Glutathione, The “Master” Antioxidant
NOV 4, 2024 • Written by Dr. Hannah Webb, ND
In a naturopathic office there is never a treatment protocol we repeat twice – this is individualized medicine. And, there are some tools we use ALL the time. Glutathione is one of my top strategies. It is highly effective for many different uses. Glutathione is useful not only for treatment of specific conditions but is very popular in the world of "anti-aging or longevity medicine. I thought I would share why I love it so much.
Glutathione is an antioxidant that is used by the body to repair inflammation or oxidative damage. We all have a certain amount of oxidative stress, as a result of stress, smoking, alcohol consumption, pollution, pesticides, and other toxic exposures, processed foods, and more. This contributes to aging as well as many different chronic diseases. Normally glutathione is made by the body, in the liver, and then gets distributed throughout all of your tissues, the brain and eyes and lungs and so on, all to help repair damage.
However, glutathione gets depleted when it is used up, so we can add more to the system for a particular therapeutic benefit. For example, we know that one of the things that makes COVID-19 unique is how inflammatory it is. We know it depletes glutathione in the lungs, because your body is using up glutathione as part of the process or attempt to repair. We can then administer glutathione via inhalation directly to the lungs to speed up this process. Glutathione is also one of the most useful interventions I have found for patients with Long COVID.
In addition, inhaled glutathione can be useful for chronic bronchitis, COPD, or other inflammatory lung conditions. And this is just a few examples from one specific part of the body. It can be administered in other ways to other parts of the body as part of a protocol for many different conditions where we are looking to reduce inflammation or improve tissue repair.
Glutathione is also essential as part of your detoxification pathways in the liver. Your liver is your primary detox organ that helps your body get rid of environmental toxins and pollutants of all kinds. To give you an idea, glutathione and NAC (one of it’s precursors that helps the body make more glutathione) are used as a treatment and essential lifeline for tylenol overdose, Tylenol being toxic to the liver. Prompt medical intervention can even be lifesaving. Point being this is a significant medicine. But in our clinic, we use glutathione primarily for different types of toxic exposures including folks who have been living with toxic mold, heavy metal toxicity, people who have regular workplace toxic exposures, or who have been exposed other pollutants affecting health.
Glutathione can NOT be taken in a capsule – it is not shelf stable. There are a variety of ways around this however, including some specific forms or precursors to help your body make more. In our office we offer inhaled glutathione, IV glutathione, and liposomal forms.
Glutathione does have some side effects and there are a small number of conditions or sensitivities where glutathione may not be safe or appropriate for you. Talk to your doctor about whether this is right for you!