Gal Pal Glutathione
Supporting Women's Health Throughout a Lifespan
You eat a whole foods diet, partake in regular exercise, avoid cigarettes, wear sunscreen, connect with your community, and try your best to remember a nightly application of anti-wrinkle serum – you’re doing your due diligence in aging well.
Behind the microscopic scenes, our bodies are continually working to clear old and worn cells, fix ones that need to be fixed, and create new ones that are as high performing and vibrant as our younger cell selves. Processes like autophagy and re-dox systems help us to do so. When these processes breakdown as time passes, we don’t renew and repair with the same gusto as we did when we were younger. But why?
Many incredible things come with aging - experience, wisdom, beauty, and a growing community to name a few. However, passing years also lead to a slew of ‘adverse side effects’ of being human. My job as a naturopathic doctor is to lessen the severity or entirely prevent these adverse side effects of aging. To do this, we need to understand why aging causes so many ailments so we can know how to support our cells staying healthy and thriving.
Oxidative Stress – The Culprit
We know that cells under chronic oxidative stress accelerates the aging process and damages our DNA. Oxidative stress occurs with things like smoking, UV radiation, stress, medications, poor diet, pollution, sedentary lifestyle and other toxin exposures.1 The antidote? Protective antioxidants. Our bodies produce their own, but we often need additional support in our modern-day world. My all-time go-to antioxidant power house, the “mother” of all antioxidants, the maestro of cell protection, is glutathione.
Gal Pal Glutathione – The Rescue
Glutathione is a sulfur-based peptide of three amino acids produced by our cells to protect them from oxidative stress. Unfortunately, our ability to create sufficient amounts of glutathione declines as we age.2
Difficult to absorb in supplemental form, glutathione is best in intravenous or injectable form. Other ways of boosting your glutathione levels is a diet high in cruciferous vegetables, plenty of exercise, and supplements such as NAC, selenium, ALA, methylated B vitamins, and undenatured whey protein to provide building blocks of glutathione production. Also consider that there’s a genetic component to natural glutathione recycling, making some of us with this genetic trait a lot more sensitive to the detrimental impacts of oxidative stress and therefore in need of much more glutathione support.
Importance in Womanhood – The Research
• Endometriosis – Oxidative stress is a crucial component in the pathogenesis of endometriosis.1
• Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) – Increased blood sugar leads to increased oxidative stress, which depletes glutathione in its attempts to combat this oxidative stress; this cycle leads to increased testosterone levels.1,3
• Wrinkles – UV radiation is the largest contributor to aging skin. In addition to avoidance of harmful UV rays, antioxidant therapy helps to combat the destruction of UV ray’s oxidative stress on the skin.4
• Fertility – Oxidative stress affects early embryo development and implantation. Unexplained infertility may be due to increased oxidative stress load and a depleted antioxidant reservoir to combat the toxic effects of oxidative stress. Eggs with higher levels of glutathione create healthier and stronger embryos. Women with higher follicular glutathione levels have an increased fertilization rate when undergoing
IVF.1
• Autoimmunity – Autoimmunity often occurs in a setting of chronic inflammation and increased oxidative stress. Glutathione has been shown to balance the immune system to control inflammation and therefore the autoimmune response. Glutathione is a key player in regulating pathways that handle chronic inflammation.5
• Menopause – Many menopausal symptoms have been linked to increased oxidative stress burden and a decreased capacity to balance it with our own inherent antioxidant protective ability. The B vitamins help to support glutathione metabolism and therefore combat this increased oxidative stress leading to a reduction in menopausal symptoms.6
• Post-Menopause – Post-menopausal women supplementing with N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) increase their immune defense that combats the oxidative stress associated with aging by increasing their available glutathione!7 It’s important to talk to your doctor about how best to incorporate antioxidants into your treatment plan. Find me during selected times at Marlene’s Market & Deli if you are considering the powerful glutathione injectable as a part of your wellness routine.
Dr. Ayla Hopkins, ND, is a graduate of Western Washington University in Kinesiology and pre-med sciences. She also went on to Bastyr University for medical school and graduated with a Doctorate of Naturopathic Medicine. Dr. Hopkins founded Voda Health, which offers vitamin B shot services to the public, after her own revolutionary experiences with the benefits of vitamin B shots years ago. To find times and locations of Voda Health, check out our Calendar of Events page in the back or visit Voda-Health.com. A full list of references can be found on our website.
