I got the below information from a health professional on a candida forum. He is one of the most informed i've come across on gluathione levels and speaks of this is one of the most important aspects in health. Here was his response when I mentioned the promotion of smoking by a few on here claiming the glutathione benefits. Please read below.
> >
> > Smoking causes a lot of oxidation. this is visible in the
wrinkling
> > of a chronic smoker's face. It probably does promote a rise in
> > glutathione, which is a natural response to oxidative stress that
> has
> > been measured in many kinds of toxin loading as the body attempts
> to
> > clear the toxins.
> >
> > But a marginal glutathione rise is insufficient to stop the
damage;
> > refer again to the visible wrinkling of the smoker's face - a
sign
> of
> > accumulated damage from oxidative stress.
> >
> > Because smoking depletes glutathione, meaning glutathione is used
> up,
> > a decent glutathione rise necessitates providing more precursors
> just
> > like we are doing in disease or other oxidative stress, which
also
> > depletes glutathione. So if one is going to smoke and undertake
> more
> > than usual oxidative stress, more than usual glutathione
precursors
> > and better glutathione recycling will be helpful in offsetting
the
> > increased oxidation.
> >
> > Think of it this way: we are increasing our glutathione reserves
to
> > clear oxidative stress and toxins. Reducing this effort by
> > deliberately increasing oxidative stress doesn't make sense;
> > avoiding oxidative insult and keeping glutathione levels and
> activity
> > up is what reduces disease.