Your body needs Vitamin D
Vitamin D is a fat-soluble essential vitamin produced by our skin when exposed to the sun. Vitamin D is critical to good health-protecting our bones and muscles by preventing osteoporosis and muscle wastage. Some evidence also suggests that it has a protective effect on cardiovascular disease, diabetes, autoimmune diseases, viral infections and, even certain cancers.
Am I at risk from Vitamin D deficiency?
Vitamin D deficiency affects more than one billion people worldwide and is considered a significant public health issue. But who is most at risk from low Vitamin D levels?
- People who avoid sun exposure for cultural or health reasons, such as religious dresses, or to prevent tanning
- Dark-skinned people who require more UV exposure due to a higher level of pigments in their skin, especially when living in countries with lower sun intensity
- The elderly or those who are institutionalized because they live mostly indoors
- Babies of Vitamin D deficient mothers
- People who are obese
- Those taking certain medications that interfere with the absorption of calcium and vitamin D
Interestingly, there is no association between sunscreen usage and low Vitamin D levels.
Can I supplement my Vitamin D?
It is generally recommended that people in high-risk groups supplement their Vitamin D levels if regular sunlight exposure is lacking. This is often the case when residing in countries far north or south of the equator, even for people who may not be classified as high risk. In the past, sunbeds were widespread; however, this is mostly avoided nowadays due to elevated skin cancer risk. Many people in these countries seek holidays in the sun, but during the long winter months, when life takes place mostly indoors, Vitamin D levels can suffer. Your doctor can measure your Vitamin D during a routine blood test and may recommend boosting your levels.
However, this may not be quite that easy. Firstly, not all people respond well to Vitamin D supplementation, meaning their levels do not increase much. Secondly, high doses are generally needed to achieve even moderate increases in Vitamin D levels. We now understand that this may actually be due to low glutathione levels.
Vitamin D & Glutathione
A recent study published in Antioxidants & Redox Signaling found a strong correlation between low glutathione levels and Vitamin D absorption from supplements. It has been suggested that taking even very high doses of Vitamin D may be ineffective unless a person’s glutathione status is first addressed. This has significant health implications on those people relying on supplements to maintain healthy Vitamin D levels.
But while low Vitamin D levels are easily picked up during routine blood tests, it is far more challenging to measure glutathione. There simply isn’t a standard test for this condition, and any results can be somewhat inaccurate. Therefore, it is prudent to elevate cellular glutathione levels while taking Vitamin D. However, even though there are many products out there that claim to increase glutathione, all fail when it comes to raising glutathione in our cells where it matters. After all, glutathione only works inside our cells. But, as we will find out, there is an easy and fast way to do just that.
Can I take glutathione with vitamin D?
It has been proven beyond a doubt that taking glutathione in any form will not increase cellular glutathione levels. An improvement of a person’s glutathione status to help improve Vitamin D absorption can therefore not be achieved by supplementing with glutathione. Multiple studies were also conducted on popular supplements such as NAC with similarly disappointing results. Natural remedies such as milk thistle or alpha-lipoic acid are nothing but wishful thinking. The fact is until recently; it was extremely difficult to quickly raise a person’s glutathione levels. Thankfully, today there is a simple and effective solution.
How can Glyteine® help?
The Glyteine® in Continual-G® is a natural precursor, or building block, of glutathione. Glyteine® easily enters our cells, where it is immediately converted to glutathione. This is true for healthy individuals and as well as for the elderly or chronically ill who may suffer from persistent low glutathione due to an impaired enzyme that is the first step responsible for making glutathione inside our cells. But isn’t NAC also a precursor to glutathione, you may ask? Yes, but there are two simple reasons why any cysteine-based prodrug does not help us produce more glutathione:
- NAC is just a form of cysteine which our body is not lacking since our diet contains plenty of it, and
- more importantly, since the first enzyme responsible for making glutathione in our cells uses cysteine as one of its building blocks, if it is impaired, any amount of cysteine simply won’t aid our cellular glutathione production
Glyteine® works because it bypasses this enzyme altogether, resulting in increased cellular glutathione levels in any individual. It does so even over and above our cells baseline value which we call homeostasis. This is important because our cellular glutathione homeostasis level decreases with age or the progression of chronic illness.
But it doesn’t end there. Glyteine® has been shown to safely raise cellular glutathione fast, typically within hours. It is the only supplement clinically proven to do so, making it the ideal companion and adjunct therapy for combating Vitamin D deficiency.
