Liver support and detoxification are increasingly common concerns among health conscious individuals. Many feel that simply focusing on obtaining all the right nutrients is only one part of the health equation; it may be just as important to support the body's removal of wastes. To live in the modern world is to be under a nearly-constant assault from industrial chemicals, environmental toxins, impurities in our food, water and air, drugs and other substances. The liver bears the greatest burden among the different detoxification mechanisms in the body (kidneys, GI tract, etc) Detoxification can involve these other mechanisms too, but the liver should be a focus of any detox program. And a key factor in the liver's detoxification processes is the tripeptide glutathione. Glutathione is so important because it forms the basis of one the most important antioxidant and detoxification compounds in the body, an enzyme know as glutathione peroxidase. This enzyme is able to detoxify a very wide range of harmful compounds, but there are limits on how much the body can manufacture in a given period of time. Because of this, people seek ways of increasing the production of glutathione. Taking a glutathione supplement may be one way of doing this. Reduced glutathione supplements such as NOW Foods' Glutathione have only become available fairly recently, and are welcome additions to the short list of legitimate liver-support substances such as milk thistle extracts and alpha lipoic acid. There is debate about whether oral glutathione supplements actually raise blood and tissue levels of glutathione. Animal studies show that the more tissues are depleted of glutathione, the more glutathione is absorbed. Taking glutathione precursors like cysteine has been shown to have that effect, though. If glutathione is broken down by digestion, it will be broken down by the body into precursor amino acids, which can then be used to make more glutathione. There is no debate about the reduced form of glutathione being the most desirable form. NOW Glutathione is a reduced glutathione supplement and so would be a good choice for anyone looking to support their liver's ability to remove and neutralize toxins. Although the product is named after glutathione, it is actually a complete liver support complex which also includes the antioxidant and glutathione-precursor alpha lipoic acid as well as an extract of the well-documented liver support herb milk thistle. How well does NOW Glutathione work? It's hard to quantify what the toxic load on the body at any given time, and physical symptoms of toxicity and even detoxing are highly variable. That's why it may be hard to evaluate how well a product like NOW Glutathione is working. But some common effects noticed by those reducing their toxic load are improvements in energy levels, improvements in the condition of skin, appetite regulation and improved mood and clearer thinking. NOW Glutathione is very safe and easy to use. You can't do much about toxins in the environment but you can better protect yourself from any potential harm by using NOW Glutathione whenever you need or want liver support. NOW Foods Reduced Glutathione is available in 250 mg and 500 mg potencies.