Tag: glutathione

  • Inflammation

    Inflammation can be triggered by microbes, foods, trauma, or toxins, but when the immune system is well-supported, the result is tolerance rather than over-reactivity.  Supporting Resolution Ginger and Boswellia can help with inflammation. Dietary fiber (50 grams/day) can help to move toxins out of the body and reduce the amount of toxins that are reabsorbed…

  • Intestinal Permeability, Celiac Disease, and Tight Junctions

    Intestinal permeability — how easily substances pass through the intestinal barrier rather than being kept out — plays a central role in celiac disease and gluten sensitivity.  Remission Can Mean a Return to Normal Barrier Function Hollon et al. (2015) exposed intestinal biopsy specimens to gliadin and measured the resulting change in permeability across several…

  • Mitochondrial Dysfunction and Type 2 Diabetes: Mechanisms, Markers, and Interventions

    Type 2 diabetes can be assessed from the perspective of mitochondrial dysfunction as not just a side effect, but a factor in its progression. Symptoms like fatigue and difficulty concentrating can be a sign that mitochondria aren’t functioning properly, and that same underlying dysfunction may be feeding the disease process itself. When mitochondria are impaired,…

  • Two Manifestations of Oxidative Stress: Cataracts and Steatotic Liver Disease

    The following two examples — one on age-related cataracts, and one on Steatotic Liver Disease (SLD)  — both illustrate how cells try to compensate for oxidative stress, and what happens when those compensatory systems eventually fail. Oxidative Stress and Cataract Formation Huang et al. (2022) investigated how biliverdin reductase A protects lens epithelial cells from…

  • What Happens in the Body When Alcohol Dehydrogenase Goes to Work

    I’ve been digging into a few studies on alcohol dehydrogenase — the enzyme responsible for the first step of ethanol metabolism, oxidizing ethanol to acetaldehyde while reducing NAD+ to NADH. I found some genuinely strange toxicology, and some insight into hangovers. When It’s Not Ethanol: A Forensic Toxicology Case Ethanol is not the only substrate…

  • Some of the Micronutrients Behind Your Energy Levels

    If you’ve ever wondered why “eat a balanced diet” is such persistent advice, the research on thiamine, selenium, and CoQ10 offers a clue: even small, common shortfalls in these nutrients are tied to measurable changes in how efficiently the body produces energy. Thiamine and Cellular Energy Production Thiamine (vitamin B1) plays a direct role in…

  • Air Pollution

    Hong et al. (2016) investigated the mechanisms behind how particulate matter, which contains chemicals such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), causes rhinitis. This was an in vitro experiment, but they found that in cells exposed to particulate matter, reactive oxygen species were increased, while superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathioneperoxidase were decreased. When the cells were…

  • Diaphragmatic Breathing

    One group of clients for whom I would recommend diaphragmatic breathing are those who are interested in detoxification yet are also experiencing ongoing stress.  The IFM handout, Breathing Techniques to Soothe the Soul, gives a good description of the modality on one page, and suggests that five minutes of practice would be enough to achieve…

  • Protein, Brassicas, and Dietary Fiber

    I found an interesting study where glutathione was found to decrease after participants spent three days on a lower protein diet than what they were used to, but it appeared to return to normal by day ten (Jackson et al., 2004).   Eating brassicas could help the estrogen metabolizing pathways to lead to less of…

  • Brassicas for Liver Function

    An association has been found between higher levels of gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) and serum levels of several persistent organic pollutants (Lee & Jacobs, 2006).  Also, increased oxidative stress has been found in association with elevated GGT (Lim et al., 2004).  Brassicas are emphasized in the Detox Food Plan, and consumption of cooked, frozen brassica vegetables…