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Oxidative stress is a condition in your body that happens when there is an imbalance between free radicals and antioxidants. When there are not enough antioxidants, free radicals are left to run wild and can wreak havoc in your body, including damaging your DNA and impeding normal cell function. Oxidative stress has been linked with a slew of chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes, according to research.“Glutathione is a potent free radical scavenger,” Alan says, which means it can hunt down free radicals before they cause oxidative damage and oxidative stress.
Glutathione has been proposed as a potential treatment for COVID-19 to prevent the severe inflammatory process triggered by the virus, but more research is needed to look into whether it can really help.
Your liver sees almost everything that comes into your body, Alan says, making it an incredibly important organ. “Glutathione will reduce free radicals, which can directly damage cells,” she explains. “Glutathione can also be added to toxins and compounds to detoxify them, which is done in the liver.” So, taking glutathione may help support good liver function.
“The hallmarks of conditions like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease include progressive damage to brain tissue with higher levels of oxidative stress and inflammation,” Dr. Tolentino says. Increasing levels of glutathione in the body may help slow down the rate of progressive neural tissue damage in these conditions, a 2014 study in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease found. But Dr. Tolentino notes that more research is needed on this one.
Uncontrolled diabetes can create oxidative stress and damage to tissue in organs like your eyes, kidneys, nerves, and more, Dr. Tolentino says. And, she says, people with diabetes can have low levels of glutathione due to the increased demand of its use for antioxidant support. Some studies have shown that glutathione supplementation may be beneficial in limiting tissue damage in diabetes.
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This goes back to glutathione’s ability to fight oxidative stress, Dr. Tolentino says. “Our skin, which is the largest organ in our body, is often our first line of defense against our environment,” she points out. In a 2017 study in Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dermatology, supplementing with 250 milligrams of glutathione a day tended to increase skin elasticity compared with controls.
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Glutathione has also been associated with a lower risk of developing fine lines and wrinkles and even helping with getting rid of existing wrinkles. One study found that people who took 250 milligrams of glutathione a day had a significant reduction in wrinkles compared to people who took a placebo.
Similar to glutathione’s potential ability to boost your skin health, the antioxidant may also help support healthy nails and hair. Why? Dr. Tolentino again cites its ability to fight oxidative stress.
Insulin resistance is what happens when the cells in your muscles, fat, and liver don't respond well to insulin and can't use glucose (i.e., sugar) from your blood for energy, per the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). This can lead to prediabetes, a condition that can happen before you develop full-blown diabetes. “Studies have shown that glutathione supplementation may be beneficial in diabetes prevention,” Dr. Tolentino says.
One study showed that older people living in a community setting (like nursing homes or assisted living) who had higher levels of glutathione were in better health, and that lower levels of glutathione was associated with energy depletion.
All that said, there needs to be a lot more robust research to say for sure whether glutathione delivers on all of these benefits. The good news is the supplement is quite safe to take, according to experts. Just make sure to check with your primary care doctor before adding one to your regimen, especially if you're taking medications on a regular basis.
