Somewhere in the early eighties, I consulted with our lovely family physician in Fairfield, CT, because I was suffering from significant post-nasal drip. The doctor pulled out his prescription pad to write me a prescription for an anti-histamine, Claritin. That was when my training from my MD-father kicked in. He had always taught me that whenever it came to decisions about medications, the first thing to do was to ask the doctor to explain the method of action, and provided he could give a clear explanation in layman´s terms, then I should make a decision on that basis. On the other hand, if the doctor could not explain the method of action of a medication or procedure in a common sense way, just get another doctor. That was some of the best advice my father ever gave me.
In this particular case, once he explained to me what Claritin did, my conclusion was: “Oh, so it merely suppresses the symptoms?” and he agreed. I told him that in that case, I would try to find a nutritional solution first. I was in my early forties at the time. In the course of my subsequent research, I ended up understanding that past age 40, the body’s natural production of glutathione (GSH) declines, and it is the foundational building block for your immune system. Further, that glutathione is a long molecule that you cannot supplement, because your digestive system would chop it in pieces before it could get to where it needs to go. Aha! So now, the problem was how to boost glutathione production, and the solution was to supplement pre-cursors to glutathione, in order to boost the body´s natural production. I tried some things that worked somewhat, but the breakthrough came in 1999 when I recruited a biochemist to the board of a company where I worked, where we produced health products.
I discussed it with him, and he told me that he used time-release NAC (N-Acetyl Cysteine), in combination with glycine. The explanation was that NAC tends to produce a big spike, but dissipate rather fast, and therefore time release NAC was the best option. Here is what I have found:
In other words, this combination stimulates the body’s own production of glutathione. And since this will immediately start detoxing the liver, it is important to make sure you are drinking enough water.
There is another solution, which could be helpful to some. It is a product that directly supplies redox signaling molecules to the body, and therefore boosts your anti-oxidant activity in the body immediately. It is called ASEA, and it is a liquid. You can buy it on my site, using my customer code “vliscony” for a 10% discount, here. Alternatively, since it is an MLM, you can become a distributor also. The science is documented here. I recently had a strong experience with ASEA with somebody close to me both for the immune boost, but also the new ASEA Gold topical product in a situation involving extreme pain. The product has proven itself to me for that application also. So ASEA now has both an internal product and a topical product.
In general, in the whole foods, plant-based tradition, we do not focus on supplementation, except Vitamin D3 and B12, which many people are short of. We may note that D3 is actually best supplied by the sun, and I usually take a one hour walk at daybreak, like Thomas Jefferson always did – but of course he lived on a farm, but I still found a way, even in the Bronx. The circadian rhythm is nothing to sneeze at, and we routinely mess it up with all the artificial light and the screens on phones, computers, televisions, tablets, and so on. Just watch your D3 and B12 levels when you have your annual physical to make sure you have enough.