Who wouldn't like to get their hands on a naturally occurring substance that acts as an antioxidant, an immune system booster, and a detoxifier? Something that can help your body repair damage caused by stress, pollution, radiation, infection, drugs, poor diet, aging, injury, trauma, and burns?
Antioxidants -- the most well known of which are vitamins C and E -- are important for good health because they neutralize free radicals, which can build up in cells and cause damage. Because glutathione exists within the cells, it is in a prime position to neutralize free radicals. It also has potentially widespread health benefits because it can be found in all types of cells, including the cells of the immune system, whose job is to fight disease.
Glutathione occurs naturally in many foods, and people who eat well probably have enough in their diets, says Dean Jones, PhD, professor of biochemistry and director of nutritional health sciences at Emory University in Atlanta. Those with diets high in fresh fruits and vegetables and freshly prepared meats are most likely just fine. On the other hand, those with poor diets may get too little.
What Does Glutathione Do?
The strong antioxidant effect of glutathione helps keep cells running smoothly. Bounous and another glutathione expert, Jeremy Appleton, ND, say it also helps the liver remove chemicals that are foreign to the body, such as drugs and pollutants.

Appleton is chairman of the department of nutrition at the National College of Naturopathic Medicine in Portland, Ore., and senior science editor for Healthnotes, a database on complementary and alternative medicine available at newspaper stands and health food stores.
Evidence for the important role that glutathione plays in health comes from studies in people who are severely ill.
"If you look in a hospital situation at people who have cancer, AIDS, or other very serious disease, almost invariably they are depleted in glutathione," says Appleton. "The reasons for this are not completely understood, but we do know that glutathione is extremely important for maintaining intracellular health."
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Increasing intracellular levels of glutathione is critical with drug withdrawal and it is vitally important that any supplement not cause a drug/supplement interaction.
How to Make Glutathione Naturally Within the Body
There are several ways a body can manufacture glutathione. It is true it takes 3 amino acids for the body to manufacture glutathione but our bodies can take food, turn the foods into the substance to manufacture the 3 needed amino acids needed to manufacture glutathione. This is also the natural method for a body to create glutathione.
As an example, asparagus and watermelon will make glutathione.
With all of the breaking news regarding glutathione as an antioxidant as well as part of the reason for the development of autism, many supplements are suddenly jumping on the glutathione bandwagon.

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