition Science News, 3/01
• Lipoic Acid: The Universal Antioxidant - Nutrition Science News, 10/00
• SILIPHOS™: Nature's Potent Liver Remedy - Dr. Murray - "One of the key manners in which silymarin enhances detoxification reaction is preventing the depletion of glutathione. As discussed above, the level of glutathione in the liver is critically linked to the liver's ability to detoxify. The higher the glutathione content, the greater the liver's capacity to detoxify harmful chemicals. Typically, when we are exposed to chemicals which can damage the liver including alcohol, the concentration of glutathione in the liver is substantially reduced. This reduction in glutathione makes the liver cell susceptible to damage. Silymarin not only prevents the depletion of glutathione induced by alcohol and other toxic chemicals, but has been shown to increase the level of glutathione of the liver by up to 35%. Since the ability of the liver to detoxify is largely related to the level of glutathione in the liver, the results of this study seem to indicate that silymarin can increase detoxification reactions by up to 35%"
• Natural Substance Fights the Flu in Mice - WebMD, 4/17/00
• Vitamin E Reverses Minimal Negative Effects of Exercise and Fish Oil - WebMD, 4/10/00 - "The researchers discovered that both exercise and fish oil deplete an important antioxidant called glutathione"
• Solving Sinusitis - Nutrition Science News, 4/00
• Detoxification for the Body & Mind - Nutrition Science News, 2/00
• Staying Young Forever, Putting new research findings into practice - Life Extension Foundation, 12/99 - "lipoic acid is the only antioxidant that can boost the level of intracellular glutathione, a cellular antioxidant of tremendous importance. Besides being the body's primary water-soluble antioxidant and a major detoxification agent, glutathione is absolutely essential for the functioning of the immune system"
• Cancer Prevention Diet - Nutrition Science News, 8/99
• Second Sight - Nutrition Science News, 4/99
• Can Cirrhosis be Prevented? - Nutrition Science News, 1/99
• Antioxidants May Reduce Harmful Complications Of Diabetes - Doctor's Guide, 4/20/98
• Antioxidant-Enhancing Drug Partly Reduces Noise-Induced Hearing Loss - Doctor's Guide, 9/12/97
• Key Molecule Found Critical to Surviving HIV - Doctor's Guide, 2/24/97

Abstracts:

• Glutathione a Potential Biomarker for Postpartum Suicide - Medscpe, 4/7/23 - "reduced serum GSH levels were significantly lower for those with moderate to high suicide risk than for those without suicide risk. Their findings suggest that GSH may be a potential biomarker or etiologic factor among women at risk for suicide, with therapeutic implications" - Note: The best way in increase glutathione is to take NAC. See n-acetyl cysteine at Amazon.com.
• Effects of chromium supplementation on oxidative Stress biomarkers - Int J Vitam Nutr Res 2021 May 20 - "Overall, this meta-analysis demonstrated that chromium supplementation increased GSH without any significant changes in the mean of GPX, MDA, TAS, TBARS, CAT and SOD" - See chromium supplements at Amazon.com.
• Improved Cardiovascular Function in Old Mice after N-Acetyl Cysteine and Glycine Supplemented Diet: Inflammation and Mitochondrial Factors - J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2018 Mar 10 - "Metabolic, inflammatory and functional changes occur in cardiovascular aging which may stem from oxidative stress and be remediable with antioxidants. Glutathione, an intracellular antioxidant, declines with aging, and supplementation with glutathione precursors, N-Acetyl Cysteine (NAC) and Glycine (Gly), increases tissue glutathione. Thirty month-old mice were fed diets supplemented with NAC or NAC+Gly and, after seven weeks, cardiac function and molecular studies were performed.The NAC+Gly supplementation improved diastolic function, increasing peak early filling velocity, and reducing relaxation time, left atrial volume, and left ventricle end diastolic pressure. By contrast, cardiac function did not improve with NAC alone. Both diet supplementations decreased cardiac levels of inflammatory mediators; only NAC+Gly reduced leukocyte infiltration. Several mitochondrial genes reduced with aging were upregulated in hearts by NAC+Gly diet supplementation. These Krebs cycle and oxidative phosphorylation enzymes, suggesting improved mitochondrial function, and permeabilized cardiac fibers from NAC+Gly fed mice produced ATP from carbohydrate and fatty acid sources, whereas fibers from control old mice were less able to utilize fatty acids" - See glycine products at Amazon.com and n-acetyl cysteine at Amazon.com.
• Protective Effect of Green Tea (Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze) against Prostate Cancer: From In Vitro Data to Algerian Patients - Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2017;2017:1691568 - "Green tea (GT) ... prostate cancer (PC) ... oxidative stress (OS) ... glutathione (GSH) ... The consumption of 2-3 cups per day of GT during 6 months significantly increased GSH concentration and catalase activity and decreased MDA concentration. In conclusion, GT significantly decreased OS in Algerian PC patients. Regular consumption of GT for a long period may prevent men from developing PC or at least delay its progression" - See green tea extract at Amazon.com.
• Combined L-citrulline and glutathione supplementation increases the concentration of markers indicative of nitric oxide synthesis - J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2015 Jun 10;12:27 - "Nitric oxide (NO) is endogenously synthesized from L-arginine and L-citrulline. Due to its effects on nitric oxide synthase (NOS), reduced glutathione (GSH) may protect against the oxidative reduction of NO ... plasma NOx with L-citrulline + GSH was significantly greater than control and L-citrulline" - See Stimulin at Amazon.com.  I'm not so sure taking glutathione supplements will raise glutathione.  Some say you need to take NAC.   See:
  • How to Boost Glutathione Levels - Dr. Murray's Newsletter, 7/30/03 - "When healthy subjects were given a single dose of up to 3,000 mg of glutathione researchers found there was no increase in blood glutathione levels.11 ...  In contrast, blood glutathione levels rose nearly 50% in healthy individuals taking 500 mg of vitamin C.12 Vitamin C raises glutathione by helping the body manufacture it. In addition, to vitamin C, dietary sources of glutathione and several other nutritional compounds can help increase glutathione levels including N-acetylcysteine (NAC), alpha-lipoic acid, glutamine, methionine, and whey protein. Also, vitamin B6, riboflavin, and selenium are required in the manufacture of glutathione"
• Improved oxidative status in major abdominal surgery patients after N-acetyl cystein supplementation - Nutr J. 2015 Jan 6;14(1):4 - "Increased levels of reactive oxygen species during and after surgery may affect inflammatory response, post-operative adhesion molecule formation, and hemodynamic stability. The glutathione redox cycle is an important regulator in oxidative stress and its reduced forms scavenge free radicals. N-acetyl cysteine, a precursor of reduced glutathione, is considered as a potentially therapeutic wide spectrum agent in clinical practice ... Thirty-three patients diagnosed with pancreas, stomach, rectum, colon malignancies, and undergoing major abdominal surgery ... The study demonstrated the clinical importance of N-acetyl cysteine supplementation on antioxidant parameters in abdominal surgery patients. In these patients N-acetyl cysteine and vitamin administration can be considered as an effective method for improvement of oxidative status" - See n-acetyl cysteine at Amazon.com.
• Glutathione redox imbalance in brain disorders - Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2014 Nov 15 - "we summarize current evidence on how GSH depletion and GSH-related enzyme deficit are involved in the pathology of brain disorders such as autism, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson's disease ... The potential therapeutic agents for brain disorders include N-acetylcysteine, liposomes encapsulated with GSH, and whey protein supplement, which can increase the GSH levels in the brain and alleviate oxidative stress-associated damage and may improve the behavior of individuals with brain diseases ... GSH plays an important role during the onset and progression of neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases. GSH redox imbalance may be a primary cause of these brain disorders and may be used as a biomarker for diagnosis of these diseases. N-acetylcysteine and other agents that can increase the concentration of GSH in the brain are promising approaches for the treatment of these brain disorders" - See n-acetyl cysteine at Amazon.com.
• Deficient synthesis of glutathione underlies oxidative stress in aging and can be corrected by dietary cysteine and glycine supplementation - Am J Clin Nutr. 2011 Jul 27 - "Compared with younger control subjects, elderly subjects had markedly lower RBC concentrations of glycine (486.7 +/- 28.3 compared with 218.0 +/- 23.7 μmol/L; P < 0.01), cysteine (26.2 +/- 1.4 compared with 19.8 +/- 1.3 μmol/L; P < 0.05), and glutathione (2.08 +/- 0.12 compared with 1.12 +/- 0.18 mmol/L RBCs; P < 0.05); lower glutathione fractional (83.14 +/- 6.43% compared with 45.80 +/- 5.69%/d; P < 0.01) and absolute (1.73 +/- 0.16 compared with 0.55 +/- 0.12 mmol/L RBCs per day; P < 0.01) synthesis rates; and higher plasma oxidative stress (304 +/- 16 compared with 346 +/- 20 Carratelli units; P < 0.05) and plasma F(2)-isoprostanes (97.7 +/- 8.3 compared with 136.3 +/- 11.3 pg/mL; P < 0.05). Precursor supplementation in elderly subjects led to a 94.6% higher glutathione concentration, a 78.8% higher fractional synthesis rate, a 230.9% higher absolute synthesis rate, and significantly lower plasma oxidative stress and F(2)-isoprostanes. No differences in these measures were observed between younger subjects and supplemented elderly subjects ... Glutathione deficiency in elderly humans occurs because of a marked reduction in synthesis. Dietary supplementation with the glutathione precursors cysteine and glycine fully restores glutathione synthesis and concentrations and lowers levels of oxidative stress and oxidant damages. These findings suggest a practical and effective approach to decreasing oxidative stress in aging" - See l-glycine products at iHerb and n-acetyl cysteine at Amazon.com.
• Antioxidative and Anti-Inflammatory Protection from Carnosine in the Striatum of MPTP-Treated Mice - J Agric Food Chem. 2010 Oct 6 - "The preintake of carnosine significantly attenuated MPTP-induced glutathione loss, retained the activity of GPX and SOD, diminished oxidative stress, and lowered inflammatory cytokines and nitrite levels as well as suppressed iNOS activity (P < 0.05). MPTP treatment significantly suppressed GPX mRNA expression and enhanced iNOS mRNA expression (P < 0.05). Carnosine preintake significantly elevated GPX mRNA expression and declined iNOS mRNA expression (P < 0.05). Preintake of carnosine also significantly improved MPTP-induced dopamine depletion and maintained 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid and homovanillic acid levels (P < 0.05). These results suggest that carnosine could provide antioxidative and anti-inflammatory protection for the striatum against the development of Parkinson's disease" - See carnosine products at Amazon.com.