Vitamin C offers many health benefits, including repairing cell damage, improving immunity, reducing inflammation and fighting cancer cells. It is a natural antioxidant and works best in the body when combined with the antioxidant glutathione.
What are the benefits of Glutathione?
Glutathione, considered one of the most important of all antioxidants in the body, it actually gives vitamin C a boost. Glutathione is present in every cell of the body and works to protect the cell mitochondria from bacteria, viruses and toxins. Unlike the average antioxidant that does its job by wiping out free radicals, then perishing; glutathione gives these antioxidants a longer life span. Glutathione is naturally occurring in the body, and is made up of amino acids: glutamic acid, cysteine and glycine.
Though found throughout the body, glutathione is found to be at higher concentration levels in the liver, the primary detox organ. A healthy liver helps the body absorb nutrients and eliminate toxins. However, this process isn’t all that easy. First, the liver enzymes transform the toxin into a compound that can be eliminated from the body. Secondly, glutathione takes action and grabs hold of the toxin to send it out of the body either through the urine or bile. If there are inadequate amounts of the glutathione, then the toxins accumulate in the liver, and when toxins build up in the body then sickness occurs. The importance of adequate amounts of this natural antioxidant can be expressed clearly by recent studies done on a group of healthy seniors. Research found that they all had high levels of glutathione, indicating it is a key to longevity and good health.
When you pair glutathione with any other antioxidant, it becomes even more of a threat to free radicals in the body. There are two types of antioxidants that work together in the body. Water-soluble and Lipid (fat) soluble: the body requires both types because they target different types of cells and tissues. Vitamin C is naturally a water-soluble vitamin, which makes it hard to be absorbed by the cells. Over time various research studies have proven the multiple benefits that vitamin C has to the human body. However, until now the benefits were experienced most through injections. However, the liposomal vitamin C form totally changes this.
The name Liposomal Vitamin C is derived from the way it is made. Liposomes are a form of nanotechnology and the body sees them as a natural cell; making them a perfect way to deliver drugs and supplements to the body. Lipo meaning fat and soma meaning body – the liposomes are made of double layers of fatty material. Since the body more readily absorbs fat, then it absorbs the liposome that encases the vitamin C. This method has proven even more beneficial then the IV method, and is much more convenient and cost effective.
Vitamin C, as already mentioned has powerful health benefits. However, the body cannot reap the benefit of full strength absorption when taken orally, due to the digestive system breaking it down. This is where why Liposomal Vitamin C with Glutathione is important to overall health. You have two different types of antioxidants packaged into a single form that enables it to be directly absorbed into the cells. It is truly a great health resource.
What is Ascorbate Recycling?
Ascorbate recycling is a cellular process that regenerates active vitamin C (ascorbate) after it has been oxidized while neutralizing reactive oxygen species (ROS). During antioxidant activity, ascorbate donates electrons to neutralize free radicals and becomes oxidized first to monodehydroascorbate (MDHA) and then to dehydroascorbate (DHA). To maintain antioxidant capacity, cells recycle these oxidized forms back to ascorbate through enzymatic reduction pathways. MDHA can be directly reduced back to ascorbate by monodehydroascorbate reductase (MDHAR) using NADH or NADPH as electron donors, while DHA is reduced to ascorbate by dehydroascorbate reductase (DHAR) using glutathione (GSH) as a reducing agent. Glutathione itself is then regenerated from its oxidized form (GSSG) by glutathione reductase, which requires NADPH. This interconnected system—often called the ascorbate–glutathione cycle—allows vitamin C to be reused repeatedly, sustaining antioxidant defenses and protecting cells from oxidative damage.
To ensure you are able to take full advantage of Liposomal Vitamin C your body must have adequate levels of Glutathione.
References:
- May, J.M., Qu, Z. and Morrow, J.D. (2001) ‘Mechanisms of ascorbic acid recycling in human erythrocytes’, Biochimica et Biophysica Acta, 1528(2–3), pp. 159–166. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11687303/
- May, J.M., Qu, Z., Neel, D.R. and Li, X. (2003) ‘Recycling of vitamin C from its oxidized forms by human endothelial cells’, Biochimica et Biophysica Acta, 1640(2–3), pp. 153–161.
- Foyer, C.H. and Noctor, G. (2012) ‘The ascorbate–glutathione–α-tocopherol triad in abiotic stress response’, International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 13(4), pp. 4458–4483. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22605990/
- Smirnoff, N. (2018) ‘Vitamin C: Biosynthesis, recycling and degradation in mammals’, Sub-Cellular Biochemistry, 90, pp. 189–212. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17222174/
- Kim, Y.J. et al. (2016) ‘Structural understanding of the recycling of oxidized ascorbate by dehydroascorbate reductase’, Scientific Reports, 6, p. 19498. https://www.nature.com/articles/srep19498
