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function, recovering from illness and regenerating vibrant health. vegetarian meat substitutes and refined foods
Raw egg whites contain a similar concentration of the unique that have been measured contain little to no
glutathione-boosting glutamyl-cysteine bonds. If indeed these bonds are glutathione.
responsible for raw milk’s glutathione-boosting power, raw egg whites
might have similar power. As noted above, many people may have trouble THE IMPORTANCE OF ANIMAL FOODS
with raw egg whites because of the biotin-binding factors and digestive Meats contain lots of glutathione, but fats
enzyme inhibitors, but many other people, especially those who do not such as butter and lard contain zero. Loading
tolerate raw milk, may derive a big glutathione boost from them. Raw milk up on lean meat leads to diarrhea and wast-
and raw eggs should both be handled carefully to preserve these delicate ing, which the Native Americans referred to as
bonds, and using a high-speed blender to blend them into smoothies may “rabbit starvation.” Usually the digestive tract
cancel out some of the benefit. releases cysteine into our bloodstream slowly
so that it never has much chance to accumulate
GLUTATHIONE IN RAW FRUITS, and oxidize, but overdosing on lean meat might
VEGETABLES, AND OTHER FOODS provide enough cysteine to begin depleting glu-
While raw milk and possibly raw egg whites contain unique glu- tathione levels. While a raw “milk fast” may give
tathione-boosting proteins, most foods also contain small amounts of us a huge glutathione boost, a lean “meat fast” is
glutathione itself. Studies in animals and humans have shown that dietary more likely to make us sick.
glutathione increases blood levels of glutathione, but one study in mice The best foods for boosting glutathione
suggested that under ordinary conditions, dietary glutathione cannot status appear to be raw milk or raw egg whites.
boost its own concentration in other tissues except in the lung, where Many people who cannot tolerate pasteurized
large amounts of glutathione are needed to maintain the fluidity of mucus. milk report that they can tolerate raw milk. Many
When the researchers fed mice a drug that inhibits glutathione synthesis, others report that they cannot. Raw egg whites
however, dietary glutathione did in fact boost tissue glutathione levels, contain their own risks from anti-nutrients, but
which shows that cells do have the capacity to absorb it. people who digest them well and get plenty of
Thus, dietary glutathione should protect our intestines, blood and lungs biotin from their intestinal flora or from ad-
from oxidative assault, but huge amounts may be needed in order to give ditional egg yolks may be able to reap their
the same boost to our other tissues as we would get from raw milk. Once glutathione-boosting benefits in the absence of
again, however, the heavy hand of heat takes a strike against our little milk.
hero. Consider the effect of heat on glutathione in spinach and peaches as Besides these two unique sets of proteins,
shown in Figures 6 and 7. meeting our daily needs for protein with moder-
Asparagus, avocado, okra, spinach, squash, tomatoes and potatoes ate amounts of meat, fish, eggs, legumes, or other
rank among the richest plant foods measured. Whole grains, legumes, plant and animal protein foods, and loading up

Figure 3. Figure 4.

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