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Monica Cheru-Mpambawashe Lifestyle Editor
Just imagine a natural supplement that reverses the signs of aging, clears your skin of blemishes making you look radiant while boosting your immune system, energising you and helping your body overcome the terrible symptoms of all those debilitating diseases like Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and Multiple Sclerosis.
You could achieve all the things that Michael Jackson dreamt of without ending up looking like a one-person freak show. Your quality of life would improve while you look like a million bucks. At least those are the claims of the distributors of the latest beauty and health fad to hit the market.
That sure does sound too good to be true and you are sure that there must be a catch somewhere. What are the side effects, you want to know. There is just one, the distributors claim; this natural supplement will whiten your skin.
This phenomenon was discovered a few years back after some health fanatics jumped onto the wagon touting the supplement as the elusive elixir of life that has been hiding in plain sight all along. As people took the supplement to improve the quality of their lives, some noted that it brightened and whitened their skins.
“What? Bring it on!” I hear thousands of voices of mostly women who monthly invest in beauty products to clear and lighten their skins scream. Millions of people living with HIV, high blood pressure, diabetes and other conditions will also naturally want to know more about the purported cure-all.
The magic name that is taking the world by storm is glutathione. A lot of Zimbabwean women have become excited by a Facebook page for glutathione products which are being sold specifically to whiten skins. A bizarre advert on the page features the testimony of a Nigerian woman who says she morphed into a Chinese from using the regimen!
A local woman whose name and number are publicised on the page is the distributor in the country. There are several packages advertised with a strict warning for clients to follow the instructions to the letter to avoid adverse developments.
A supplementary pack is sold to those using one of the above hampers who feel that they need an extra boosts.
A month’s supply appears to cost around $364 and the page says that the approval of the “Medicines Control of Zimbabwe” has been secured. We could not get confirmation from the Medical Control Authority of Zimbabwe that they have indeed certified the whitening regimen or if it is listed as a health supplement.
Several testimonies of the greatness of the product have been posted on the page but they all appear to be of foreigners, mostly of Asian origin with a few Nigerian thrown in.
There is a collagen product hamper that those with skin conditions must use first before qualifying for the whitening phase. Collagen has long been touted as the ultimate anti-aging aid and preceded Botox as the preferred mode of eternal youthful looks of American entertainment industry key players.
Those with clear skins can hit the ground running by starting with the skin colour changing regimen. Included in the packs is a powder that must be taken daily. A vitamin C powder is also included and the client must mix the two then add water before taking the supplement.
There is also a combination pack that is allegedly popular with Hollywood A Listers. Singers like Rihanna, Nicky Minaj and Beyonce have noticeably gone lighter over the years and it is clear that they use skin bleaching. Talk show hostess Oprah Winfrey does not look a day over 40 although she has turned 60.
Locally former top model Vanessa Sibanda and Reverend Obediah Musindo of Destiny for Africa Network have also gone lighter. A walk down any part of Zimbabwe, urban street, dusty growth point roads, foot worn paths of rural and farming area, will reveal at least one woman or man whose skin has been artificially lightened.
Some have taken on the orange-brown colour of well-burnt farm bricks. Others are a fiery red. Some have veins showing through their fine baby skins. Yet more show adverse reactions in the form of pimples, blisters and coal black patches of skin. In most cases, the sight is not pretty.
But this article is not going to delve into the hotly debated topic of whether Blacks who lighten their skins, straighten their hair or wear weaves and wigs hate themselves or if they are just making a fashion statement.
Neither is it about judging those who choose to take up that route. It is about unpacking the benefits and possible dangers of glutathione. And yes, the true picture is not as rosy as the distributors would have us believe.
So before you turn the country upside down to get yourself some, just read through on just how this perfectly helpful and apparently harmless panacea for all ills may not give you the expected results.
First of all, research suggests that the whitening effects are only noticeable over time and not in all people. So you could be the one in whom it produces no skin lightening at all and you will only know that many months and many hundreds of dollars down the line.
Of more concern than the efficacy, dire warnings abound on the safety of the glutathione associated supplements. While glutathione itself is as good as it is hyped to be, it is advised that only natural sources are guaranteed to be safe
On his website www.immune-health-solutions-for-you.com <http://www.immune-health-solutions-for-you.com>, Dr. Jimmy Gutman, a doctor who has been promoting the use of glutathione in the US for years, warns that there is no magic in the element although it is necessary for healthy function of the body as it is key for immune function.
And he warns that supplementary sources in tablet form pose a great danger:
“There is a popular glutathione enhancer on the market called MaxGXL that contains N-acetyl-cysteine as its main active ingredient, and it is recommended to be taken twice daily to raise glutathione levels. The MaxGXL box label says: “Caution: This Product is for adult use only. It is not for use by young children, pregnant women or nursing mothers. Allergy warning: This product contains ingredients derived from shellfish and mushrooms.”
“The main side effects with N-acetyl-cysteine have to do with its short half life and toxicity. They include the following: Rash, wheezing, nausea, anaphylaxis-like allergic reaction, which may include difficulty breathing due to bronchospasm, decrease in blood pressure, angioedema (rapid swelling of the skin), vomiting, cramps, and diarrhea.”
He also says some clients can experience more severe reactions like coughing up blood, and warns that,“Repeated overdoses will cause the allergic reaction to progressively worsen. Although rare, death has been reported in association with N-acetyl-cysteine.”
It would be advisable to know just what is in the supplement being offered in the country, before one takes it.
Online Reporter