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mbassador for the newly launched Nairn’s Natural Woman on behalf of nairn’s oat biscuits.
Check out her monthly top tips by visit www.nairnsnaturalwoman.com.
You can also send in your top natural tips and as well download a special money off voucher to redeem against your next purchase of nairn’s oat biscuits.
Fighting ageing – why it takes more than just sunscreen!
Are you using sunscreen this summer to help prevent ageing? If so, you have joined in the fight against free-radical damage. It is all well and good to stay (mostly) out of the sun but the inner battle can be far more damaging. Here’s a low down on how to protect your inner world – your cells – from ageing, thus having the potential to add years to life and life to years.
Meet Glutathione
Glutathione is an antioxidant enzyme often referred to as the body’s “master antioxidant” due to its central role in protecting the body’s cells from free radical damage. Glutathione is composed of the amino acids cysteine, glutamine and glycine and is concentrated in the liver, although it carries out its work throughout the body. This important enzyme is involved in protecting cells from environmental toxins, drugs and alcohol as well as toxins produced by the body itself as a result of normal metabolism. So important to health is glutathione that it’s depletion leads to cell death. Glutathione also has a major role to play in immunity – like all cells, immune cells rely up on glutathione for defense against free radicals.
HOW TO GET MORE OF IT!
Glutathione is not a micro-nutrient, we make it ourselves inside our cells. It is probably the most important anti-oxidant and detox aide we have. However, just because we make it ourselves doesn’t mean it can be ignored – on the contrary, the vast majority of us could do with more or at the very least, protecting what we have got!
If the liver is overwhelmed by toxins from the gut and from chemicals, not all toxins entering the liver are detoxified and instead gain access to the bloodstream to travel anywhere in the body. These toxins and the excess of free radicals (highly reactive forms of oxygen) caused by poor liver function can cause direct damage to tissues and also initiate allergic or auto-immune reactions. Un-neutralized toxins are also expelled into the bile and can further damage the intestinal lining, setting up a toxic vicious cycle. This ‘toxic’ triangle (which we treat on detox retreats) plays a vital role in the protection, or otherwise, of glutathione.
No magic pill
For those that understand naturopathic thinking you will already know that there is no ‘magic’ pill. The only way to boost levels is to take a wide-spectrum anti-oxidant supplement, support the liver and take some added protection from specific nutrients if needed.
On top of this, if the liver is overwhelmed by toxins, these nutrients can become depleted and the liver will function inefficiently resulting in numerous symptoms and problems throughout the body. So, not only is it vital to take the right kind of supplements and eat well but to give your liver a rest and time to recuperate every now and then (yes, back to our detox retreats then!!).
Here are my top liver loving and anti-oxidant boosting measures:
Detox formula
Familiar to all who have been on retreats. A one-stop shop for liver support. Buy it in our shop.
Milk Thistle (Silymarin)
The milk thistle plant contains silymarin and related flavonoids which are powerful antioxidants so protect the liver from damaging toxins and free radicals. They also stimulate healing and the production of new liver cells and cause the liver to increase production of glutathione.
Specific Nutrients
N-Acetyl-Cysteine (NAC)
Cysteine is a sulphur containing amino acid and is a major component of glutathione (the others being glutamine and glycine). Supplementing cysteine boosts levels of this important ‘master antioxidant’. Cysteine is one of the best free radical destroyers and helps to detoxify harmful toxins in the body and also binds to potentially harmful heavy metals, removing them from the body. The best form to supplement is n-acetyl-cysteine as this has been shown to increase glutathione levels in the body more than cysteine and even glutathione itself. Typical doses are 500-1500mg per day in divided doses.
Taurine
Taurine is a unique amino acid in that it is not incorporated into proteins and enzymes. Instead it is essential for the formation of bile in the liver and acts as a potent detoxifier and antioxidant throughout the body. Alcohol and aldehydes are known to decrease levels of taurine in the liver and it is thought that this is because taurine is used up in protecting liver cells from damage due to these and other toxins.
Alpha Lipoic Acid
Alpha Lipoic Acid is a sulphurous fatty acid that was originally classified as a vitamin until it was discovered that it could be synthesized in the human body. As well as being a particularly powerful antioxidant in its own right, directly neutralizing free radicals, alpha lipoic acid also plays a role in recycling other important antioxidants such as vitamins C and E and glutathione.
B Vitamins
The B vitamins are all essential for healthy liver function. They are required for the formation of a huge number of enzymes including the P450 Cytochrome enzymes which are the basis of the phase 1 liver detoxification pathways. These B vitamin containing enzymes initiate the first part of the detoxification process before glutathione and the other phase 2 enzymes deal with the products of this. When the toxic load on the liver is increased the P450 enzymes tend to become more active which means the requirement for B vitamins increases.
Anti-oxidant Vitamins (A, C, E) – take as Antioxidant formula for optimum effect
Vitamins A, C and E are all powerful anti-oxidants and are utilized by phase 1 liver detoxification pathways. Recent research shows that vitamins C and E act synergistically to neutralize free radicals with vitamin C scavenging for free radicals in bodily fluids and vitamin E protecting the cell membranes. All of these vitamins help protect the body from environmental toxins and the fat soluble vitamins, A and E , also help protect and repair the intestinal tract thus also protecting the liver indirectly by reducing the severity of leaky gut syndrome. Vitamin E also protects vitamin A from damage by free radicals.
