Let us ask you something: could you do with better memory, thinking faster, or clearing the brain fog?
You’re right – who couldn’t?!
Thankfully, researchers are quickly finding that a compound called glutathione can help do just this. A natural antioxidant made by your body, glutathione’s health benefits just keep stacking up. Lately, it’s been all about how it can help you keep a sharp mind.
In today’s blog, we’ll go over exactly how glutathione can boost your memory and mental performance.
But first, want to get to know glutathione better? Let’s cover some quick facts about this incredible compound!
Glutathione quick facts:
- It’s pronounced gloo-tuh-thigh-own – Glutathione is famously difficult to pronounce. The “i” is a bit off-putting. But don’t worry, now you can talk about it with confidence!
- It’s an amino acid compound present in almost every cell throughout the body – Glutathione is made up of three amino acids: cysteine, glutamic acid, and glycine. It exists in virtually every cell in the body. [1]
- It acts as an antioxidant – In fact, its primary function is to alleviate oxidative stress!
- It’s considered the master antioxidant – Antioxidants have an important job. They stop free radicals from running amok. This is crucial because free radicals cause oxidative stress – a precursor to many health issues.
- Your body makes glutathione itself, but many environmental factors such as stress, pollutants, or processed foods can deplete it – Though your body does produce it, too much exposure to chemicals or contaminants can deplete it. And, unfortunately, most of us are unwillingly exposed to such things on a daily basis. [1]
- It also depletes with age – Older adults who are physically fit and don’t have many health complications have been found to have higher levels of glutathione than their less healthy counterparts. It’s a bit of a chicken and egg scenario – does glutathione deplete because we get older, or do we age faster because our glutathione depletes? [1]
- It helps the liver detoxify – The largest amount of glutathione is found in the liver – that’s how important it is to the detoxification process. It’s involved in the process of eliminating harmful chemicals and unwanted compounds from the body.
- It can help with hangovers – If you have heard of glutathione, you’ve likely heard this one. It’s famously known for helping ease hangovers. This is largely due to its function in the liver. Alcohol also depletes glutathione levels, meaning that if you drink regularly, your levels may be low.
- It’s not easily absorbed – If you’re aware of glutathione, this may be something else you’ve come across. While dietary sources do exist, since it is so difficult for your body to absorb, it hardly matters. Even when in a supplement, glutathione is difficult for the body to absorb. However, a liposomal delivery has been shown to increase glutathione levels. [2]
Glutathione benefits
With everything above, it comes as no surprise that glutathione has a host of health benefits. Boosting the health of your brain is one (and we will get into that in a moment), but you can also expect the following from glutathione:
- – Helps neutralize free radicals
- – Can regenerate vitamin C and E
- – Helps lower levels of toxins in the body
- – Supports mitochondrial maintenance and function
- – Promotes a healthy liver
- – Supports DNA synthesis, the building blocks of proteins and cells
- – Helps support immune function
- – May form sperm cells
- – Helps break down free radicals
- – Helps certain enzymes function
- – Promotes a healthy brain
- – Helps the liver and gallbladder deal with fats
- – Assists regular cell death (a process known as apoptosis)
Now, before we get into how glutathione helps the brain specifically, it helps to know what actually causes the brain to deteriorate and bring on diseases like dementia.
Let’s take a look…
What causes the brain’s endurance to deteriorate?
Just like a muscle, your brain has a certain endurance when it comes to focus and memory. This can be the difference between being able to focus on complicated tasks for a long time or hardly being able to at all, and being able to remember almost anything or having every other word on the “tip of your tongue”.
When we’re young, this endurance is quite good for most of us. But as we age, it decreases.
So, what exactly causes this decrease?
Many factors play a role, but perhaps the largest has to do with oxidative stress. See, despite the brain representing 2% of body weight, it consumes 20% of the body’s total oxygen! It also relies on other oxidizable molecules such as polyunsaturated acids while having lower levels of antioxidants when compared to other organs. All of these factors make the brain much more vulnerable to oxidative stress.
When oxidative stress occurs within the brain, it can disrupt something called synaptic plasticity. This is the process of brain cell communication, which helps you not only learn, but create and hold memories.
A powerful antioxidant such as glutathione can greatly reduce oxidative stress and keep the brain healthy. This is why it’s well established that glutathione depletion is associated with a decline in cognitive function. [3]
Anything that increases oxidative stress within the body – and in turn the brain – can negatively impact brain cognition and contribute to dementia as we age. However, this risk can be significantly improved with proper dietary intervention. Plenty of evidence exists showing a positive relationship between high antioxidant levels and lower risks of Alzheimer’s disease – the most prevalent form of dementia. [4]
So, can glutathione help?
Scientific evidence shows that low glutathione levels can impair both short- and long-term memory. On top of that, research has also revealed that normal glutathione levels are necessary for creating new memories. [5, 6]
This is because – with optimal glutathione levels – your brain can eliminate oxidative stress. In fact, glutathione is one of the main defense mechanisms that your brain uses to handle oxidative stress and it is quite effective in detoxifying the brain of unwanted molecules that cause oxidative stress.
Another major reason why glutathione allows the brain to function optimally is because it protects crucial compounds within the brain. One example of many is brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). This is a protein within the brain that allows for the creation of new neurons and connections. Oxidative stress decreases the levels of BDNF in the brain, inhibiting you from forming these new cells and connections – greatly affecting learning and memory.
It’s important to have a powerful antioxidant like glutathione protecting the mechanisms within your brain.
Our glutathione levels naturally decrease with age, but we don’t have to accept the mental decline that comes along with this as our fate.
Instead, boost your glutathione levels with a glutathione supplement that your body can actually take in and use.
Purality Health’s Nano Liposomal Glutathione is guaranteed to show you results within 6 months or your money back.