MY QUESTIONS ARE:
- Is it safe to give a nursing mother glutathione?
- Is it safe to give a baby oral liposomal glutathione?
- What about “redistribution”?
ANSWERS:
- GSH is a phase-2 primary detox substrate (water soluble detox) and is responsible via the GST system to complex post Phase-2 metabolites and removes them from the body.
- GSH from mothers’ milk is (in the younger baby) the primary stabilizing antioxidant for the baby, and without it (or even if the milk is stored) the redox state of baby suffers. [J. Trace Elem. Med. Biol. 12: 221-230. and J Trop Pediatr. 2000 Apr;46(2):111-3.]
- Use in mom would primarily cause improved redox in mom, and have a minor detox effect.
- What did get mobilized would be post phase-2 detox which would require GSH in mom and (if it made it to baby) GSH in the baby.
- The worry over GSH alone “mobilizing and redistributing” metals is very over simplified and overstated. It is not like most thiols where this is a potential but rather GSH is required during the normal (and stimulated / chelated) movement of metals as a primary protection agent rather than a primary mobilizer/redistributor. [Although there is much on this in deeper data this paper gives some good overview PMCID: PMC3654245].
- So GSH is separate in effect and potential for direct issues that other thiols like ALA and NAC as well as the thiol stabilizer Silibinin.
- Net biological effect in a nursing mom is that the GSH to mom would only be protective to both mom and baby regardless of what ‘mobilizes’.
Other related content:
- GSH Support IV Papers
- ReDox Support