Glutathione: A Superhero for Brain Health

There's a delicate balance between reactive oxygen species and antioxidants in the brain where one wants to tip the scale toward ample amounts of the latter. Glutathione (GSH) is the mother antioxidant in the body and responsible for removing those unwanted, pesky environmental chemicals that plague us, but is also instrumental at buffering free-radicals in the brain. It's depleted in mild cognitive impairment an even Alzheimer's Disease. [R] Within the central nervous system, it seems Astrocytes play a key role in releasing substantial amounts of GSH and helping preserve neurons by modulating disturbed GSH pathways. [R] The science is clear that antioxidant depletion precedes oxidative stress and glutathione is the answer.

Glutathione

In helping increase and restore healthy glutathione levels in the body and brain, glutathione can be consumed in food, recycled through dietary and supplement precursors or given directly by intravenous and intramuscular injection, patches, topical creams, suppository and taken by mouth. There's also different forms of glutathione with L-glutathione being the most popular, but also the cheapest and least bioavailable. Another form is acetylated glutathione that has an acetyl group attached to glutathione and is better absorbed. It's best however, to get glutathione in a liposomal delivery in which the liposome protects the glutathione molecule as it transports down the digestive tract and bypasses unaffected through the stomach and bile acids.

Glutathione Foods:

Sulfur-based foods like garlic and onions help increase this molecule while foods rich in selenium also help, like brazil nuts, organ meats, beef, chicken, turkey, and eggs. Salmon tends to increase glutathione synthesis and anything with sulforaphane may help too. Examples include foods of the brassica family such as broccoli, cauliflower, spinach and kale. (R) Other foods may include avocado, asparagus, and cucumber because of the sulfur amino acids.

Glutathione Recycling:

There's many precursors that help with glutathione synthesis in the body and brain. Dietary supplement strategies to enhance this process may include milk thistle, selenium, glutamine, whey protein, alpha lipoic acid, NAC (my favorite), and gota kola. There's also some good research with Rosemary, as it's been seen to increase glutathione levels 4.5 fold. (R)

The Best Glutathione Supplement:

Well, it depends. I tend to favor an oral, liposomal delivery of glutathione, which I feel is highly bioavailable and effective. There's different ones on the market, but I lean toward a product by Apex Energetics called Trizomal Glutathione. It's a liposome solution with acetylated glutathione and tastes great. It also has some NAC in there, too. If you're looking for a cream delivery, then either a transdermal cream by Apex called Oxycell, or one by Neurobiologix (glutathione topical) are good options. It's best to start low and go slow since increasing glutathione may mobilize heavy metals and create rapid detoxification where symptoms such as fatigue and headaches can arise. If using patches, patchMD has one that's easily available and seems to work well for most patients and especially kids. If choosing between supplements and looking to tame brain inflammation, it may be best to discuss with our provider at Trivita Health Center.