Imagine you're a cell.
Inside your body runs the machinery
that creates life itself. But as that machinery keeps running, day
after day, you begin to get worn out - the friction and the processes
that cause damage (here the "free-radicals" - highly destructive
little entities generated by biochemical processes, as well as pollutants,
UV radiation and other sources) start to create havoc and you begin
to lose the battle to disease, old age and ultimately death.
In fact your battle would be over much
sooner were it not for the numerous mechanisms that you and other
mammalian cells evolved over millions of years, as protection from
the injury that can result from your normal functional processes.
The foremost among these internal protective systems is the "Glutathione
antioxidant system."
Glutathione, a small molecule composed
of three amino acids - glycine, glutamate and cysteine - acts as
your cellular Super-Mop, soaking up "free-radicals" (with
the help of the sulfur-containing portion of the cysteine molecule),
protecting your cellular membranes and internal organs from the
cascading destruction they can cause.
Besides being the major antioxidant
that you produce as protection from "free-radicals," glutathione
is also a very important detoxifying agent, enabling you to get
rid of undesirable toxins and pollutants. If you were a liver, kidney
or lung cell, you would contain high levels of glutathione, as you'd
be exposed to the greatest levels of toxins.
Glutathione also helps you dispose
of many cancer- producing chemicals, heavy metals, drug metabolites
etc. that invade the pristine recesses of your cellular world. And
Mother Nature (the first recycler) also designed you to use glutathione
to recycle other well-known antioxidants such as vitamin C and vitamin
E, keeping them in their active state.
If you were a cell delegated to the
immune system department, you would require glutathione for many
of the intricate steps needed to carry out your essential immune
response functions - such as multiplying to make many clones of
yourself, to mount a full-bodied immune response, or "neutralizing"
undesirable elements of the cellular community, like cancerous or
virally infected cells.
But your finicky cell membrane does
not allow whole glutathione molecules to cross over directly into
your cellular spaces. And every time a molecule of glutathione neutralizes
a destructive free-radical or toxin, it fatally binds with the undesirable
element and is washed out with them in the bile or the urine.
So how do you replenish your stores
and get your daily fix of glutathione? Simple. You manufacture it
in your cellular factory, from its raw materials - glycine, glutamate
and cysteine.
If your human eats a diet high in fresh
fruits and vegetables and freshly prepared meats, you should get
be getting enough glutamate and glycine. But cystine comes mostly
from eggs, milk and cheese. And when eggs, milk and cheese are cooked
or processed, the composition of Cystine is changed to Cysteine
(small difference in spelling, but BIG difference in action). While
still a valuable protein, it can no longer feed your glutathione
levels.
If you can get a sufficient supply
of cysteine (which determines the rate at which you can make glutathione),
your arsenal is well- stocked. If not, you and your human are at
a strategic disadvantage in the battle of "Cell v/s Free-radical
Destroyers."
As a normal, healthy cell, increasing
your glutathione levels could help you and your human maintain that
strategic advantage in the battle against free-radicals. If you're
not really in your prime, boosting your levels could tip the scales
in your favor, and help you fight the cellular damage that causes
disease and aging.
About the author:
Priya Shah is the Editor of The
Glutathione Report, a newsletter featuring regular updates on
the health benefits of glutathione. Get a Free
report on Glutathione in Health and Disease
Glutathione is a powerful lung and liver antioxidant
that the body needs to detoxify the toxins in cigarette smoke. The
anti-cancer effect of glutathione is well documented in the medical
literature, but their exact mechanism of action is not clear. Read
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and in Cancer
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