What is Liposomal Glutathione?
|Thousands of research articles now exist on the benefits of glutathione for your body. It’s your primary antioxidant, crucial to health and depleted levels are highly correlated to degenerative disease.
Benefits of Optimizing Your Glutathione Levels
Because GSH molecules are used throughout every cell of your body they create the potential to improve multi-system health, from head to toes you will be increasing your cellular health, meaning you improve organ health, system health, and total health.
- May help improve short-term brain function, long term memory, and protect from cognitive decline
- Binds and removes toxins in tissues throughout your body (Acetaminophen depletes mGSH and glutathione is used to ameliorate liver damage from acetaminophen)
- Acting as an anti inflammatory, and oxidative stress reliever glutathione has potential to improve digestion, symptoms of leaky gut and gluten intolerance, and allow your gut to do it’s job of filtering and protecting your health.
- Mercury, cadmium, and arsenic are all damaging metals when built up int he body. Glutathione can help protect your cells from their damage plus bind to the metals and remove them from your body.
- The liver benefits of glutathione are tremendous as it is your body’s primary filter and a powerhouse of enzyme reactions. Alcohol damage, viral hepatitis, toxins like acetaminophen can all deplete GSH levels and damage relieved by glutathione.
- You can even help prevent the influenza virus or THE FLU with glutathione!
How To Supplement Glutathione
Traditionally glutathione has been supplemented in medicine via direct intravenous application. These GSH therapies still go on and have therapeutic benefits, but are obviously inconvenient and expensive.
The next alternative was to supplement GSH precursors. A high quality whey protein is by far the easiest and best food based alternative. N-Acetyl-L-Cysteine or NAC is the most common clinical precursor used for a quick boost to GSH levels to help relieve acute acetaminophen toxicity in the liver.
Oral glutathione supplements were originally known to have absorb-ability issues due to the GSH molecule breaking down in the gut before it ever reaches your blood stream and can provide your molecules any benefit. Though there is now evidence using new measuring mechanisms that suggest even strait L-glutathione supplements absorb better than we ever realized. Absorbing fast through the gut and oxidizing as they pass.
There are also two other forms available that have been developed with the intent of increasing absorption and efficacy. Acetyl-glutathione uses an acetyl group with the intent of protecting the molecule through the gut and enhancing it’s absorption through even the blood brain barrier.
Liposomal glutathione on the other hand wraps the GSH molecule in a lipid or fat so that it can be absorbed safely through the gut and reach the blood stream in tact.
What’s a Liposome?
Acting as a microscopic carrier vehicle liposomes create an artificial “cell membrane” of lipids. This is based on natural cell membranes created by double layers of phospholipids
The head of each phospholipid is drawn to water, while the tail is repelled by it, These phosolipids can create natural cell walls by arranging themselves in a two layered sphere around a cell the heads facing outwards the tails connecting to each other and then the inner lipid ‘heads’ holding the glutathione molecule.
In fact liposomes have been used to transfer vaccines, medications, even transfer of DNA to targeted cells.
Does Liposomal Glutathione Work?
As discussed, there are numerous potential health benefits to optimizing glutathione levels. It’s anti-aging benefits alone may not be EXACTLY a fountain of youth, but might keep you healthier longer and into older age.
The double walled lipid structure that surrounds the GSH molecule should protect it while travelling through the stomach and allow it to be absorbed through the epithelial tissues.
Presently we believe that liposomal glutathione, and acetyl glutathione are the two most sure-fire oral GSH supplements available on the market.
So… YES Liposomal Glutathione should safely and effectively raise your GSH levels.
Both should effectively absorb through the stomach and are well positioned for delivery through cells. Acetylation is common in pharmacy and is known for improving absorption into the brain specifically, so acetyl-glutathione may have an edge in that particular department.
Either type of glutathione you choose, acetyl or liposomal, you should FEEL the difference to your health.
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-liposomes.htm
Salgia AD, 1999, When acetaminophen use becomes toxic. Treating acute accidental and intentional overdose. – http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10223088
Paterson PG, 1999, Nutritional regulation of glutathione in stroke. – http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12835106
Woltijer RL, 2005, Role of glutathione in intracellular amyloid-alpha precursor protein/carboxy-terminal fragement aggregation and associated cytotoxicity – http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15857408
Vina J, 2004, Molecular bases of the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease with antioxidants: prevention of oxidative stress. – http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15051321
Iantomasi T, 1994, Glutathione metabolism in Crohn’s disease. – http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7710773
Cai J, 2003, Inhibition of influenza infection by glutathione. – http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12654482
Carlo MD Jr, 2003, Increased oxidative stress with aging reduces chondryocyte survival: correlation with intracellular glutathione levels – http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14673993
Lauver DA, 2013, Oral pretreatment with liposomal glutathione attenuates reperfusion injury in rabbit isolated hearts – http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23188132
Watch This Spot for Liposomal Glutathione Reviews
We will be reviewing the current market for the best Liposomal glutathione brands available, and will be sure to list and link them here.
Please share any experiences you’ve had with Liposomal Glutathione in the comments below!