Glutathione and loving your liver

September 25, 2011 at 2:02pm

Dr. David Perlmutter has pioneered glutathione treatment and believes it can be helpful in neurological diseases, including MS and Parkinson's Disease.  And it has helped many.

Glutathione is a super antioxidant, but taken orally, it doesn't really do well.  The digestive tract breaks it down before it can become available in the rest of the body.  It's great as an IV infusion,  but this isn't readily available to many.  So, I thought I would explain a bit about glutathione, and how we can increase the production in our own bodies.  The truth is, the best way to increase glutathione is not to ingest it or use an IV, it's to let your body make it itself.

Glutathione is naturally created by a healthy liver.  

When Jeff was diagnosed with MS, one of his strange blood results was that his liver enzymes, AST and ALT, were 10 times higher than normal. He was slightly jaundiced and his eyes were a bit yellow.   It looked like he had liver disease, and his neurologist assumed he drank too much alcohol, but Jeff didn't drink.  So I did some research, and learned that high liver enzymes happened in those w/MS---even before taking any drugs.

Multiple Sclerosis Linked to Abnormal Liver Test Results- 

To make the link, the researchers used data from the Sylvia Lawry Centre for MS Research in Germany, the largest database of MS clinical trial information in the world. In all, medical information from 813 people with MS enrolled in various clinical trials from North America, Australia and Europe was analyzed. The study was funded by the MS Society of Canada. 

Over a two-year period, there was an over three-fold increased risk of a person with MS having an elevated liver test result compared to expectations. An elevated test result indicates that liver enzymes have leaked out of their cells. This leakage into the blood stream may be an indicator of liver cell damage. 

http://www.mssociety.ca/en/releases/nr_20061101.htm 

Zonulin and gluten: the link to the blood brain barrier

May 18, 2011 at 2:49pm

Dr. David Hubbard discussed research into zonulin in his presentation at the Hubbard Foundation conference.  As many of you know, the Hubbard Foundation recommends a gluten-free diet to maintain endothelial integrity and a healthy blood brain barrier.

http://www.hubbardfoundation.org/nutrition

Another neurologist named David--Dr. David Perlmutter-- also recommends a gluten free diet.  Here is his newly published book, Grain Brain  http://drperlmutter.com/about/grain-brain-by-david-perlmutter/

So, what is gluten? Gluten is a special type of protein that is commonly found in rye, wheat, and barley. Therefore, it is found in most types of cereals and in many types of bread. Not all foods from the grain family, however, contain gluten. Examples of grains and seeds that do not have gluten include wild rice, corn, buckwheat, millet, amaranth, quinoa, teff, oats, soybeans, and sunflower seeds.

If you're like me, you've probably wondered, "What the heck does gluten have to do with the brain?"

Well, there is a very interesting connection, and it's based on research being done at the University of Maryland on a protein called zonulin.