Glutathione Dosage Per Day: The Ideal Amount

  • By Performance Lab
  • 4 minute read
Glutathione Dosage Per Day: The Ideal Amount

We’re always looking for the best supplements to support our bodies daily. Protect us against cold and flu, boost energy, enhance athletic performance, sharpen cognitive function, and every other line of products geared at maximizing our capabilities.

But when it comes to full-body support, there’s one class of supplements that we often neglect—antioxidants.

And of those antioxidants, we’re talking about one specifically. It’s one of the most powerful antioxidants produced within your body that can help to protect your cells from the danger that looms around every corner.

We’re talking about glutathione—the undervalued superstar of the antioxidant world. We cover what you need to know about this powerhouse, starting with what it is, why we need it, natural ways to boost your levels, and how much you need daily to keep your body protected.

What Is Glutathione And Why Do We Need It?

As we just mentioned, glutathione is one of the most important and powerful antioxidants within your body. It is naturally produced in liver cells by combining three amino acids—glutamine, glycine, and cysteine—but can also come from food sources 1.

What’s interesting about this antioxidant is that it’s found in surprisingly large quantities within cells—about the same concentrations as glucose, potassium, and cholesterol, which should underline just how important it is.

But the thing with glutathione is that as you age, endogenous levels naturally decline, so supporting it becomes that much more important 1. In general, the rate of synthesis, regeneration, and recycling of glutathione is determined by three key factors 2:

  1. Cellular levels of cysteine—Cysteine availability is the rate-limiting step in glutathione production, so not enough cysteine and de novo synthesis of glutathione will slow
  2. Enzyme glutamate cysteine ligase (GCL) activity, in part regulated by glutathione feedback inhibition
  3. Glutathione depletion due to high levels of oxidative stress, inflammation, or exposure to xenobiotics—in these situations, de novo synthesis is upregulated

Of course, as an antioxidant, one of the most important roles of glutathione is shielding cells from reactive oxygen species and reactive nitrogen species, but that’s not its only job. It’s also involved in 1:

  • Detoxification of xenobiotic and endogenous compounds
  • Facilitating plasma membrane transport of toxic substances for excretion from the body
  • Scavenging oxidants (superoxide anion, hydroxyl radical, nitric oxide, and carbon radicals)
  • Recycling and regenerating other antioxidants (vitamins C and E)
  • Removing mercury from cells and the brain
  • Regulating cellular proliferation and apoptosis
  • Supporting proper mitochondrial function and maintenance of mitochondrial DNA

There’s really no shortage of roles glutathione plays, and low levels have been linked to 3:

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  • Neurodegenerative diseases (Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Huntington’s disease)
  • Pulmonary disease (COPD, asthma, acute respiratory distress syndrome)
  • Immune diseases (HIV, autoimmunity)
  • Cardiovascular diseases (hypertension, myocardial infarction, high cholesterol)
  • Chronic age-related diseases (cataracts, macular degeneration, glaucoma)
  • Liver disease
  • Cystic fibrosis
  • Aging

So, considering just how important glutathione is for supporting health and well-being, it only makes sense to look for ways to support its production and increase levels naturally.

4 Ways To Boost Glutathione Levels

Here are our top tips for naturally increasing glutathione levels:

  1. Decrease the need for glutathione: By decreasing your toxic load, you can help to support normal levels of glutathione and reduce the need for it. That means limiting alcohol consumption and reducing exposure to persistent organic pollutants (POPs), which are found in concentrated levels in conventionally grown foods 1. But this also means increasing intake of other key antioxidants like alpha-lipoid acid (ALA) to reduce oxidative stress and thus reduce demand for GSH.
  2. Nutrient support: Because glutathione production requires a specific set of nutrients, increasing intake of supplemental cysteine in the form of N-acetyl cysteine can help to boost the production of glutathione by ensuring sufficient substrate. Increasing intake of sulfur-rich vegetables to boost levels of methionine and cysteine is also key. These amino acids are naturally concentrated and meat and seafood, but also in cruciferous veggies, and studies show that eating sulfur-rich foods may help reduce levels of oxidative stress and boost glutathione levels 4, 5.
  3. Increase vitamin C: Concentrated in many fruits and vegetables, vitamin C is another powerful antioxidant that may help to quench free radicals first, thereby sparing glutathione. Studies also show that vitamin C can help regenerate glutathione by converting oxidized glutathione back to its active form 6. Research suggests that just 500mg of vitamin C daily can elevate blood levels of glutathione by up to 47% 7!
  4. Direct supplementation: One of the most obvious ways of boosting GSH levels is to supplement with it directly. While there are many pure glutathione supplements available on the market, PL-Immune supplies 250mg of Setria Glutathione per capsule for antioxidant support, immune cell support, and gut barrier support.

How Much Glutathione Per Day?

Now that you know why you need glutathione and how to increase your levels, how much do you need per day to maintain adequate levels?

When it comes to dosing glutathione, it’s going to largely depend on what you’re taking it for. Several studies indicate positive results with dosages between 250-300mg daily, but higher therapeutic doses may be necessary in some cases.

One study found that 300mg/day of GSH for 16 weeks improved liver health and function in people with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), while another study found 250mg GSH per day taken orally was beneficial for skin health and aging 8, 9.

Based on available research, how much you take is going to be dictated by your individual health situation, but 250mg seems to be the sweet spot for daily maintenance of GSH levels. Alternatively, supplementing with the precursors can help to naturally increase glutathione production.

Final Thoughts

As one of the most important antioxidants in the body, supporting glutathione levels is key to maintaining good health. There is no shortage of food sources for optioning sufficient amounts, but do note that dietary GSH may not be as well-absorbed as supplemental form.

As such, incorporating PL-Immune into your daily supplement stack to protect you against all the health challenges constantly being thrown at you.

References

  1. J Glutathione!Integr Med (Encinitas). 2014;13(1):8-12.
  2. SK Biswas, I Rahman. Environmental toxicity, redox signaling and lung inflammation: the role of glutathione. Mol Aspects Med. 2009;30(1-2):60-76.
  3. N Ballatori, SM Krance, S Notenboom, S Shi, K Tieu, CL Hammond. Glutathione dysregulation and the etiology and progression of human diseases.Biol Chem. 2009;390(3):191-214.
  4. Z Bahadoran, P Mirmiran, F Hosseinpanah, M Hedayati, S Hosseinpour-Niazi, F Azizi. Broccoli sprouts reduce oxidative stress in type 2 diabetes: a randomized double-blind clinical trial.Eur J Clin Nutr. 2011;65(8):972-977.
  5. LE Moore, P Brennan, S Karami, et al. Glutathione S-transferase polymorphisms, cruciferous vegetable intake and cancer risk in the Central and Eastern European Kidney Cancer Study. Carcinogenesis. 2007;28(9):1960-1964.
  6. KJ Lenton, AT Sané, H Therriault, AM Cantin, H Payette, JR Wagner. Vitamin C augments lymphocyte glutathione in subjects with ascorbate deficiency.Am J Clin Nutr. 2003;77(1):189-195.
  7. CS Johnston, CG Meyer, JC Srilakshmi. Vitamin C elevates red blood cell glutathione in healthy adults.Am J Clin Nutr. 1993;58(1):103-105.
  8. Y Honda, T Kessoku, Y Sumida, et al. Efficacy of glutathione for the treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: an open-label, single-arm, multicenter, pilot study.BMC Gastroenterol. 2017;17(1):96.
  9. S Weschawalit, S Thongthip, P Phutrakool, P Asawanonda. Glutathione and its antiaging and antimelanogenic effects. Clin Cosmet Investig Dermatol. 2017;10:147-153.

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