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Monday, August 2, 2010

Glutathione - Don't Kill Your Fountain Of Youth

fountain of youth
If you have been following my articles lately about the wonders of glutathione, then this will be of interest to you. For those that have not read the articles, glutathione is an essential molecule present in every living human being. Without glutathione, we cannot live. Glutathione is a "fountain of youth" molecule in that it begins to wane as we age.

Generally, by age 25 glutathione begins to fall off at the rate of 15% per year. By the time we are in our 50s and 60s, our glutathione levels are so low that we no longer heal quickly, we get aching muscles after only moderate work, and we are pretty much described as "less than vigorous!". Recent discoveries in nutritional supplementation have exposed the secret to restoring our youthful levels of glutathione - and thereby regaining our former youth and vigour.

At the same time, it is prudent to consider the things that tend to destroy glutathione. Keeping glutathione levels high should be a top priority for anyone wishing to maintain health, wellness and vigour. It is for this reason that today we need to talk about a common pharmaceutical analgesic that is widely used in the United States and around the world. This chemical is contained in well over 100 "off-the-shelf" products. I am, of course, talking about acetaminophen.

Acetaminophen is known in pharmaceutical circles as n-acetyl-p-aminophenol (APAP). It is available as a pain killer for both adults and children. Like anything else, from time to time people will inevitably overdose. The problem with acetaminophen though is that it destroys glutathione! When I first learned this, I was shocked. I immediately thought back to the times when I had illnesses and had taken three or four pills every four hours!

I used to get a lot of fevers as a child and the remedy to keep the fever down was four acetaminophen tablets every four hours for two days! Imagine the damage this did to my glutathione levels!

When hospitals admit people who have overdosed on acetaminophen, they administer n-acetylcysteine (NAC). NAC is a precursor to glutathione and works to help the body restore normal glutathione levels. NAC does some pretty amazing things in your body to help keep the liver from becoming toxic after APAP overdoses. But before you run out an buy large quantities of NAC, you should be aware that NAC is not well digested. In fact, almost none of the NAC you ingest from supplements will ever reach the point where it can support the glutathione cycle. NAC has to be "escorted" through the digestive tract in order to arrive at it's destination intact and ready for work.

There are an estimated 15,000 people every year that end up in emergency rooms from APAP overdose. But lets assume that as a reader of health and wellness information, you are not one of the 15,000 who end up in hospital from overdosing. How many pain killers did you take in the last year? The destruction of glutathione is not elastic. Glutathione does not bounce back a week after you stop taking pain killers. The effects are cumulative. If you add to this fact that you are in your 30s or beyond, then you can see the recipe for disaster that we are talking about here.

If you are going to take pain killers to stop that head ache or to gain a little relief from that rotten cold or fever, then you need to balance the equation by engaging in activities that restore your glutathione levels. Healthy glutathione levels mean that your wounds will heal faster. You will have more energy. You will be able to do strenuous activity and not feel stiff the next day. You will have tapped in to the ultimate "fountain of youth". You will experience a renewed vigour that you had long since written off.

Tip of the year - find out all you can about glutathione and the wonders of youthful glutathione levels.

Nick Walsh is a professional researcher and information technology analyst with 30 years experience in alternative health care, strategic information technology, and entrepreneurial development. Nick maintains several blogs on alternative health care, anti-aging, green energy systems, technology, and internet marketing in general.

by Nick Walsh

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