A Longevity MD Says Glutathione Is The Key To Younger-Looking Skin — Here's Why

Antioxidants are really fabulous little things, aren't they? Antioxidants help fight free radicals, manage oxidative stress, and deal with inflammation. (That's kind of their whole shtick). This is helpful because free radicals wreak havoc on the body. 

Here's a simple summary as to why: Free radicals have an uneven number of electrons, which poses a problem because electrons "like" to be in pairs. On a hunt for an electron pair, they go around the body, stealing other electrons and creating a cascading response of new free radicals. 

So, what antioxidants do is they donate one of their electrons to these free radicals, thereby neutralizing them. What's important to note is that antioxidants don't become free radicals in this process. Essentially: They're able to stop the cycle of damage. 

So, while all antioxidants have that ability to stop the oxidative cycle, antioxidants shouldn't be thought of as a monolith. They each have their own unique properties and strengths. For example, vitamin C plays a role in the collagen synthesis process. And niacinamide can help balance and support the barrier. Or resveratrol can help deal with photodamage. 

So, what's so special about glutathione? What warrants an entire write-up on its benefits? Well, glutathione is pivotal in the inflammation and detoxification process—making it an underrated but very important antioxidant for skin health, says internal medicine physician and longevity specialist Anant Vinjamoori, M.D., in an episode of mindbodygreen's beauty podcast Clean Beauty School.

Oxidative stress is kicked off with free radicals1.

But this chain reaction of damage has to start somewhere. And in fact, it often starts in our own bodies as part of the natural metabolic process, Vinjamoori explains. "Think of the mitochondria as the engines that power our cells. They're generating energy that then enables the cells to do what they need to do: They need to divide, they need to clean up after themselves, they need to secrete hormones, and all the other things they have to do," he tells me.

But as part of this process, waste is created. "Engines sometimes release exhaust, right? Especially happening when the engine isn't working well, there's even more exhaust," he says. "Basically that exhaust is what we call free radicals or reactive oxygen species. These things go around the cells and cause damage." 

While this is a natural occurrence in the body, if left unchecked it can spiral out of control2. The result is what we call inflammaging. "When that [free radical] damage happens, it can send a signal to the immune system that says, 'Hey, something's going on and we need to clean it up,'" he says. "So the body recruits an immune response, and that's how you get low levels of inflammation. It's a vicious cycle." 

Our bodies are pretty incredible—and have the profound ability to restore themselves. One of the healing mechanisms that's built into the body is that it makes its own antioxidants, one of which is glutathione. "Ordinarily, our bodies should be able to produce their own glutathione," says Vinjamoori. 

Glutathione is the mechanism our bodies utilize to clean up the debris3 from oxidative stress—or to go back to Vinjamoori's original metaphor, "It helps clean up this exhaust."

Research shows that glutathione can help control the oxidative processes, as well as to remove toxins from the body3. Another study suggests that glutathione helps "fine-tune" our immune response4, helping the body to respond effectively when needed without kicking into unhelpful overdrive. And because of its interactions with the immune system5, healthy levels of glutathione contribute to the body's overall balance or homeostasis, supporting an overall environment that's favorable for maintaining long-term health.

However, "sometimes there is just so much damage that our own native systems are overwhelmed," he says, noting that is particularly relevant for the skin because it's an organ that's bombarded with a lot of oxidative stress. 

"One of the systems that experiences some of the most damage is the skin," he says. "Between UV light or being mechanically stressed, there's a lot of things happening to our skin every day. Fortunately, it turns over very quickly, but even then sometimes there can be so much damage that we can't compensate."