So bear with me for posting stuff about the liver--I'm going to get my liver healthy- darn it! :) Maybe I'm just a very slow learner, but for the people that have knowledge of this stuff--it's important and I, for one, appreciate what you have to say about it. Sick liver=sick body--and it really DOES matter in the battle against parasites/viruses/pathogens.
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Glutathione deficiency has been found to be virtually universal in autoimmune diseases. This deficiency has two major implications: detox failure and viral/microbial activation. Glutathione plays a major role in detoxification. This deficiency impairs the body’s ability to get rid of toxins.

Consequently, people slowly become toxic, storing away poisons in fatty tissue, muscles, organs and the brain. This cellular detox failure can make people canaries to their environment.

To detoxify successfully, this glutathione deficiency must be addressed.

Because glutathione is a potent antiviral and anti-microbial weapon, glutathione deficiency compromises antiviral and anti-microbial defenses, and actually stimulates viral replication. Raising glutathione levels inside the cells can stop the replication of almost any pathogen.

A glutathione deficiency compromises our ability to keep old viruses dormant and fight off bacteria. This is why so many people test positive for EBV, CMV, HHV6, Mycoplasma, and Chlamydia Pneumoniae, etc.

Indications are that glutathione can stop the replication of any intracellular microbe, including HHV6, Chlamydia Pneumoniae, and mycoplasma. Dr. Cheney found that some of his patients were becoming virus free after using a glutathione-creating undenatured whey protein for approximately 6 months. Showing that the increased levels of glutathione were indeed able to handle the viral infections.

There has been a good deal of research that show how important glutathione is.

Immune depressed individuals have lower glutathione levels when fighting disease. Lymphocytes, cells vital for your immune response, depend on glutathione for their proper function and replication. Immunology 61: 503-508 1987 .

Cellular depletion of Glutathione has been implicated as a causative, or contributory factor in many pathologies including Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, cataracts, arteriosclerosis, cystic fibrosis, malnutrition, aging, AIDS and cancer (Bounous et al., 1991).

In addition, Glutathione is essential in supporting the immune system, including natural killer cells (Droege et al., 1997) and in the maintenance of T-lymphocytes (Gutman, 1998).

It is known that as we age, there is a precipitous drop in glutathione levels. Lower Glutathione levels are implicated in many diseases associated with aging, including Cataracts, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's, atherosclerosis and others. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology 47: 1021-28 1994

Antioxidants are well documented to play vital roles in health maintenance and disease prevention. Glutathione is our cell's own major antioxidant. Why not use what is natural? Biochemical Pharmacology 47:2113-2123 1994

Low glutathione has been demonstrated in neurodegenerative diseases such as MS (Multiple Sclerosis), ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease), Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's, among others. The Lancet 344: 796-798 1994

Glutathione detoxifies many pollutants, carcinogens and poisons, including many in fuel exhaust and cigarette smoke. It retards damage from radiation such as seen with loss of the ozone. Annual Review of Biochemistry 52: 711-780 1983.

The liver is the main detoxification organ of the body. In the liver we find very high concentrations of glutathione, as it is a major factor in numerous biochemical detoxification pathways. Numerous studies have demonstrated that patients with compromised liver function due to alcohol abuse have significant reduction of glutathione in the liver. (Lamestro, 1995)


Glutathione is essential for the maintenance of Vitamin C and vitamin E levels according to Martensson. He found that as glutathione levels decreased, a corresponding decrease in ascorbic acid and vitamin E followed, which led to systematic mitochondrial death, which in turn leads to a cessation of cellular metabolism.

(It is this mitochondrial death, at first just a dysfunction, that may cause the fatigue found in autoimmune illnesses.)

The over-toxicity causes extensive free radical damage. Inhibits cellular function. Disrupts energy production by the mitochondria. Consequently the primary energy the cells produce is anaerobic which leads to extensive lactic acid buildup in the cells. And more toxicity.

Cheney explains that fatigue becomes worse. Pain increases. You feel sicker. Memory suffers as toxins and free radicals damage the brain, and not enough oxygen gets into the brain. Deep brain structures like the hypothalamus eventually are injured and cause problems with virtually every hormone in your body. They lose their ability to rise and fall according to signals or demands from the body making it harder to respond to changing situations. Actual damage to the DNA of the energy producing mitochondria can occur. Further limiting energy.

As toxins cause free radical damage, you end up with low levels of all the free radical scavengers. They get used up dealing with excessive free radicals produced by the excessive toxins.

Some researchers believe that supplements other than oral glutathione may be more effective in raising blood levels of glutathione. For example, in one trial, blood glutathione levels rose nearly 50% in healthy people taking 500 mg of vitamin C per day for only two weeks.10 Vitamin C raises glutathione by helping the body manufacture it. In addition to vitamin C, other nutritional compounds that may, according to preliminary research, help increase glutathione levels include alpha lipoic acid,11 glutamine,12 methionine,13 S-adenosyl methionine (SAMe),14 and whey protein.15 Vitamin B6, riboflavin, and selenium are required in the manufacture of glutathione. The extent to which any of these nutrients effectively increases glutathione levels in humans remains unclear.

http://www.vitacost.com/science/hn/Supp/Glutathione.htm



Per serving, asparagus, avocadoes, asparagus, squash, okra, cauliflower, broccoli, potatoes, spinach, walnuts, garlic, and raw tomatoes have the highest glutathione content compared to other vegetables and are particularly rich dietary sources of glutathione (please see the Table 1. below).

http://www.nutritionadvisor.com/glutathione_foods.php