Experts project the global natural antioxidants market to be worth $4.14 billion by 2022. One reason for this growth is the increasing awareness of their skin and hair benefits. Of these antioxidants, vitamins C and E are the most popular.
What many people aren't aware of is that the body makes its own antioxidant known as "glutathione" (GSH). In fact, GHS is a "master antioxidant" found in almost all body tissues.
What does glutathione do exactly, though, and why is it important for overall health? What are the specific roles it plays when it comes to the skin?
We'll answer all these questions in this comprehensive guide, so be sure to read on!
What Does Glutathione Do for Your Body in General?
Antioxidants like glutathione are molecules that combat free radicals circulating in the body. Free radicals are also molecules, but they contain one unpaired electron.
Free radicals aren’t always harmful, so long as they don’t outnumber antioxidants. However, this can quickly happen due to bad dietary habits and too much stress. Even environmental factors, such as pollution, can create free radicals.
Scientists associate excessive levels of free radicals with chronic diseases like diabetes. They also appear to contribute to or increase the risk of heart disease and even cancer. These effects appear to result from the oxidative stress caused by free radicals.
Antioxidants help keep oxidative stress at bay by "hunting" and "scavenging" free radicals. They then stop or delay the cellular damage induced by the harmful molecules.
Glutathione is a master antioxidant because it's in almost every cell in the body. As such, it plays many roles in physiological and cellular processes. These include antioxidant defense, gene expression, and immune responses, to name a few.
Conversely, a lack of GSH can give rise to increased oxidative stress. From there, cellular damage, chronic illnesses, and degenerative diseases can occur. Oxidative stress also appears to hasten the body's aging process.
What Does Glutathione Do for the Skin Then?
The skin is the body's largest organ; in adults, it sums up to a size of two square meters and a weight of about eight pounds. Glutathione is present in all skin cells. In fact, it's one of the most abundant antioxidants in the skin.
With that said, let’s take a closer look at what exactly glutathione can do for the skin.
Protection Against UV Exposure
One of the main purported roles of glutathione on skin health is UV protection. In lab studies, cultured human skin cells that lacked GSH became sensitive to UVA and UVB rays. Both types of ultraviolet radiation caused skin mutations and cell death.
Of all organs, the skin is most at risk of UV damage because it's the largest and the most exposed. That's why experts also say that up 90% of apparent skin changes result from long-term sun exposure. It can cause sun spots, skin discoloration, photo-aged skin, and even cancer.
UVA exposure puts the skin at risk of premature aging and indirect cell and DNA damage. By contrast, UVB radiation burns the skin, causes direct cell damage, and mutates skin DNA. These are examples of oxidative stress (or the effects of too many free radicals).
GSH, as an antioxidant, can scavenge free radicals that chronic UV exposure can bring. One way it does so is by acting as a "hydrogen donor." The "donated" hydrogen bonds with a radical's unpaired electron, causing a chain reaction.
Anti-Aging Properties
Aging causes many skin changes, such as the thinning of the epidermis, the skin's outer layer. The number of melanocytes (pigment-containing cells) decreases while existing ones get bigger. As a result, aging skin looks translucent but may have large, pigmented areas, such as age spots.
Aging skin also loses its strength and elasticity, a condition known as elastosis. This is responsible for the leathery, weathered skin of people who spent a lot of time outdoors.
The skin's blood vessels also become more fragile as one gets older. This makes it easy for the skin to develop bruises or even internal bleeding.
Moreover, aging results in the sebaceous glands producing less oil. Unfortunately, this makes it difficult to retain moisture in the skin. This is why aging skin is prone to dryness, flakiness, and itchiness.
Studies associate decreased glutathione levels with many common signs of aging skin. This is likely due to aging skin lacking the antioxidant and detoxifying effects of GSH. Also, since GSH can boost the skin's ability to retain moisture, a lack of the antioxidant can lead to dryness.
Unfortunately, aging appears to cause a decrease in the body's glutathione supply, too. In such cases, IV-administered glutathione for anti aging may restore GSH levels. Intravenous delivery introduces the antioxidant directly into the system.
Roles in Cancer Protection
Glutathione's detoxifying properties make it crucial for combating and removing carcinogens. Carcinogens, in turn, are substances that can cause cancer in humans, such as UVB radiation.
Glutathione's protective features appear to stem from how it alters carcinogens. However, it's in the same way that GSH may also play a pathogenic role in cancer development. Excessive levels of the antioxidant may instead "protect" cancer or tumor cells.
For this reason, have your glutathione levels checked first before you take supplements. This way, you'll know if taking external GSH sources can benefit you instead of putting you at risk of cancer.
Don't Let Low Glutathione Levels Put Your Health at Risk
There you have it, the ultimate guide that answers the question, "what does glutathione do?" Now, you know how important this antioxidant is and how it keeps your cells healthy and alive. It plays a role in preventing chronic diseases, like diabetes and heart disease.
So, if you think that you're low on GSH, be sure to pay your doctor a visit. This way, your physician can determine if it's a good idea for you to take glutathione supplements.
Interested in more health and beauty tips and tricks? Then be sure to check out our other blog posts and guides!
