My specific area of research is looking at the antioxidant capacity of the cell. This can be increased by strengthening our own endogenous antioxidant system that being the glutathione system.

One of the main glutathione precursors is cysteine. Undenaatured whey protein is an extremely effective cysteine donor. L-cystine and L-cysteine are orally not bioavailable because they are fragile and not soluble. Undenatured whey is a bioavialable source of cysteine. So is N-acetyl Cysteine (NAC) however a recent study in mice has set off some alarm bells for me with NAC supplementation

here's a great study with a link to the original paper. Have a read of the full paper if you can. It will be well worth it

Quote:
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2005 Dec 29;360(1464):2355-72.

Oxidative stress and ageing: is ageing a cysteine deficiency syndrome?
Dröge W.

Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum Division of Redox Physiology and Aging Research Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are constantly produced in biological tissues and play a role in various signalling pathways. Abnormally high ROS concentrations cause oxidative stress associated with tissue damage and dysregulation of physiological signals. There is growing evidence that oxidative stress increases with age. It has also been shown that the life span of worms, flies and mice can be significantly increased by mutations which impede the insulin receptor signalling cascade. Molecular studies revealed that the insulin-independent basal activity of the insulin receptor is increased by ROS and downregulated by certain antioxidants. Complementary clinical studies confirmed that supplementation of the glutathione precursor cysteine decreases insulin responsiveness in the fasted state. In several clinical trials, cysteine supplementation improved skeletal muscle functions, decreased the body fat/lean body mass ratio, decreased plasma levels of the inflammatory cytokine tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), improved immune functions, and increased plasma albumin levels. As all these parameters degenerate with age, these findings suggest: (i) that loss of youth, health and quality of life may be partly explained by a deficit in cysteine and (ii) that the dietary consumption of cysteine is generally suboptimal and everybody is likely to have a cysteine deficiency sooner or later.

PMID: 16321806 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
I could also go on about the redox status of the cell and how a diet high in cysteine is beneficial but I'll probably lose most of you. So for now I will leave you all to read the above paper

When you're done with that...have a read of this

Quote:
Curr Drug Targets. 2006 Nov;7(11):1505-12.

The deficit in low molecular weight thiols as a target for antiageing therapy.

Dröge W, Kinscherf R, Hildebrandt W, Schmitt T.

Division of Redox Physiology, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany. W.Droege@dkfz.de

The popular use of antioxidative vitamins illustrates the growing awareness of oxidative stress as an important hazard to our health and as an important factor in the ageing process. Superoxide radicals and superoxide-derived reactive oxygen species (ROS) are constantly formed in most cells and tissues. To ensure that ROS can function as biological signaling molecules without excessive tissue damage, ROS are typically scavenged by antioxidants such as glutathione and the vitamins A, C, and E. "Oxidative stress" occurs if the production of ROS is abnormally increased or antioxidant concentrations are decreased. Genetic studies in mice, Drosophila, and C.elegans suggested that ageing may be mechanistically linked to oxidative stress. Several manifestations of oxidative stress were shown to increase with age, whereas tissue levels of vitamin E, plasma concentrations of vitamin C, and intracellular glutathione concentrations decrease with age. In at least two independent studies, cysteine supplementation on top of the normal protein diet has shown significant beneficial effects on each of several different parameters relevant to ageing, including skeletal muscle functions. As the quality of life in old age is severely compromised by the loss of skeletal muscle function, and as muscle function can be measured with satisfactory precision, loss of muscle function is one of the most attractive surrogate parameters of ageing. The mechanisms by which a deficit in glutathione and its precursor cysteine contributes to various ageing-related degenerative processes appears to be related largely but not exclusively to the dysregulation of redox-regulated biological signaling cascades.

Publication Types:

* Review

PMID: 17100590 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]