How much glutathione should I take?

Glutathione is a naturally produced antioxidant in our bodies and foods like broccoli, asparagus, avocados, and spinach. Taking glutathione as a supplement can reduce inflammation and oxidative stress, improve insulin resistance, improve liver health, and improve blood circulation.

How much glutathione should you take, and what's glutathione's maximum dosage per day? Keep reading and find out. 

Glutathione - Benefits

Glutathione is a peptide made up of three different amino acids: cysteine, glycine, and glutamic acid. It's a strong antioxidant that plays crucial roles in our cells, such as (1):

• Protects cellular parts from damaging reactive oxygen species,
• Neutralizes free radicals produced in the liver while it metabolizes toxins,
• Participates in the action of many antioxidant enzymes,
• Speeds up the transport of toxins across the cell membrane,
• Regenerates vitamins C and E, which are also important antioxidants. 

Glutathione plays a clear antioxidative role in our bodies. Unfortunately, with age, daily stressors, and diseases, the natural production and concentration of glutathione decrease. The good news is that we can increase glutathione levels by supplementation. 

Scientific research has already found that glutathione supplementation can help with:

• Decrease oxidative stress (2)
• Treating nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (3),
• Improve insulin sensitivity (4),
• Improve blood circulation (5),
• Lighten sun-damaged skin (6).

Glutathione - Dosage per day

The recommended daily dose of glutathione is 250-500 mg. This dosage has been proven safe in human clinical trials (2-6).

If you're now asking yourself, can I take 1,000 mg of glutathione per day? The answer is that some studies found that 1000 mg of glutathione per day was also safe (7, 8). This most likely represents the maximum daily dosage of glutathione, as higher doses were rarely researched. There was also no noticeable difference in effect between daily doses of 500 or 1000 mg of glutathione. 

Glutathione can also be taken as a supplement through IV infusion. In this way, glutathione will be absorbed almost immediately, and be more effective. However, this is not something you can do by yourself. The usual glutathione dosage through IV is anywhere from 500 to 2000 mg per day, depending on the provider. However, it's still unclear what the safest maximum dosage would be here. One small study found that a dosage of 1,400 mg 3 times per week for 4 weeks was well tolerated (9). 

Glutathione - Side effects

Oral glutathione supplementation is usually well-tolerated and poses no harmful damage to the body. The usual mild side effects of glutathione supplementation can be:

• bloating,
• cramping and diarrhea,
• skin rash. 

Literature references:

1. Pizzorno J. Glutathione! Integr Med (Encinitas). 2014 Feb;13(1):8-12. PMID: 26770075; PMCID: PMC4684116.
2. Allen J, Bradley RD. Effects of oral glutathione supplementation on systemic oxidative stress biomarkers in human volunteers. J Altern Complement Med. 2011 Sep;17(9):827-33. doi: 10.1089/acm.2010.0716.
   
3. Santacroce G, Gentile A, Soriano S, Novelli A, Lenti MV, Di Sabatino A. Glutathione: Pharmacological aspects and implications for clinical use in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Front Med (Lausanne). 2023 Mar 22;10:1124275. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2023.1124275. 
4. Søndergård SD, Cintin I, Kuhlman AB, Morville TH, Bergmann ML, Kjær LK, Poulsen HE, Giustarini D, Rossi R, Dela F, Helge JW, Larsen S. The effects of 3 weeks of oral glutathione supplementation on whole body insulin sensitivity in obese males with and without type 2 diabetes: a randomized trial. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2021 Sep;46(9):1133-1142. doi: 10.1139/apnm-2020-1099.
   
5. Koutakis P, Ismaeel A, Farmer P, Purcell S, Smith RS, Eidson JL, Bohannon WT. Oxidative stress and antioxidant treatment in patients with peripheral artery disease. Physiol Rep. 2018 Apr;6(7):e13650. doi: 10.14814/phy2.13650.
   
6. Weschawalit S, Thongthip S, Phutrakool P, Asawanonda P. Glutathione and its antiaging and antimelanogenic effects. Clin Cosmet Investig Dermatol. 2017 Apr 27;10:147-153. doi: 10.2147/CCID.S128339.
7. Allen J, Bradley RD. Effects of oral glutathione supplementation on systemic oxidative stress biomarkers in human volunteers. J Altern Complement Med. 2011 Sep;17(9):827-33. doi: 10.1089/acm.2010.0716.
8. Sinha R, Sinha I, Calcagnotto A, Trushin N, Haley JS, Schell TD, Richie JP Jr. Oral supplementation with liposomal glutathione elevates body stores of glutathione and markers of immune function. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2018 Jan;72(1):105-111. doi: 10.1038/ejcn.2017.132. 
9. Hauser RA, Lyons KE, McClain T, Carter S, Perlmutter D. Randomized, double-blind, pilot evaluation of intravenous glutathione in Parkinson's disease. Mov Disord. 2009 May 15;24(7):979-83. doi: 10.1002/mds.22401.