Glutathione’s Antioxidant Properties: Is It Truly a “Superior Antioxidant”?

Article Summary:

• Glutathione is considered to be the ‘master antioxidant’ because of its significant role in several biochemical processes that limit oxidative stress and support detoxification pathways.* 
• Natural glutathione is known for its poor absorption and low bioavailability, which hinders its efficacy as a nutritional supplement.  
• Tesseract’s innovative glutathione supplement formulation enables optimal absorption of glutathione through proprietary nutrient delivery nanotechnology.

When the body produces and accumulates an excess of free radicals, the balance between free radicals and antioxidants is disrupted. The resulting state of imbalance, known as oxidative stress, results in free radicals targeting cellular organelles, damaging lipids, nucleic acids, and proteins. 

What are Antioxidants?

Antioxidants are compounds that inhibit oxidation and the production of free radicals, thereby protecting cells from damage caused by oxidative stress.* The body can generate its own antioxidants, such as glutathione, coenzyme Q10, uric acid, bilirubin, L-arginine, lipoic acid, melatonin, and transferrin. Some antioxidants, such as vitamins C and E, flavonoids, carotenoids, trace metals, and omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, can be consumed in the diet or taken as nutritional supplements.

Glutathione — The ‘Master Antioxidant’

Glutathione, a key antioxidant produced in the cells, consists of three amino acids — cysteine, glycine, and glutamic acid. Glutathione is present in almost every cell in the body at the same concentration as some other vital nutrients, such as potassium and glucose. Glutathione is the primary antioxidant, detoxifying agent, and critical redox regulator that helps maintain normal inflammatory responses,* making it the ‘master antioxidant.’ 

This blog post explains glutathione’s antioxidant properties, its bioavailability challenges, and why you should include an advanced glutathione supplement in your wellness plan or health routine.   

Glutathione’s Antioxidant Properties

A glutathione deficiency in the body is linked to cognitive decline, mitochondrial dysfunction, and other age-associated degeneration of health functions.* Recent research suggests that nutritional interventions, including amino acids, vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals through diet and nutritional supplements, can help maintain an optimal circulating level of glutathione in the body.*¹ 

Glutathione exerts its antioxidant effects primarily through reduction, conjugation, and interaction with other antioxidants.* The following table highlights glutathione’s antioxidant properties and how it eliminates toxins from the body and helps maintain the body’s antioxidant defense system.*²

In addition, glutathione is involved in other beneficial cellular processes, such as protein folding, degradation of proteins with disulfide bonds, cell cycle regulation and proliferation, and beneficial cell death (apoptosis).*   

Although glutathione is a critical antioxidant and is endogenously produced by the body, its absorption is generally poor when taken orally as a supplement. Intestinal enzymes break down glutathione during its transit through the gastrointestinal tract, leading to poor absorption and low bioavailability. Glutathione is conventionally known as a ‘difficult-to-absorb’ molecule. However, advanced nutrient delivery technologies have overcome glutathione’s solubility challenges.³ 

Incorporating a Glutathione Supplement In Your Diet

The efficacy of a glutathione nutritional supplement depends on its absorption and bioavailability.

Advanced supplement formulations utilize nanotechnology for the targeted delivery of glutathione molecules to achieve the desired health-promoting outcomes.  

Tesseract Medical Research has developed SafeCell^® — an innovative nutritional supplement formulation that contains an acetylated form of glutathione. SafeCell utilizes the proprietary CyLoc^® – DexKey^® nanomolecular nutrient delivery technology to enable unprecedented absorption of glutathione molecules. 

The CyLoc^® technology creates nano-sized particles of the active nutrient for better absorption. The accompanying DexKey^® reactors release the CyLoc® molecules at the desired point in the intestinal tract. The resulting unprecedented absorption achieves glutathione’s potent antioxidant properties, making it a bioavailable reality. 

Reference:

¹Minich, Deanna M, and Benjamin I Brown. Nutrients vol. 11,9 2073. 3 Sep. 2019, doi:10.3390/nu11092073

²Averill-Bates DA. Vitamins and Hormones vol. 121(2023):109-141. doi:10.1016/bs.vh.2022.09.002

³Losada-Barreiro, Sonia et al. Pharmaceutics vol. 16,7 852. 25 Jun. 2024, doi:10.3390/pharmaceutics16070852