What is Glutathione and what is its function?
Our body needs various physiological and biochemical mechanisms to protect its health. In accordance, the chemicals and enzymes produced by the cells remove the dangerous substances by metabolising them. During the usage of oxygen by the cells and production of energy for the body, the output of oxygen radicals must be eliminated. In this process glutathione plays an important role.
What is glutathione?
Glutathione is a protein which is produced by the cells in our body, it is made of three amino acids and plays a key role in important biochemical mechanisms. Made of a combination of glycine, cysteine and glutamate amino acids, glutathione is tasked with the removal of various harmful substances by neutralizing them using the special chemical bonds in its structure.
Under normal circumstances, every single cell that makes the body produces energy from nutrients obtained from nutrition in order to keep living. An important part of our cells carry out the energy production process by metabolizing the nutrients using the oxygen obtained from respiration. This way a large energy output is gained, however as a by-product of this process, it is possible that some harmful molecules called reactive oxygen radicals are formed.
Reactive oxygen radicals are substances that are chemically quite active and have a role in the devlopement process of a lot of diseases from cancer to rheumatological diseases by disrupting the structure of other chemical substances in the body. For this reason, our cells have developed various defense mechanisms in order to neutralize reactive oxygen radicals. Some enzymes remove reactive oxygen radicals by metabolizing them, other molecules bond with radicals and neutralize their harmful effects and remove them from the body. Thus, aforementioned molecules take on a protective role against possible damage to tissues done by radicals and related diseases. All of these molecules used to neutralize the oxygen radicals are called antioxidants.
What is Glutathione's function?
Glutathione molecule is one of the primary antioxidants which neutralizes the harmful effects in the tissue level and removes the radicals from the body by bonding with them through the cysteine amino acid in its structure. Again, with a similar mechanism, glutathione, by metabolizing reactive oxygen radicals, helps removed enzymes to regenerate and makes it easier for them to fight more actively. In this regard, glutathione molecule takes on rather important duties to keep the body healthy. Research show that glutathione is effective in treating possible health concerns caused by reactive oxygen molecules damaging the tissue level.
Some diseases caused by reactive oxygen radicals are as follows:
Cardiovascular diseases such as cardiac arrest, arteriosclerosis
High cholesterol
Articular rheumatism
Infectious diseases
Cancer
Alzheimer’s disease
Parkinson’s disease
Diabetes
Osteoarthritis
Cataract
Asthma
Liver diseases such as hepatitis
How to increase the Glutathione supply?
Because glutathione is made from the amino acids in its structure, it can be produced by consuming sufficient amounts of amino acids in daily nutrition. In this regard, taking nutrients rich in amino acids that make up the structures of the substances which are effective in fighting reactive oxygen radicals, can be helpful in increasing the quantity of glutathione. In accordance, broccoli, cauliflower, garlic, onion, eggs, hazelnuts, fish and chicken are nutrients that help the production of glutathione.
