The Brain
Glutathione may be one of the granddaddies of antioxidants, right up there with Mega Hydrate. Many of the newly discovered substances found to exhibit antioxidant properties actually work by increasing the production of glutathione enzymes. Melatonin is a good example.
Melatonin is a very powerful antioxidant. It has the unique property of being both water- and fat-soluble. Not only can it protect against free radicals that develop in the water-filled interior of your cells, much like vitamin C, it can also protect the fat-containing cell membranes like vitamin E. What many don't realize, however, is that the effectiveness of melatonin is increased because it also stimulates the production of glutathione peroxidase. Laboratory studies have shown that administering melatonin causes a twofold increase in glutathione peroxidase within the brain in just 30 minutes.
Glutathione peroxidase is considered to be the principle enzyme for controlling free radical damage in the human brain. Dr. Lang, among others, have found that glutathione levels in the brain are highest during the growing years and plateau during maturity, then will decline as much as 30% as we age. This decline could help explain the numerous age-related brain and nervous system diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's that have become so commonplace.
Melatonin isn't the only newly discovered antioxidant that achieves some of its success by increasing glutathione levels. Pycnogenol (pine bark extract), grape seed and bilberry extracts, and tumeric all elevate glutathione levels.