Nutritional Health Supplements Guide

The Glutathione and Whey Protein Powder Connection

So what exactly is glutathione and how does whey protein powder play into this is a question you may be asking yourself? So lets start with an explanation of glutathione, what it is and what it does.

Glutathione is a protein that has several very important functions for promoting health and well being within us. It is the most potent antioxidant known and for this reason is often referred to as the ‘master antioxidant’. Unlike other antioxidants, glutathione actually lives within our cells and can only be made by the body. Taking glutathione supplements is ineffective, unlike other antioxidants like vitamin C and E, because it gets destroyed by the gut. So it has to be made within cells only. So as the ‘defender’ within our cells, glutathione fights off free radicals and oxidative damage that can impair our health, cause cancers, heart disease, other degenerative disorders and premature aging.

As if that is not enough to keep glutathione busy it is also responsible for cell homeostasis. This is a method by which glutathione keeps the cells in a healthy equilibrium by ejecting out harmful substances such as toxic heavy metals and drug residues. So in other words it detoxifies our cells! There is also another benefit to removing toxic heavy metals from the cells. If a toxic heavy metal is actually inside a cell (which is not unusual) then it has to take the place of something else – essential minerals. So calcium, magnesium and other minerals and their important metabolic and building processes will be halted until the toxic heavy metal is removed.

So this is where whey protein powder comes in to the equation. Whey protein is an excellent source of an amino acid called cysteine that is needed by the body to create glutathione. Cysteine bonds with two other amino acids in our cells to from the bond that is glutathione. For almost all of us the other two amino acids, glycine and glutamate, are found abundantly in our cells but cysteine is usually the ‘Achilles heal’ because it is often less present. Raw milk, raw eggs and raw meat are great sources of cysteine but is not something we usually consume these days. So this is why research studies show that taking whey protein powder supplements actually does raise the amount of glutathione in the body. Whey protein powder also has to be of a certain kind to produce this effect which you can read more about at boost glutathione levels with immunocal.