How Glutathione, Superoxide Mutase (SOD) and Catalase influence your body's well-being on a cellular level.
Glutathione
By Dave Carpenter, N.D., C. Ac.
In my opinion, glutathione stands head-and-shoulders
above all of the other antioxidants. I think of it as the body’s “master
antioxidant!” Glutathione is fundamental to a wide range of metabolic and
regulatory functions throughout the body. Glutathione is a tripeptide created in
the body from the amino acids glutamine, cysteine and glycine.
It is not only the body’s most important antioxidant
but it is known to be one of the best detoxifiers in the body. Most health
experts know that healthy levels of glutathione strengthen the body against
heavy metal toxins. Glutathione is used to treat lead, mercury, arsenic and
cadmium poisoning.
In today’s world it is very easy to become depleted in
glutathione. Exposure to sunlight, environmental toxins and pollutants,
household chemicals, pharmaceutical drug use, recreational drug use, heavy
metals, surgery, inflammation, burns, viral or bacterial infections, and
intense physical exercise can all diminish the body’s glutathione reserves. And
of course aging has an effect on these levels as well.
From my research I’ve learned that a deficiency in
glutathione has been linked to a number of diseases including anemia,
neuropathy, HIV/AIDS, cirrhosis, hepatitis, COPD, asthma, Crohn’s Disease, gastritis, duodenal ulcer, pancreatitis, heart
attack, coronary artery disease, stroke, diabetes, neurodegenerative diseases
like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, cystic fibrosis, cancer, seizure disorders
and autism. It protects the skin, the lens of the eyes and the retina from
radiation from the sun and is the best detoxifier the body has in its arsenal.
In fact, autism researchers have found that 100% of
the kids studied had “unusually low concentration of the antioxidant
glutathione in their cells” while none of the normal kids showed this problem. Jill
James, director of biochemical genetics at Arkansas Children’s Hospital, notes
that “This pattern is consistent with an inability to detoxify poisons,
especially heavy metals, such as mercury or lead. That’s because glutathione
normally binds to heavy metals and the body then targets the molecular complex
for elimination.”
