The Role of Glutathione In Our Body

Dr. Jimmy Gutman, MD  - “Your life depends on glutathione. Without it, your cells would disintegrate from unrestrained oxidation, your body would have little resistance to bacteria, viruses and cancer, and your liver would shrivel up from the eventual accumulation of toxins. Glutathione levels also diminish as we age and many diseases normally associated with aging have been linked to glutathione deficiency. Clinical evidence links low glutathione levels to the most common illnesses of our time as well as newly emerging diseases. Because all other antioxidants depend upon the presence of glutathione to function properly, scientists call it ‘the master antioxidant’.  Healthy people also benefit from elevated glutathione levels through an enhanced ability to fight off toxins, infectious disease, pre-cancerous cells and the aging process itself. Many world-class athletes are discovering that well-maintained glutathione levels give them the edge over their competitors, bringing greater strength and endurance, decreased recovery time from injury, less muscle pain and fatigue, and muscle-promoting activity.” The concentration of glutathione declines with age and in some age-related diseases.

Raising glutathione levels protects cells from radiation damage

Glutathione deficiency contributes to oxidative stress, which plays a key role in aging and the worsening of many diseases including Alzheimer's disease, cancer, Parkinson's disease, heart attack, liver disease, cystic fibrosis, HIV, AIDS, sickle cell anemia, and diabetes. Glutathione has been described as a 'food for the immune system', enabling the body to do its own healing. There are more than 76,000 medical articles about it -- but most doctors don't know how to address the epidemic deficiency of this critical life-giving molecule

With the unfolding of the nuclear disaster in Japan, and the consequent potential for weather-carried radiation exposure in North America and the rest of the northern hemisphere, many people are asking what they can do to protect themselves from radiation damage. While most people are aware of the use of iodine supplementation to protect the thyroid from radioactive iodine fallout, most of the actual damage from radiation is due to runaway oxidative stress and consequent DNA damage.
This oxidative damage is due to a combination of a high production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) from the radiation exposure while the radiation simultaneously causes a depression of the natural antioxidant systems (mostly the glutathione system and superoxide dismutase). Surviving nuclear toxicity is similar to the process of surviving heavy metals and chemical toxicity though the medical situation is worsened dramatically when even super low doses of high energy radiation enters the body.Glutathione, oxidative stress and neurodegeneration