Glutathione is one of the most important compounds that is produced by every cell in your body.

It’s an extremely powerful antioxidant whose health benefits are too numerous to count. Doctors had been giving it to their patients to relieve a host of ailments, ranging from liver disease to cancer, when they noticed that it was also making their patients’ skin lighter and more radiant.

Glutathione is now at the forefront of skin-lightening aesthetics due to its virtually non-existent risk of side effects and astonishingly natural results.

Beauty benefits

Skin brightening is one of the amazing benefits of using this super antioxidant. Glutathione skin brightening works by interrupting melanin synthesis. Melanin is the substance that gives the skin its colour, so it follows that by preventing melanin from developing, glutathione brings the skin back to its purest, fairest tone.

It is often said that one’s health is reflected in the condition of his or her skin, and that is notably true when it comes to this method of skin brightening.

Glutathione benefits the skin by boosting overall health. Since it is an antioxidant, it neutralises and eliminates the free radicals that damage the skin at the cellular level to cause ageing and discolouration.

Besides the cosmetic benefits of taking glutathione, there are other health benefits.

Health benefits

Taking glutathione helps to treat cataracts and glaucoma; slows down the ageing process; treats or prevents alcoholism, asthma, cancer, heart disease, hepatitis, liver disease, diseases that weaken the body’s defence system such as AIDS and chronic fatigue syndrome, memory loss, Alzheimer’s disease, osteoarthritis, and Parkinson’s disease.

Glutathione is also used for maintaining the body’s immune system and fighting metal and drug poisoning. it is also used for preventing poisonous side effects of cancer treatment from chemotherapy and for treating male infertility.

Glutathione is also good in preventing anaemia in kidney patients undergoing haemodialysis treatment, preventing kidney problems after heart bypass surgery, improving blood flow, and decreasing clotting in individuals with “hardening of the arteries”— atherosclerosis.

How is it taken?

While many foods are excellent sources of glutathione, including asparagus, avocados, squash, cauliflower, broccoli, potatoes, spinach, tomatoes, and walnuts, many Americans don’t regularly include these foods in their diets.

As a result, glutathione deficiency is quite common. It’s smart to consider a glutathione supplement. Look for a supplement that provides a 1000mg daily dose of reduced glutathione. You can bolster your glutathione levels even more by including glutathione-rich foods in your diet and with glutathione precursors like n-acetyl-cysteine, selenium, and alpha lipoic acid.

Health care providers give glutathione as a shot by injection into the muscle as well as intravenously for full absorption of this important molecule. Glutathione is not fully absorbed well by the body when taken via oral supplementation. Direct injection is the preferred method for expedited results.

Michelle Vernon is a phlebotomist medical aesthetician who operates the Body Studio Skincare, located at 20 Constant Spring Road, Mall Plaza, Kingston 10, and Fairview Shopping Centre, Montego Bay. She may be reached at telephone 908-0438 or 684-9800; IG @ bodystudioskincare; E-mail: bodystudioskincare@gmail.com; Website:www.bodystudioskincare.com