If you're busy putting creams and serums on your skin in a bid to look younger and fairer, here is an interesting piece of information that might change your beauty routine.
It's glutathione, a highly powerful antioxidant naturally created and found within our body cells!
There's no denying the fact that the healthier you eat, the better your body feels and the better your skin looks. When I eat lots of fruits and vegetables (basically high antioxidant foods), the effect shows on my skin. It looks dewier and my fine lines aren't as fine- liney! My complexion looks smoother and shinier.
So one thing I've been doing a lot lately is taking food/ health supplements, which are mostly vitamin pills and antioxidant capsules. And one of these antioxidant supplements is Zenith Nutrition Glutathione Capsules in reduced form.
Coined "The Mother of All Antioxidants" by Mark Hyman, MD, glutathione is one of the hottest topics in both health and beauty circles today. If you're like most people, you probably must have heard about Glutathione as a popular skin whitening treatment among Asian women today. However, as a master antioxidant Glutathione has a multitude of other benefits for both the health of skin and the body.
But before hopping on to the benefits of Glutathione for skin and review of Zenith nutrition Glutathione capsules, here's what you need to know about Glutathione and its role in human health and medicine:
What is Glutathione?Glutathione (GSH) is basically a tri-peptide comprising of three key amino acids namely, glycine, glutamic acid and cysteine, all of which play several vital roles in the body. According to anti aging scientists, these three amino acids are so pivotal to our overall health that the level of glutathione in our cells is becoming a predictor of how well and how long we will live.
In the words of Gustavo Bounous, MD, retired professor of surgery at McGill University in Montreal, "Glutathione is the [body's] most important antioxidant because it's within the cell." Since glutathione is naturally produced within the cell, it unsurprisingly is the most powerful antioxidant for preventing cellular damage caused by free radicals and peroxides.
Health and Anti Aging Benefits of Glutathione
Hence, high glutathione levels in body cells have been found to have the following health and anti aging benefits:
- increased energy levels
- strengthened the immune system
- fight against inflammation
- improved athletic performance
- protection from environmental toxins
- detoxification of the body and skin
- aid in cellular repair and slow down the aging process
Glutathione is a powerful amino acid antioxidant that works to clear the body of free radicals and toxins, which in turn can lead to serious skin problems like hyper pigmentation and melasma, as well as more common ones like sun spots, acne, and wrinkles.
Naturally, high levels of glutathione in the body have been shown to substantially slow down the aging process and markedly improve the appearance of skin. Here are some well-known glutathione benefits for the skin:
Gives radiant glow:Raised glutathione levels in the body enhance body's ability to optimize other major anti aging antioxidants like Vitamin E and C, selenium, CoQ10, grape seed extract, and alpha lipoic acid, all of which work to produce a healthy, radiant glow.
Minimizes age spots:Age spots or liver spots that are sometimes a result of normal ageing process, sometimes caused due to poor liver detox and sometimes caused by sun damage have been shown substantially reduce or mysteriously disappear by increasing glutathione levels in skin cells.
Reduces acne:While, glutathione supplements cannot and would not help much with hormone related acne, increased glutathione levels in skin cells can definitely improve the appearance of acne caused to faulty diet, bacteria, and environmental toxins.
Reduces fine lines and wrinkles:As a powerful antioxidant, glutathione helps maintain youthful complexion by warding off appearance of any fine lines, wrinkles or lose skin. Elevated glutathione levels boost collagen and help keep skin fibers remain supple and elastic.
Whitens skin:Finally and the most important of all its skin benefits is glutathione greatly helps in the skin whitening process. How? Read below:
Glutathione and skin whitening:Our skin gets its color by a pigment called Melanin that is naturally produced in our skin cells by the action of an enzyme known as Tyrosinase. Since, Glutathione has been found to bind with Tyrosinase, it prevents the enzymatic pathways from producing melanin. When no melanin is produced, skin remains and looks light in color.
On top of this, glutathione also prevents the activation of Tyrosinase by reducing free radicals in the body that can activate it and cause an increase in melanin production, thereby preventing damage caused due to sun tan and other environmental factors.
So in a way, Glutathione peels the upper layer of the skin in a natural and safe manner to whiten it and give it a new look.
Why Glutathione supplements?
Since, even a minor decrease in glutahione can speed up ageing, it makes sense to enrich your diet with foods and supplements that boost glutathione levels in the body. Need to know which foods increase natural glutathione levels in the body? Well, think milk thistle, whey protein, alpha lipoic acid, green leafy vegetables, such as spinach, broccoli and parsley, vitamin C, E, and B complex rich foods etc.
While, all these food items are rich sources of Glutathione, an average of 30-60% of glutathione is lost during cooking and up to 100% is lost due to processing and canning. Thinking raw foods are best vegetable sources for raising glutathione levels?
Well, then you better remember that raw spinach has substances that block calcium absorption and raw broccoli contains goitrogens, substances that block thyroid function. The effect of high temperatures applies to glutathione in animal products as well. These include raw milk and raw eggs!
Moreover, there's not always time, money, or a blender/grinder powerful enough to achieve the real deal from vegetables and fruits. In such cases, opting for a high quality natural antioxidant supplement is the way to go.
Which Glutathione capsules to take?If you're interested in taking glutathione pills for skin whitening, anti aging or for overall health, look for the 'reduced' glutathione form. Glutathione is prone to oxidation very quickly. However, glutathione in reduced form ensures that the antioxidant does not oxidize quickly after ingesting it. Once, oxidized, glutathione loses all its effectiveness and health benefits.
I personally take Zenith nutrition glutathione capsules 250 mg in reduced form. It's a dietary supplement that can be easily taken with meals to promote healthy cell function, strengthen immune system, support vigorous detoxification and obtain healthy glowing skin in the process.
The bottle contains 30 vegetable capsules, which have a shelf life of 18 months.
Summing up, all I can say is that Glutathione is the body's most powerful and important antioxidants, present in each and every cell in the body. And supplementing with a high quality glutathione capsule can thus greatly help with boosting the overall health and fitness of body including your skin, hair and nails.
