I have just recently attended a special ‘nosebleed’ forum that talks about L-Glutathione or GSH – common myths, misconceptions and how this substance really interacts with our body.

GLUTATHIONE

The forum called “What Filipinos Need To Know About Glutathione” was held at the Hotel Jen Manila yesterday afternoon, attended by various media outfits and bloggers.

It was hosted by one of the country’s leading health and wellness products provider, VIDA NutriScience Inc. together with a panel of experts from Kohjin Life Sciences of Japan led by Mr. Yusuke Sauchi, Ms. Hitomi Ito and Dr. Wataru Aoi, a professor from the Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine.

The mini forum is aimed at educating the public through the media about what Glutathione is really all about and putting a stop to all the negative rumors circulating to discredit its use because of its side-effects.

Well, the fact of the matter is, even H2O (water) can be fatally dangerous when used inappropriately. And I don’t even need the forum yesterday to tell me all about it. Anything in excess or wrongfully used (abused) can be detrimental to one’s health and wellness and that includes everything that we do – from eating to even our exercise routine.

A friend once spread a lot of LOVE, apparently too much – and now he’s living without any. 🙂

So let’s talk about SIDE-EFFECTS.

Scientifically, there are neither good or bad results – we only label them as consequences (or just results). Our interpretation of the said results, makes it ‘bad’ or ‘good’ – it’s very subjective.

For example, the whitening property of L-Glutathione is a SIDE-EFFECT of the substance. A consequence! But what is Glutathione really all about?

Honestly, my only experience with Glutathione is with a bath soap – but I do know that the substance is more properly used or administered by way of injection – Intramuscular (IM) or Intravenously (IV). And even though I took the science of nursing in college, I am not that fond of needles and so, trying an L-Glutathione injection is never going to happen for me. And that is to add to the fact that I know nothing about the substance except that it’s used to whiten the skin.

But of course, like I said earlier, that is only a side-effect. So what did I learn from our friends from Kohjin Life Sciences yesterday?

First, L-Glutathione (GSH) is a tripeptide or a congregation of three types of amino acids that is usually found in every cell of the human body.

In other words, we have this inside and we are already producing it naturally. Its main functions are still a bit of a mystery to scientists but they have found out that the substance is actually an anti-oxidant that removes free radicals, detoxifies the body and activate our liver functions.

So, Glutathione is an ANTI-OXIDANT.

It regulates our body’s biochemical activity, fight the enemies of cell health, helps rejuvenate aging cells and “takes out the trash” since the day we were born.

Unfortunately, the volume of Glutathione that we produce and maintain decreases as our body ages, also exposure to toxins and pollutants depletes our body’s natural supply. In a way, Glutathione is our first line of defense against aging – the lesser we have, the faster we age.

Here are some of the things that might deplete our natural source of GSH:

  • Heavy Exercise
  • Toxins
  • Stress
  • UV Rays
  • Pollution
  • Tobacco
  • Alcohol

People at age 50 has 50% less plasma glutathione concentration than those who are in their early 20s. Age is really a big factor.

Now, Kohjin Life Sciences, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi Corporation Life Sciences, began its pioneering research on Glutathione nearly 50 years ago, first establishing it as an active pharmaceutical ingredient for acute detoxification in Japan. By forming conjugates with environmental toxins and heavy metals, Glutathione forces their elimination. Levels of liver enzymes AST, ALT and y-GPT in blood were lowered overall in subjects administered with the substance.

It aids LIVER HEALTH, DETOXIFICATION and ANTIOXIDATION.

Glutathione is also shown to mediate the oxidation of cells at mitochondial level and enhances the effects of other antioxidants synergistically. In other words, the antioxidant benefits that we get from Vitamin C is nearly doubled when combined with Glutathione. The result is healthy, prolific cell life that are resistant to aging.

Now as a SIDE EFFECT of regulating cellular functions, the body’s healthy cells is shown more visibly in the skin. Plus, Glutathione is a strong inhibitor of melanin synthesis making skin appear lighter, healthier and always with that youthful glow.

When combined with Kojic Acid, the skin lightening effect (melanin inhibition) is more than doubled.

Now in terms of administration and efficacy, our experts from Japan said that injecting Glutathione delivers the fastest results especially when used as an aid to detoxification.

However, in 2013 Kohjin Life Sciences in collaboration with a team from Kyoto Prefectural university and Kyoto University has developed an orally viable Glutathione supplement. Kohjin L-Glutatione is the only ingredient of its kind to hold US FDA-Notified FULL GRAS status, Halal and Kosher certification. Generally recognized as safe!

Kohjin L-Glutathione

The benefits of this latest discovery was brought to the Philippines by the Halchem group and is now popularly distributed by VIDA Nutriscience Inc. as a dietary supplement called SNOW CAPS.

glutathione

One Snow Caps capsule contains 500mg of Kojin L-Glutathione combined with two more powerful antioxidants Alpha Lipoic Acid (ALA) and Vitamin C. The recommended use is 1 capsule in the morning (with or without meal).

But why take Glutathione orally?

Are you kidding me? The answer is very obvious – It’s easier, safer, effective and most importantly… no needles!

Did you know that actor Alden Richards is the brand ambassador of Snow Caps? The idea of getting good looking and fair complexioned models to endorse a supplement for whitening would normally bug me up – but after hearing that Glutathione is more than just a skin whitening agent, Alden seems to be a legit choice since busy celebrities like him are usually under constant threat of free radicals and stress – a Snow Caps a day would definitely restore him to full health.

SNOW CAPS are sold in boxes of 30 capsules in all leading drug stores at 1,495 Pesos. For MORE about Snow Caps and VIDA NutriScience go to their website at www.vidanutriscience.com