Aging,

ging, Cysteine, and Glutathione

When it comes to health there are many aspect that an individual can look at in theie own life and say,

“I need to concentrate on my diet,” or “I should concentrate on exercise.” Some people go as far as

adding supplements to their daily routine to reverse or prevent the quick onset of disease and aging.

When you look at life and death, and aging, it all breaks down to the health of every individual cell in

every living thing, the

e quicker cells die, the quicker the host body dies. Every cell is very fragile. Every cell

has a purpose. Every cell has the potential to die or become cancerous
cancerous, or not.. Trees, plants, slugs and

humans, alike depend on a proper combination of water and n

nutrients
utrients to maintain strong cellular

function, and defense.

come weak and breakdown and die, and w

Then why is it that some cells become why
hy doesn’t the body naturally

fix itself?

Research on diet and the immune system have been conducted to reveal that there iiss in fact a defense

mechanism in every cell and it is called intra-cellular Glutathione (GSH), a small protein, which is the

quantitatively most important antioxidant in cells and tissue

tissue. Antioxidants are nutrients in our foods which

can prevent or slowdown the oxidative damage done to our body. When our cells use oxygen, they

produce free radicals that can cause damage to the cell.. Antioxidants act as "free radical scavengers" like

vitamin C for instance, and prevent and repair damage done by these free radicals. In today’s lifestyle
lif

with exposure to toxins constantly and improper nutritional habits, the question is often asked, if this is

true, do we have enough glutathione in the bo

body to defend each cell properly? The answer is no.
Without proper levels of Glutathione within a cell, apoptosis (cell death) occurs. “Intracellular

glutathione depletion is an indicative cause of apoptosis.”

The term "first cause of death" describes a process that is believed to limit the maximum life span of

animals and humans.

People are depleting the bodies minimal amount of glutathione on a regular basis by smoking or

breathing in toxins at work or home, even fumes from cars on the highway deplete glutathione. We

deplete glutathione by being in the sun and exposure to UV rays. Even drinking alcohol and coffee cause

depletion of glutathione in the body. If you were to take Tylenol or acetaminophen you are destroying

glutathione in the liver and causing more harm than good, by depleting the most important antioxidant,

and detoxifier in the liver. Taking any drugs or even exercising vigorously will deplete glutathione.

Many research studies have been conducted in regards to the functions and importance of glutathione in

the body, and the role it plays in almost every disease known to man. There have been thousands of

studies regarding glutathione and causes of aging, thousands have been written that are based on

nutrition and exercise, and tens of thousands that are chronic disease related. There are over 89,000

citations in toll about glutathione at PubMed.

Glutathione is the major antioxidant produced by the cell, protecting it from free radicals, it is a very

important detoxifying agent, making it possible for the body to get rid of toxins and pollutants plus it

plays a crucial role in maintaining a balance between the processes of oxidation and anti-oxidation.

Glutathione is required in many of the detailed steps required to carry out an immune reaction or

response. For example, it is needed for lymphocytes to increase to develop a strong immune response,

and for ‘killer’ lymphocytes to be able to kill bad cells such as cancer cells or cells infected with a virus.

Lymphocytes are (T cells or B cells) the B cells make antibodies that attack bacteria and toxins while the

T cells attack cells when they have been taken over by viruses or have become cancerous.
Glutathione has become the newest household word in disease prevention, and longevity.

The wonders of glutathione are almost endless but there is one limiting factor in maintaining glutathione

levels in the body, and the healthy life style we all deserve, and that is cysteine, it is a non-essential

amino acid, which means that it is biosynthesized in humans, for example, biosynthesis of proteins,

amino acids or fatty acids).

The availability of glutathione is minimal in the Western diet; so it needs to be biosynthesized from the

amino acids, cysteine, glycine and glutamic acid. The cysteine is limited in the foods we eat; therefore,

glutathione is limited for overall cellular protection.

Dr. Wulf Droge says,

“In several clinical trials, cysteine supplementation improved skeletal muscle functions, decreased the

body fat/lean body mass ratio, decreased plasma levels of the inflammatory cytokine tumour necrosis

factor α (TNF-α), improved immune functions, and increased plasma albumin levels. As all these

parameters degenerate with age, these findings suggest: (i) that loss of youth, health and quality of life

may be partly explained by a deficit in cysteine and (ii) that the dietary consumption of cysteine is

generally suboptimal and everybody is likely to have a cysteine deficiency sooner or later.”

Resources:

Oxidative stress and ageing: is ageing a cysteine deficiency syndrome?

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1569588

2000 Jul 28;112(14):610-6. Therapeutic potential of glutathione. Exner R, Wessner B, Manhart N, Roth E.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11008322

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Search&db=PubMed&term=Glutathione

http://bit.ly/undiscovered-natural-drug

http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/ac/00/slides/3652s1_05/sld001.htm

Randy Grover