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Re: Glutathione and Gluta-Syn





> Kathy Adams kathy.adams@na.biomerieux.com
> Is there any validity to this product in regards to it being a free
> radical scavanger? If it contains the precursors to Glutathione, is the
> body able to use those precursors to form Glutathione? How exactly does
> all that work? Does stomach acid destroy the components before the body
> can utilize them? Thanks for your answer to this and Ridecampers MANY
> questions. Kathy


I wish I had a simple yes or no to your questions, but I don't, because I
think the jury is still out on this one.  Some of the claims made are
true---there *is* alot of research and medical interest in glutathione as an
anti-oxidant, though the research is not necessarily focused specifically on
the efficacy of THIS particular product, just on anti-oxidants and
glutathione in general.  I haven't seen any research demonstrating the
efficicacy of Glutasyn, though that doesn't mean it doesn't exist.  The
website doesn't give specific journal references, and you would think they
would if it existed.

It is true that glutathione is a potent anti-oxidant that is more effective
than either vitamins E or C.  So much more effective as to be worth the very
high price tag?  I don't know.  Does it make it intact past the very strong
acids in the stomach intact?  That's a *really* good question and I don't
know that, either.  The only way you'd know is if a peer-reviewed study were
published that demonstrated an increase in intracellular GSH after
supplementation with this specific product, and I haven't seen that.

I *do* agree that oxidative stress and free radicals are something to be
aware of in endurance horses, but there are alternate routes that *IMO* in
total will probably provide as much or more benefit as shelling out the big
bucks for the Glutasyn---at least until clear evidence is made available as
to its efficacy.  And those suggestions are:

1.  Whatever fat you are feeding should be *absolutely* as fresh as
possible, as rancidity is a major contributor to peroxides and free radical
production.  Buy your corn oil in small bottles, or if you buy a big jug,
keep it tightly closed and in a cool, dark place and only open it to pour
off ten days worth of oil into a smaller bottle to feed from.

2.  NEVER feed an unstabilized rice bran.  All the big brand names like
Equi-Jewel, Natural Glo, etc are stabilized.  An unstabilized rice bran's
fat component is basically rancid (because of the molecular structure of the
fat molecules it contains) before it gets out the warehouse doors and isn't
worth a darn thing except as compost.

3.  Make sure your horse is getting sufficient selenium, which is also a
precursor in the production of glutathione and is itself a potent
antioxidant.  If your horse gets crampy or is tying up when his fitness and
the situation indicates he shouldn't be, he might need more selenium.  This
is especially true if your forage comes from areas of the country that are
notoriously low in selenium, ie the Pacific NW, the Great Lakes region,
Florida (depending on how it was fertilized) and most of the NE.

4.  Give your horse supplemental vitamin E, at least 1000 IU a day.  Sarah
Ralston's opinion at Rutgers University is that you don't get additional
benefit by feeding more than 1000 iu a day.  But, as long as you don't dole
it out by the handful, there's no harm in feeding a couple thousand IU a
day.  The recommendation in small animals with oxidative stress is about 400
IU a day, so an increased dose for horses *might* be justified.  We really
don't know for sure exactly what the optimum dose is for exercising horses.

5.  Supplement with 5-10 grams of vitamin C at rides, but not on a regular
daily basis.  Dr. Ralston's research on vitamin C has indicated that no
benefit is obtained from vitamin C as a daily supplement, and actually just
decreases the vitamin C production by the liver.

6.  Buy your grain or commercial feed in fairly small amounts, ie, the
amount you can use up in about a month---as opposed to buying a year's
supply all at once.  This is most important with feeds that have added fat.
Yes, they all have preservatives added, but you can't add enough
preservatives to totally pickle the ingredients and the longer those feeds
are stored in a hot feed room, the faster the fats will start to oxidize.

7.  Last, this sounds bizarre, but feed your horse beet pulp.  Part of what
produces oxidative stress in the first place is the activity of neutrophils
(a white blood cell) attacking pathogens, viruses, etc.  So a healthy immune
system is also one with less oxidative stress.  There's increasing data that
soluble fibers (such as beet pulp, among other sources) has an acidifying
effect in the colon, which in turn decreases the ability of the "bad"
bacteria such as Clostridium and Salmonella to proliferate and cause
colitis, endotoxemia, etc.  There also seems to be an effect in that animals
fed soluble fibers have higher circulating concentrations of
immunoglobulins, the proteins that attach and ward off disease.  (And yes, I
do have research references for this stuff).

Well, there goes about ten minutes of next week's seminar at Reno.  At least
you can see it in powerpoint next week. :-)))

Hope this helps.

Susan G




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