What this covers
Glutathione deficiency is a common feature that complicates infections. We review new research linking suboptimal glutathione levels with increased disease severity and discuss how glutathione is related to vitamin D status as well as ways to support glutathione levels from a nutrition and lifestyle standpoint.
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-----------------------------------------Show Notes--------------------------------------
0:00 Intro 0:06 Vitamin D and Glutathione levels appear to be related 0:42 Diseases linked with low glutathione levels 1:43 Glutathione is found in high concentrations in the liver 3:04 Mitochondria health depends on glutathione status 3:31 Exercise and Glutathione: very important for mitochondrial health 4:50 Fatty liver, mitochondrial dysfunction and glutathione 5:34 Fascinating paper about glutathione and Vitamin D you should read 6:00 This image tells the story quite well 8:00 Please share this video if you’re digging it 8:46 New Electrolyte pre-sale 11:03 Glutathione and The C*19 virus 12:14 Low Glutathione even in young people who get infected 14:47 Glutathione impacts vitamin D binding and metabolism 17:42 Glutathione Testing: GGT and liver enzymes 18:33 GGT is a marker of environmental chemical exposure 19:46 Cysteine rich foods that can increase glutathione levels
Source description (no synthesized summary yet).
Glutathione deficiency, driven by inadequate dietary cysteine intake and poor lifestyle habits, is a critical risk factor for severe disease outcomes, including COVID-19 severity, and can be assessed and improved through diet, exercise, and targeted supplementation timed to circadian rhythms.
- Low glutathione levels predict disease severity across multiple conditions including COVID-19, and young people with metabolic dysfunction show unexpectedly low glutathione despite age
- Glutathione deficiency correlates with low vitamin D levels and impaired vitamin D metabolism, suggesting an interconnected regulatory pathway
- GGT (gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase) serves as an inexpensive biomarker for oxidative stress, glutathione status, and heavy metal/pollutant burden, enabling personalized risk assessment
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A study on glutathione levels in COVID-19 patients found that young individuals aged 21-40 who are hospitalized with COVID-19 have particularly low glutathione levels compared to healthy controls, which was unexpected since low glutathione is typically associated with aging
“here's levels of glutathione for healthy controls compared to people who are hospitalized with cova-19 as you can see on the x-axis this is organized into age groups now what i want to point out here is you have subjects that are hospitalized for covered between the ages of 21 and 40. so what you see here in the red is pretty low levels of glutathione for individuals who are hospitalized again with uh compared to controls who are not hospitalized”
Glutathione levels increase and the immune system is more active during the evening and early morning hours (1-2 AM during sleep), so if supplementing with acetyl cysteine, the optimal timing is right before bed in the evening to align with circadian immune rhythms
“glutathione levels tend to increase uh and your your immune system in general is more active in the evening time in in early parts in the morning like one two in the morning when you're sleeping so i suggest if you take an cysteine supplements take them in right before you go to bed in the evening time okay”
Cysteine is the rate-limiting amino acid in synthesizing glutathione levels, meaning dietary cysteine availability primarily determines the body's capacity to manufacture glutathione
“those three amino acids particularly cysteine are rate limiting in synthesizing the levels and creating and manufacturing this glutathione tripeptide”
There are no randomized placebo-controlled trials to date examining SARS-CoV-2 infection outcomes with N-acetyl cysteine or glycine interventions, though some research shows that HIV-positive individuals given an acetyl cysteine and glycine combination experience improvements in disease sequelae
“we don't yet have any uh randomized placebo-controlled studies to the best of my knowledge with sars kovi 2 and nac or glycine interventions however there is some interesting data showing that in people who are hiv positive when they are given an acetyl-cysteine glycine combination it seems to improve some of their you know under the disease sequila or process in their body”
When glutathione levels are not optimal, there can be irreversible cellular damage, and low glutathione is characteristic of multiple diseases including cancer, cystic fibrosis, heart disease, inflammatory conditions, autoimmune challenges, diabetes, and neurodegenerative diseases
“when glutathione levels are not optimal there can be irreversible cellular damage we're going to talk specifically about respiratory distress syndrome and some of the challenges linked with covid but we know that all sorts of different diseases including cancer diseases of aging we know that cystic fibrosis we know that heart disease we know inflammatory issues autoimmune challenges diabetes and neurodegenerative diseases are characterized by low glutathione levels”
Exercise and fasting are effective strategies to prime mitochondria and induce mitophagy, a process of autophagy that clears dysfunctional mitochondria, and sedentary individuals without regular weight training or high-intensity interval training tend to have mitochondrial insufficiency
“exercise is a great way along with fasting to prime your mitochondria to give your mitochondria you know to cause this mitophagy or this process of autophagy that is specific for clearing dysfunctional deranged mitochondria so individuals who are sedentary individuals who don't walk individuals who don't lift weights individuals who don't do high intensity interval training periodically tend to have mitochondrial insufficiency”
Older people over age 65 may have suboptimal glutathione levels partly because they digest meat less efficiently, often take proton pump inhibitors (acid suppressants) that impair protein absorption, and are unable to assimilate and absorb the protein they consume
“that part that in part may be why individuals over the age of 65 have some optimal of levels of glutathione because a lot of people as they get older they don't you know sometimes they don't digest meat as well they're on a proton pump inhibitor or an acid suppressant and so they're unable to assimilate and absorb some of the protein they eat so that can play into this whole glutathione insufficiency syndrome”
Young individuals who have underlying cardiometabolic risk factors like pre-diabetes, diabetes, high blood pressure, or obesity, or who consume high levels of junk food, are statistically more likely to have low glutathione levels and therefore run higher risk of severe COVID-19 when exposed to SARS-CoV-2
“it seems that individuals who have underlying health conditions or risk factors i.e pre-diabetes diabetes high blood pressure obesity they're overweight things like that or if people eat junk food they're going to have most likely or they're going to be statistically you know higher odds of having low glutathione levels and therefore might run into challenges when they are exposed to a highly transmissible respiratory virus like sars cove too”
A study titled 'Glutathione stimulates vitamin D regulatory and glucose metabolism genes and lowers oxidative stress' demonstrates the regulatory role of glutathione in vitamin D metabolism gene expression
“this paper here glutathione stimulates vitamin d regulatory and glucose metabolism genes and lowers oxidative stress that's one particular study”
N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) and glycine are affordable, accessible supplements derived from two of the three amino acids comprising glutathione, making them practical intervention options for individuals unable to obtain sufficient cysteine and glycine through diet
“this is really exciting stuff especially because this is really affordable my friends buying an acetyl cysteine and glycine really affordable as is buying vitamin d and we can assess these and personalize and custom tailor risk”
Personalization and custom-tailoring of glutathione and vitamin D optimization based on individual assessment (GGT, vitamin D levels, dietary intake) can be used to reduce disease risk across multiple conditions
“we can assess these and personalize and custom tailor risk”
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) are indicators of glutathione deficiency, resulting from mitochondrial dysfunction in the liver combined with fat buildup.
“the mitochondria in your liver can become dysfunctional and that is associated with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and what happens in that situation is the liver enzymes increase so that is indicative of fat buildup but also mitochondrial dysfunction within the liver so nash is another disease non-alcoholic steno hepatitis that i didn't mention that i did not mention in that aforementioned diseases heart disease obesity and so forth that's also an indicator for glutathione need”
F2-isoprostanes are a biomarker of lipid peroxidation used to assess oxidative stress, and overweight people infected with SARS-CoV-2 show increased oxidative stress as measured by F2-isoprostane levels, consistent with glutathione depletion driving disease severity.
“they also have high levels of oxidative stress as per f2 isoprostanes so f2 isoprostanes are a way to look at lipid peroxidation we've reviewed several studies over the years that have looked at particularly overweight people when they get infected with stars kobe 2 their levels of oxidative stress increase”
GGT (gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase) is a liver enzyme that indirectly reflects glutathione status, and most doctors do not routinely order this test despite its importance as a biomarker for oxidative stress, free radical disease, and low glutathione levels
“we're going to talk throughout this conversation about the importance of liver enzymes as an assessment tool to look indirectly at glutathione status particularly ggt gamma glutamine transpeptidase this is a liver enzyme that i've seen so many clients their doctors don't don't order it they look at ast and or that's it sometimes they look at alt but they often ignore ggt”
Glutathione is the most abundant thiol or sulfur compound present inside cells, with the liver containing one of the highest concentrations of this tripeptide comprised of three amino acids: cysteine, glycine, and glutamine
“glutathione is the most abundant thiol or surf sulfur compound present with inside your cells the liver it turns out is one of the tissues with the highest concentration of this tripeptide that is comprised of three amino acids cysteine we have glycine and we have glutamine”
The study 'Endogenous deficiency of glutathione as the most likely cause of serious manifestations and death in COVID-19 patients' (May 2020) received approximately 50+ citations and demonstrated that severe glutathione deficiency is associated with severe COVID-19 manifestations
“here's a paper from may of 2020. this title here is endogenous deficiency of glutathione as the most likely cause of serious manifestations and death in cova 19 patients now this paper got cited i think 50 some odd times since this this paper was published”
A research paper titled 'Can vitamin D and L-cysteine co-supplementation reduce vitamin D deficiency and the mortality associated with COVID-19 in African-American individuals' examines whether simultaneous optimization of both nutrients reduces COVID-19 mortality.
“there's another uh study here titled can vitamin d and l-cysteine co-supplementation reduce uh vitamin d deficiency and the mortality associated with the covenanting in african-american individuals”
Dietary sources of cysteine and sulfur include meat (containing methionine and cysteine), eggs, raw milk whey protein, garlic, onions, brassicas (cruciferous vegetables), and mushrooms, with animal sources providing higher bioavailable cysteine than plant sources.
“we have meat i know you're vegan and vegetarian are going to get upset with me but just this is what the data shows okay this is what the science clearly shows meat contains methionine and cysteine that is the rate limiting amino acid that goes on to make glutathione right we have eggs okay so if so if you can eat eggs that would be great we have whey protein so we know raw milk whey protein are rich in sulfur we know that garlic onions we know that the brassica so if you're vegan vegetarian you can't have meat raw milk or eggs or liver you know those are all rich in cysteine okay fine you gotta have a lot of brassica i think mushrooms have a little bit of sulfur in them you gotta have garlic and onions”
GGT (gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase) is not only an indicator of oxidative stress and low glutathione levels, but also serves as an indicator of heavy metal burden and persistent organic pollutant burden, including exposure to bisphenol A (BPA), phthalates, organotoxins, dioxins, and perfluorocompounds
“it is an indicator my friends of heavy metal and persistent organic pollutant burden okay so that's why i measure this in clients to see to ascertain hey what potentially are your is your exposure to bisphenol a to phthalates to organotoxins to dioxins to persistent fluorocompounds and perfluorocompounds so all of these different compounds as you're seeing on these images here affect fat formation affect body weight affect insulin levels and they deplete glutathione levels”
The speaker's sister company offers a novel electrolyte solution featuring albion chelated minerals (potassium, calcium, magnesium), ancient Redmond sea salt, taurine (a sulfur-containing amino acid), and creatine, with availability starting January 24th and promotional pricing available through myoscience.com
“our sister company we've been working hard behind the scenes to create one of the most novel unique at-home electrolyte solutions that's commercially available you see when you buy electrolytes off amazon or you go to health food store and you buy electrolytes oftentimes what you're paying for you're paying top dollar for usp sodium that's often imported from china you're getting non-chelated minerals you're getting magnesium oxide or you know really just not ideal forms of minerals and so what we decided to do is create an electrolyte solution that features albion chelated minerals potassium calcium you get your magnesium in there and you also get ancient real redmond sea salt paired with taurine which is also by the way a sulfur containing amino acid it has relevance to this conversation and creatine”
Men tend to have lower glutathione levels compared to women, likely because men are generally less vigilant about sleep, diet, and exercise, and are more likely to engage in behaviors like drinking beer, eating pizza, not exercising, and smoking
“men tend to have lower levels of glutathione compared to women now that's probably because honestly men generally don't take care of themselves as well as women do women are more uh sort of vigilant about their sleep and the foods that they eat and the exercises that they do men are more likely and i know this is sort of stereotyping but you know drinking beer eating pizza and not exercising and smoking things like that”
Measurement of vitamin D levels should be obtained through healthcare practitioners or at-home blood spot tests from sister company myosins, which are described as affordable diagnostic tools
“i suggest measuring your your body levels of vitamin d you can go to your go to your doctor you can also uh our sister company myosins we have a blood spot at home test it's really affordable you can take that just see where your vitamin d levels are”
GGT (gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase) measurement should be encouraged as part of standard liver function testing, and high-intensity health provides a blood work cheat sheet on their website recommending three specific liver function tests
“we have our blood work cheat sheet it's on our website high intensityhealth.com if you haven't downloaded please do so we have our three liver function tests that you need to encourage your healthcare practitioner to run for you so that you know if you have an increased need for glutathione levels because it turns for glutathione support”
The video discusses disclaimer language that the discussion is about improving health and not about preventing or curing COVID-19, emphasizing the general health benefits rather than disease-specific claims
“i just want to add this disclaimer for any attorneys were youtube watching this why i'm not in no way suggesting or we're not talking about curing preventing any diseases particularly cova 19 we're just talking about improving health”
The speaker learned about glutathione from Dr. Russ Jaffe and previously conducted a podcast episode with him on the topic of glutathione.
“i learned this from dr russ jaffe we did a whole podcast on glutathione but this is important”
There is a planned follow-up video discussing the glycocalyx (a gelatinous substance connecting cells, especially endothelial cells) and its relationship to sulfur-containing compounds, which may explain connections between sulfur deficiency, heart disease risk, and severe COVID-19
“we have a part two of this session to talk about the glycocalyx which is a function it's sort of this gelatinous-like substance that connects your cells together so to speak especially the endothelial cells and it turns out that another sulfur-related compound is very important for the glycocalyx and this may increase risk for heart disease and severe covalent and all that if you have insufficient levels of surface surf sulfur”
The speaker just completed a workout and is excited about discussing glutathione's relationship to exercise-induced mitochondrial benefits
“thanks for hanging in there all right and as i slow down as i take a deep breath i just got back from exercising by the way so that's why i'm all fired up”