My recent surgery had me hospitalized for 3 days and taking a heavy cocktail of drugs. I couldn’t wait to get home to start my healing process with herbs, and liver and antioxidant support was at the top of my list! Any time our bodies are bombarded with toxins or drugs (like during surgery), it can place a heavy burden on the liver (our organ of detoxification), depleting one of the most important molecules in our body, glutathione. Everyone should be familiar with glutathione and its critical role in our health, so please keep reading for a quick summary….

Glutathione:

• A “master molecule” in the body
• Major antioxidant in cells/tissues = helps prevent cellular damage
• Helps maintain mitochondrial function and thus production of ATP (energy for your cells)
• Helps clear environmental toxins in liver
• All of the above are REALLY IMPORTANT FUNCTIONS IN YOUR BODY!!!

Diseases/conditions associated with low glutathione  (1):

• Chemical sensitivities
• Aging
• Neurodegenerative diseases
• Fibromyalgia
• Chronic fatigue syndrome
• Diabetes/metabolic syndrome
• Cardiovascular disease
• Cancer
• Asthma and allergy
• Parkinson’s
• Possibly autism
• Some autoimmune diseases
• Some mental health disorders

And now, a brief rant about acetaminophen… Glutathione is used to detoxify acetaminophen in our liver, so when we take acetaminophen it depletes glutathione. When liver cells lack glutathione, the antioxidant capacity is diminished. When we take a lot of acetaminophen, it can lead to liver cell death, and it is much more likely to do so in the presence of alcohol or other situations where the liver is presented with a toxin at the same time. NEVER take acetaminophen while drinking alcohol!  We have had evidence of the liver damaging effects since at least 1977, yet it took the FDA over 30 years to add a liver injury warning to the label!!

In short, acetaminophen hurts our glutathione production. Side note, there may be other reasons not to take acetaminophen regularly, read more here.

In the rare situations when I resort to acetaminophen and other drugs that might be taxing to my liver, I like to supplement with glutathione-promoting foods, herbs, and supplements. I also take general liver support herbs such as dandelion root. And I know from experience that when I support my liver, I feel better!  Likewise, many of these substances below also help allergies. The liver/allergy connection is a subject for another day, or perhaps a great reason to book an appointment with me!

Herbs/foods/supplements that may help body make new glutathione:

• Curcumin (2)
• Rosemary (3)
• Green tea (4)
• Schisandra berry (5)
• Milk thistle (6)
• Roobios tea – with optimal steeping time of at least 10 mins (7,8)
• Brassica family and Allium (onion family) vegs  both of which are rich in sulfur….sulfur is a precursor to glutathione
• Selenium – acts as cofactor in glutathione production
• N-acetyl cysteine (or Whey protein, which is high in amino acid cysteine) – precursor to glutathione, an easy supplement to purchase, its also in a lot of allergy and sinus supplements, along with quercetin
• Quercetin

I want to acknowledge that most of the research cited is not human clinical trials, it’s a mix of human cells in the lab (in vitro) and animal studies. But if we take the research we do have, coupled with traditional use, we can start to see why some of these substances are so incredibly healthy for us. Many of the above are classic “antioxidants,” and looking at them in the context of glutathione promoters helps understand why they can be impactful on multiple areas of the body.

Bottom line: I make it at point to incorporate many of these healing herbs into my diet and would love to teach you how you can use them to improve your health! Please consider booking a consultation with me!

Further reading:

More in-depth explanation of glutathione https://drhyman.com/blog/2010/05/19/glutathione-the-mother-of-all-antioxidants/

Dangers of acetaminophen:  https://chriskresser.com/the-dangers-of-acetaminophen/

FDA safety information on acetaminophen: https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-safety-and-availability/fda-drug-safety-communication-prescription-acetaminophen-products-be-limited-325-mg-dosage-unit

In the midst of my research, I found this interesting paper by Harvard and Duke researchers/doctors on the possible link between autism and acetaminophen (9): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28415925/

References:

1. Minich, D. M., & Brown, B. I. (2019). A Review of Dietary (Phyto)Nutrients for Glutathione Support. Nutrients, 11(9), 2073. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11092073
2. Biswas SK, McClure D, Jimenez LA, Megson IL, Rahman I. Curcumin induces glutathione biosynthesis and inhibits NF-kappaB activation and interleukin-8 release in alveolar epithelial cells: mechanism of free radical scavenging activity. Antioxid Redox Signal. 2005 Jan-Feb;7(1-2):32-41. doi: 10.1089/ars.2005.7.32. PMID: 15650394.  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15650394/
3. Hassanen NHM, Fahmi A, Shams-Eldin E, Abdur-Rahman M. Protective effect of rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) against diethylnitrosamine-induced renal injury in rats. Biomarkers. 2020 May;25(3):281-289. doi: 10.1080/1354750X.2020.1737734. Epub 2020 Mar 12. PMID: 32118487. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32118487/
4. Basu, A., Betts, N. M., Mulugeta, A., Tong, C., Newman, E., & Lyons, T. J. (2013). Green tea supplementation increases glutathione and plasma antioxidant capacity in adults with the metabolic syndrome. Nutrition research (New York, N.Y.), 33(3), 180–187. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nutres.2012.12.010
5. Chiu, H.-F., Chen, T.-Y., Tzeng, Y.-T., & Wang, C.-K. (2013). Improvement of liver function in humans using a mixture of schisandra fruit extract and sesamin. Phytotherapy Research: PTR, 27(3), 368–373. https://doi.org/10.1002/ptr.4702
6. Vargas-Mendoza N., Madrigal-Santillán E., Morales-González A., Esquivel-Soto J., Esquivel-Chirino C., García-Luna Y., González-Rubio M., Gayosso-de-Lucio J.A., Morales-González J.A. Hepatoprotective effect of silymarin. World J. Hepatol. 2014;6:144–149. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v6.i3.144.
7. Piek, H., Venter, I., Rautenbach, F., & Marnewick, J. L. (2019). Rooibos herbal tea: An optimal cup and its consumers. Health SA = SA Gesondheid, 24, 1090. https://doi.org/10.4102/hsag.v24i0.1090
8. Marnewick, J. L., Rautenbach, F., Venter, I., Neethling, H., Blackhurst, D. M., Wolmarans, P., & Macharia, M. (2011). Effects of rooibos (Aspalathus linearis) on oxidative stress and biochemical parameters in adults at risk for cardiovascular disease. Journal of ethnopharmacology, 133(1), 46–52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2010.08.061
9. Parker, W., Hornik, C. D., Bilbo, S., Holzknecht, Z. E., Gentry, L., Rao, R., Lin, S. S., Herbert, M. R., & Nevison, C. D. (2017). The role of oxidative stress, inflammation and acetaminophen exposure from birth to early childhood in the induction of autism. The Journal of international medical research, 45(2), 407–438. https://doi.org/10.1177/0300060517693423