What is Glutathione?

What is Glutathione?

Glutathione is the master protector of your cells.  It plays a vital role in the protection and function of every cell in the human body and the support of optimal health and function.  If you go to the National Library Medicine at www.PubMed.com and search for glutathione, you will find over 100,000 published studies.  That’s TWICE as many published studies on glutathione than you will find on Vitamin C. 

Glutathione:

·         Is the body’s master antioxidant

·         Is the primary detoxifier of the cell

·         Is a powerful chelator of heavy metals

·         Is the protector of the immune cell

·         Is the protector of the mitochondria DNA

·         Is the protector of the nucleus of the cell

·         Reduces Oxidative Stress

·         Reduces intercellular inflammation

·         Is the re-utilizing agent of ingested antioxidants

·         Is the reducing agent for hemoglobin, allowing it to transport oxygen to every cell

Low glutathione levels accelerate the aging process and increase vulnerability to the issues of aging such as cell damage and disease and inflammation.  “Every disease (cancer, heart disease, neuro-degenerative, etc.) is linked to low levels of glutathione” (Keller, R, nd).   “A deficiency of intracellular glutathione has been identified in a number of clinical conditions including cancer, alcohol-induced liver disease, and AIDS” (Murray, 1996).   

Did you know your body is at war?

It is a war between your body’s natural defenses called antioxidants and the attacks of harmful free radicals.  There is a constant onslaught on your body and immune system just by living here on this toxic planet with the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the foods we eat.  On top of that, if you experience any kind of stress, or if you smoke, or if you drink alcohol in excess, or take pharmaceutical drugs or recreational drugs (both toxic), you are on the downward spiral away from homeostasis, the state of wellness.

The Problem

After the age of 20, glutathione production slows markedly, 10% to 15% every decade, resulting in fewer antioxidant soldiers to fight free radical enemies.  

Can you supplement your diet with Glutathione?

“Dietary glutathione is not a major determinant of circulating glutathione” (Murray, 1996).   Studies show that it is not feasible to increase glutathione to a clinical benefit simply by taking glutathione as a supplement because glutathione supplements are useless. They are destroyed in the digestive system before they are able to get into the cell. Intravenous glutathione helps, but they are merely a temporary fix - much like a pharmaceutical medication is, and glutathione supplements do not get into the mitochondria of the cell where the glutathione is naturally manufactured from very specific nutrients. 

So what can you do to boost your levels of glutathione? Various animal and vegetable sources of food give us the components we need to produce glutathione.  Asparagus, leafy greens, brussel sprouts and Vitamin C, meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and cottage cheese are among some of those foods.  But do you know how much to eat?  Given the problems with our food supply, where plants we eat are sprayed with pesticides and grown in soil that is lacking nutrients, and animals we eat are not range-free but fed steroids and hormones to grow fat, and fish is farmed, and chickens are kept in filthy tiny coops and not allowed to be run, at best, how much of what foods is enough?  How much asparagus and Vitamin C would it take to help the mitochondria of the cell manufacture a therapeutic amount of glutathione to help halt the effects of free-radical damage? 

Is your life, and your health worth it to you?   Is being healthy that simple? No - it is important that you educate yourself on the components of good health.  Raising your glutathione levels is one very crucial step in getting and maintaining good health.

Glutathione Accelerator

The guess work has been taken out of the equation with a patented glutathione accelerator by Max International.  This accelerator is a combination of very specific nutrients that is clinically proven to increase glutathione levels 292% within 60 days.

Fact

It is a lot easier to support your health than to fix it!  As we age and expose our bodies to stress, chemicals, pollutants and certain lifestyle habits, we begin to lose energy, vitality, mental alertness and more! 

Do yourself a favor…..Go to www.PubMed.com and search on glutathione; search on glutathione with any kind of health concern or disease.  You WILL find a study that has linked glutathione with every kind of disease and/or health concern known.  The danger lies in the thought that low levels of glutathione really don’t matter or that you will do something about this TOMORROW.

People with Higher Glutathione Levels:

·                 Have More Energy

·                 Recover Faster From Exercise

·                 Sleep Better

·                 Have Greater Mental Clarity and Focus

·                 Less Inflammation

·                 Improved Joint Function

·                 Have Better Immune Systems

·                 Live Longer

·                 Live Better

Improve the health and function of every cell, tissue and organ in the body.  Get your glutathione accelerator here.  If you are interested in learning more about how you can help others get this life enhancing nutrient, go here for a 9 minute overview of the product, the science and the incredible company, Max, International that stands behind it... 

References:

Keller, R. (nd).  Glutathione: Your Best Defense against Aging, Cellular Damage and Disease.  Institute of Advanced Medicine:  Hollywood, FL

Murray, M. (1996).  Encyclopedia of Nutritional Supplements: The Essential Guide to Improving your Health Naturally.  Three Rivers Press:  New York, NY

Results: 1 to 20 of 101223 for Glutathione. Retrieved May 6, 2012 from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=glutathione

Balance your body pH with Food

Introduction

The body needs specific nutrients for energy. It then takes those nutrients and through chemical reactions, manufactures substances the body uses for growth and to maintain life. These chemical reactions are called metabolism. Each nutrient plays a unique role in metabolism and if one nutrient is missing, there could be mild to severe consequences in health and energy. Metabolism requires a very specific level of acidity, or pH, to function properly. Scientifically speaking, the body pH measures the number of hydrogen ions in solution within the body. An acidic pH has a low ability to attract hydrogen ions, while an alkaline solution has a high ability to attract hydrogen ions. (Grosvenor, 2006).

What does this mean for you and me? When the body pH is in balance, the body can extract and assimilate minerals and vital nutrients from the blood. This means digestion is good, proper elimination is taking place, and the immune system is functioning properly. (Cowden, 2000). But when the body pH is not in balance, the opposite occurs. Having a too acidic body pH, an imbalance that is below the perfect pH, can cause severe acid reflux, heartburn, acid indigestion, low energy and mild joint dysfunction. It can effect other body systems such as the circulatory system, the digestive system, the nervous system and the structural system. Conversely, having a too alkaline body pH, an imbalance that is above the perfect pH can indicate extreme fatigue and deficiencies in blood and liver conditions. (Cowden, 2000). According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, more than seven million people suffer from severe acid reflux, heartburn, and acid indigestion. (Nemours 2010). Over-the-counter and prescription antacids are commonly prescribed for acid indigestion, but knowing what foods lower the pH is a crucial tool in preventing pH imbalance. If you have been diagnosed with a digestive disorder, discuss food options with your doctor before self-prescribing.

A Perfect pH

Inside the body, pH must be maintained in a relatively neutral level in order to allow metabolic reactions to proceed normally. If the pH changes, these reactions slow or stop. The pH scale ranges from 0-14 with <6.4 acidic and >6.4 alkaline for body fluids, specifically – saliva and urine. A perfect pH is 6.4, and monitoring your pH is as simple as getting pH strips at your pharmacy or health food store. The best times to monitor the pH levels are first thing in the morning before eating or drinking anything, 2 hours after a meal, and prior to bed.

Acid Forming Foods

An acid pH of <6.4, indicates excess conditions and that is when diet should consist of only 20% acid forming foods. The following foods are acid forming and will lower pH levels: All grains except oats, white sugar, all meats, animal fats, butter, cream, eggs, cheese, sea foods, most nuts, soft drinks, milk, beans, most oils, lentils, coffee, tea, cocoa, flour products, and pasta.(Nature’s Treasure Chest, 1991).

Alkaline Forming Foods

As noted above, when acid pH is <6.4, the diet should consist of 20% acid forming foods. The following list of foods is alkaline forming and 80% of the diet should consist of these: Almonds, figs, bananas, prunes, raisins, dates, avocados, grapes, pears, red potatoes, molasses, coconut, all melons, maple syrup, soured dairy products, spinach, beets, okra, parsley, green peppers, lettuce, cabbage, cucumbers, string beans, green peas, sweet corn, carrots, and squash. (Nature’s Treasure Chest, 1991).

In Conclusion

Knowing what to eat, or not to eat can greatly determine how you feel in the short run. In the long run, eating correctly will determine your level of health or illness, so it is very important to pay attention to your diet. Even if you have already been diagnosed with a condition or illness, you can still improve the quality of your life just by the foods that you eat. It is worth the time and effort. Happy eating!

References:

Cowden, Dr. William, (2000). Convention in Minneapolis

Grosvenor, M., (2006). Nutrition Everyday Choices, Volume 1. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Nature’s Treasure Chest. (1991). Health Ministries

Nemours Kids’ Health. (2009-2012). Have you heard of Gerd? Retrieved 2010 from http://kidshealth.org/kid/health_problems/stomach/gerd.html

We have started a movement to heal the World!

Congratulations America!  We have started a movement to heal the World by banding together and presenting over ONE MILLION comments and signatures to the FDA in support of labeling genetically engineered foods. (GMO).  I wrote a blog about a year ago on this very subject, Nothing is obvious to the uninformed - Good Health is Priceless! and I was thrilled to receive an email just yesterday telling me that "WE DID IT!"  A non-profit organization called, Just Label It campaigned to get ONE MILLION comments and signatures to deliver to the FDA in support of labeling genetically engineered foods so we, the consumers can made EDUCATED CHOICES in the foods we buy.  This record-breaking achievement proves that Americans care about how our food is produced and the right to know what's in our food.  CONGRATULATIONS AMERICA!

Balancing your body pH - Circulatory system

This is the first of a series of educational articles regarding balancing your body pH.

1. Circulatory System

2. Digestive System
3. Nervous System
4. Structural System
5. Foods that are acid forming, alkaline forming and other things you can do to balance your body pH...

Poor health begins in one area of the body, and like a virus or disease, spreads to other parts of the body. Much like the domino effect, once you have a collapse in one body system, it is next to impossible to stop the cascading movement that causes a myriad of symptoms that people go to the doctor for.

The problem with going to the doctor is that he or she doesn’t have the time to find the root cause of your symptom much less educate you on reversing the damage and getting your once profound health back. Chances are, your doctor will write a prescription to manage your symptoms. If this goes on long enough, you develop other symptoms (or side effects) from the medication or the ongoing domino effect that is happening, so he writes more prescriptions to manage your new symptoms, and so on the merry go round turns.

There are 32 nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, sulfur, calcium, magnesium, iron, manganese, boron, copper, zinc, molybdenum, etc.) known as trace minerals that are found in nature in our soil, twelve of them considered essential. Without those nutrients, plants cannot grow or resist disease. The soil must have a certain amount of acid and a certain amount of alkalinity to produce health benefitting plants.

Your body pH is like the fertile ground that organic fruits and vegetables grow in, and also requires balance of acid and alkalinity to keep your body systems functioning properly. If you have excess stomach acid which causes acid reflux, acid indigestion, GERD, or even an ulcer, it is possible that you are already having issues in other parts of the body too. Just like the soil, the pH in your internal environment, (your blood and tissues) must be balanced to produce health. If the magnetism of your blood isn’t correct, the cells of the body cannot extract nutrients from the blood, and a host of things begin to go wrong, starting with malnutrition.
The harmful effects of an imbalanced pH can affect the circulatory system, the nervous system, the structural system and the digestive system. This article is going to address the circulatory system.

THE CIRCULATORY SYSTEM

Bacteria and/or fungi and viruses can attach themselves to the inner walls of your arteries if your body pH is not in balance. This attracts white blood cells, clotting cells and clotting proteins which can cause a plaque to form in the artery. We all know what happens at this point – the arteries narrow and oxygen, nutrients, and blood flow to the tissues are restricted. If this happens in the coronary artery, a heart attack can occur. If excess acidity is present, calcium, which was moved out of the bone to buffer the acid, can deposit in the arterial plaque, thus converting the plaque from soft to hard. The plaque makes the arteries stiff, which can raise blood pressure.

You are now prescribed hypertension, and/or blood thinning, and/or high cholesterol medication. All because you are eating too many foods that cause acid or too few foods that can create alkalinity, or vice versa.

What is a perfect pH? It is 6.4. How do you get your pH to 6.4? Invest in pH strips, and learn which foods form acid in the tissues and blood and which form alkaline in the tissues and blood. There are many other things one can do to balance the body pH, but this is a great start.

FDA Warning for Proton Pump Inhibitors

Stomach acid…….now there’s a sour subject! More than discomfort, over acidity can be a dangerous condition that can weaken other body systems such as the circulatory, nervous and structural systems too. The pH (potential of hydrogen) of your internal environment must be balanced to have normal body function and to resist disease.

How does your internal environment get out of balance? The internal environment getting out of balance stems from the foods we eat, and yet, so many people just go to their doctor and get medication to take care of excess stomach acid instead of looking at the root cause of excess stomach acid.

This isn’t a new concept. In 1933. a New York doctor names William Howard Hay published a book, A New Health Era, in which he talks about autotoxication (self-poisoning) due to acid accumulation in the body by eating acid forming food in too great amount.

Last Thursday, February 9, 2012, the FDA issued a medical watch for proton pump inhibitors (PPIs). The watch went out to gastroenterologists, family practitioners, and consumers. Oh, if you are a consumer and you don’t subscribe to the FDA daily digest, then I guess you have to rely on your physician to fill you in…..

Why would someone use a Proton Pump Inhibitor? PPIs work by reducing the amount of stomach acid and are prescribed to those with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), stomach and small intestine ulcers, and inflammation of the esophagus. Over-the-counter (OTC) PPIs are used to treat frequent heartburn. PPIs can be associated with stomach acid drugs such as:

· AcipHex (rabeprazole sodium)

· Dexilant (dexlansoprazole)

· Nexium (esomeprazole magnesium)

· Prevacid (lansoprazole) and OTC Prevacid 24 Hr

· Prilosec (omeprazole) and OTC

· Protonix (pantoprazole sodium)

· Vimovo (esomeprazole magnesium and naproxen)

· Zegerid (omeprazole and Sodium bicarbonate) and OTC

If you are using one of these medications, you are at increased risk of developing Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea (CDAD). Symptons include watery stool, abdominal pain, and fever, and the disease can also be spread in hospitals. You can view the entire alert here: http://www.fda.gov/safety/MedWatch/SafetyInformation/SafetyAlertsforHumanMedicalProducts/ucm290838.htm

This is just a heads up. The more you know, the better able you can care for yourself. Keep watching my blog as I will begin a series of issues that pH imbalancing cause, and things you can do to correct it, often without medication.

Change is good - the eagle does it in six months

I’ve often wondered what my life would’ve been like if my parents hadn’t divorced when I was 13. I know it would’ve been different, but in what ways? As much as I hated their break-up, I believe it truly was one of the best things that could've happened to me.

With all due respect to my Mother and Father, now both deceased God Bless them, they were not the most mature people when they decided to call it quits, and that hurt. A lot. It was hard for a 13 year old girl to find any solace in a father who verbally abused me by telling me horrible things about my mother, and then tried to shove his new girlfriend in my face before disappearing with his new girlfriend and their new baby to....somewhere in South Florida. Nor was it any comfort to know that when my mother finally found my father, she had him arrested for non-payment of child support. Was that before or after my eight year old brother went through the sliding glass doors, slicing his abdomen open, and we couldn't find Mom because she was off for the weekend with her boyfriend. Well, those events were just the beginning of a long and painful journey through my teens that may have sent many young girls to the "wrong side of town." I may have strayed a bit, may have even knocked on the gates of Hell, but it had to have been Guardian Angels protecting me, because I spent the best part of my teen and young adult years trying to make sense of it all….and it was all because I loved my Mother, and I loved my Father - as much as I loved life itself.

The Lord gives us trials to refine us. It is not the trials that build our character, but how we handle those trials, and I thank HIM for loving me enough to hold my hand and my heart while I sorted through my crazy mixed up emotions during those years. HE sent people into my life that I was able to look up to, talk to, learn from, and feel safe with. They were mentors in every sense, and the security I developed gave me a strong sense of inner peace and integrity that carried me into middle age, and served me most when I really needed it.

This all brings me back to the original question I have asked of myself many times: “What happens when you don't have challenges, trials, and tribulations to develop your character?” Can anyone truly go through their life with a content smile at all times, with no worries, no heart-ache, and no trouble? Is there any such thing? I don't believe so. We all have to face the devil sooner or later, and we all have trials. Some of us may have more trials than others, or so it seems, but we all have them, none-the-less.

When you are faced with a life issue that upsets your world, please do everything in your power to deal with it. Don't ask, "why me?" Don't blame others for your trials, don't self-medicate, or bury yourself in work to escape….. And PLEASE don't let any medical doctor get you hooked on prescription drugs for depression and/or anxiety.

My Mother really was a wonderful person, an inspiration, and beautiful role model for me. I grew to respect her immensely for all of her adversity, and I forgave her many years ago for some indisgressions she had. She's only human. One of the things she taught me was to never stop believing, and always strive for my dreams. I knew she was proud of me and in some unexplainable way, I think she may have been a little envious because I did pursue my dreams, where she only had good intentions. She also taught me to tell the truth, and had an uncanny ability to stop me from lying because I didn't want to upset her if she ever found out I had lied. So, I rarely did anything that I thought she'd disapprove of. And yes, the two times I remember lying to her, she found out.

My father also had good intentions, but didn't have the strength to carry through with them. Somewhere along the line of his early childhood or early adulthood, he had been shattered enough times that he gave up trying to pursue his dreams and just settled for what came along. Sad but true. But Dad is in Heaven now and amongst his loved ones who had passed before, and I know all is well for him. My Father instilled in me a strong work ethic. “When are you going to stop working Dad?” I asked him when he was pushing 75 years of age. “When they close the casket”, was his response. I want to thank Dad for going to adult Bible class with me - a grown woman with a grandson - the year before he went into assisted living, and two years before he died. Dad was in his 80's, the oldest one in our class, and he raised his hand many times to ask questions. He became very popular in that class, and I was SO proud of him. When he asked a question the Pastor couldn't answer, Pastor Arp replied, "George, I just don’t know. You’re going to have to put that question in your JESUS pocket, and when you get to the Pearly Gates, you can pull it out then."

Having been at the gateway of Hell, I can tell you it was really hard to swim up-stream to surface again. I attribute the ability to discern the difference between right and wrong and the strength to do something about it to my life experiences. Here is why I think Change is Good, and why I suggest that you embrace, not curse, your trials. Here is what I’ve learned:

• Take care of your health, both physically and spiritually so you can have the energy and ambition to pursue your dreams;
• Finish what you start so you have the joy of accomplishment;
• Think happy thoughts;
• Give everyone the benefit of the doubt. Don't be suspicious - just cautious and careful;
• Forgive those who have wronged you, let by-gones be by-gones and don't live in the past;
• Be kind and generous;
• Eat well, be happy, don't drink excessively, don't smoke (anything), do cardio and strength training or some kind of exercise, and sleep 7-8 hours every night.

It sounds so simple and it truly is.

Love joins our present with the past and the future.

Think about it. If you have both of your feet planted in mid-air, as I often do, try to ground yourself once in awhile. Link your past with your future while you're in the present, and think about God's Love when you do. The world really is better when looking at it through rose-colored glasses, and if you feel bitter or resentful, you have excess baggage that needs to be cleared. That's your first step, and whether it takes 6 months to change such as the eagle, or six years or longer, make that change. Do it, and you can start right now.