Imagine you're a cell.
Inside your body runs the machinery that creates life itself.
But as that machinery keeps running, day after day, you begin to
get worn out - the friction and the processes that cause damage
(here the "free-radicals" - highly destructive little entities
generated by biochemical processes, as well as pollutants, UV
radiation and other sources) start to create havoc and you begin
to lose the battle to disease, old age and ultimately death.
In fact your battle would be over much sooner were it not for
the numerous mechanisms that you and other mammalian cells
evolved over millions of years, as protection from the injury
that can result from your normal functional processes. The
foremost among these internal protective systems is the
"Glutathione antioxidant system."
Glutathione, a small molecule composed of three amino acids -
glycine, glutamate and cysteine - acts as your cellular
Super-Mop, soaking up "free-radicals" (with the help of the
sulfur-containing portion of the cysteine molecule), protecting
your cellular membranes and internal organs from the cascading
destruction they can cause.
Besides being the major antioxidant that you produce as
protection from "free-radicals," glutathione is also a very
important detoxifying agent, enabling you to get rid of
undesirable toxins and pollutants. If you were a liver, kidney
or lung cell, you would contain high levels of glutathione, as
you'd be exposed to the greatest levels of toxins.
Glutathione also helps you dispose of many cancer- producing
chemicals, heavy metals, drug metabolites etc. that invade the
pristine recesses of your cellular world. And Mother Nature (the
first recycler) also designed you to use glutathione to recycle
other well-known antioxidants such as vitamin C and vitamin E,
keeping them in their active state.
If you were a cell delegated to the immune system department,
you would require glutathione for many of the intricate steps
needed to carry out your essential immune response functions -
such as multiplying to make many clones of yourself, to mount a
full-bodied immune response, or "neutralizing" undesirable
elements of the cellular community, like cancerous or virally
infected cells.
But your finicky cell membrane does not allow whole glutathione
molecules to cross over directly into your cellular spaces. And
every time a molecule of glutathione neutralizes a destructive
free-radical or toxin, it fatally binds with the undesirable
element and is washed out with them in the bile or the urine.
So how do you replenish your stores and get your daily fix of
glutathione? Simple. You manufacture it in your cellular
factory, from its raw materials - glycine, glutamate and
cysteine.
If your human eats a diet high in fresh fruits and vegetables
and freshly prepared meats, you should get be getting enough
glutamate and glycine. But cystine comes mostly from eggs, milk
and cheese. And when eggs, milk and cheese are cooked or
processed, the composition of Cystine is changed to Cysteine
(small difference in spelling, but BIG difference in action).
While still a valuable protein, it can no longer feed your
glutathione levels.
If you can get a sufficient supply of cysteine (which determines
the rate at which you can make glutathione), your arsenal is
well- stocked. If not, you and your human are at a strategic
disadvantage in the battle of "Cell v/s Free-radical
Destroyers."
As a normal, healthy cell, increasing your glutathione levels
could help you and your human maintain that strategic advantage
in the battle against free-radicals. If you're not really in
your prime, boosting your levels could tip the scales in your
favor, and help you fight the cellular damage that causes
disease and aging.
About the author:
Priya Shah is webmistress of http://www.1whey2health.com Get her
free eBook, on Internet Marketing "Be a WHIZ at E-BIZ"
http://ebizwhiz-publishing.co
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