This Antioxidant Is Key For Health Aging — Are You Getting Enough
When you think of antioxidants, you probably think of foods rich in vitamin C, vitamin E, or colorful plant compounds. But your body can make its own antioxidants, including glutathione—the most abundant antioxidant in the body.
However, glutathione levels can change with age and other factors. Here's what to know about this important antioxidant and how you can support your body's glutathione levels as you get older.
What is glutathione?
Glutathione1 is a small molecule made up of three amino acids: glutamate, cysteine, and glycine.
Once it's made, glutathione has several jobs. For starters, it has antioxidant properties, helping neutralize reactive compounds and maintain a healthy balance between oxidation and reduction, also known as redox balance2.*
It also works alongside antioxidant enzymes, including glutathione peroxidase, to help remove peroxides from cells. This helps limit oxidative damage to cell membranes, proteins, and DNA.
Glutathione & aging
One reason glutathione has attracted attention in the healthy-aging space is that levels appear to change as we get older. In a study 3of 169 healthy adults ages 20 to 94, researchers measured blood glutathione levels and found that adults ages 60 to 79 had levels that were 17% lower than those of adults ages 20 to 39. The researchers also found that low glutathione levels were more common among older participants.
A smaller study4 offers some insight into why. Researchers compared eight older adults with eight younger adults and found that the older group had lower glutathione concentrations as well as lower rates of glutathione synthesis. They also had higher markers of oxidative stress and oxidant damage.
The researchers then gave the older participants the glutathione precursors cysteine and glycine for two weeks. After supplementation, their glutathione concentrations increased by nearly 95%, while their fractional and absolute glutathione synthesis rates also increased. Several measures of oxidative stress and oxidant damage decreased, too.*
These studies suggest that aging is associated with both lower glutathione levels and reduced glutathione production, making the body's ability to maintain this antioxidant system a potentially important aspect of healthy aging.
How to support your glutathione levels
There's no established daily requirement for glutathione, but you can support the body's ability to maintain its glutathione system through nutrition and lifestyle.
Start with making sure you get enough protein. Glutathione is made from amino acids, so getting overall protein intake from a variety of protein-rich foods provides the raw materials your body uses to make it.
For a more targeted approach, you can also look for a supplement that provides glutathione directly, alongside nutrients involved in the body's antioxidant defenses. mindbodygreen's ultimate multivitamin+ contains 33 vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, including Setria® glutathione, a form of glutathione that has been studied for its ability to increase glutathione levels in the body. It also provides vitamin C and selenium, two nutrients that play important roles in antioxidant function.*
The takeaway
Glutathione is one of your body’s most important endogenous antioxidants, and research suggests that both glutathione levels and production can decline with age. You can support your body’s natural glutathione system by getting enough protein and key nutrients through your diet. For a more targeted approach, try a well-formulated daily supplement like this one (that also provides other important antioxidants).
