Consumer Reports And Tips
Non-Surgical Solution To Free Radicals Damages Your Body Experiences
Free radicals and antioxidants have become big buzz words over the past few years. Yet, how many people can give a definition or an explanation of what they mean? Hopefully this article will help bring greater understanding to the terms.
If you recall from your high school chemistry class, atoms are made up of three parts: protons, electrons and neutrons. The chemical property of an atom is determined by the number of electrons, negative charged particles, in its outermost shell. For an atom to be stable, its outermost shell needs to contain the maximum number of electrons for that shell, which will be an even number so that each electron has a match or exists as a pair. To do this, the atom will either try gaining electrons to fill the shell, losing electrons to empty the shell, or bond together with other atoms and share electrons, so as to be stable.
With these chemical bonds, atoms join together to form elements, which then join together to form molecules, which in the human body eventually form cells, which form tissue, which form organs and so on. As part of life’s daily processes, oxidation processes take place within the body. These are processes in which at least one electron is lost when two or more substances interact. The molecule, or cell that is now missing an electron, is in an unstable state and is called a free radical.
In a ‘perfect state of health’, even when free radicals are produced from these oxidation processes, healthy bodies are able to deal with them. If fact, at times the body even intentionally produces free radicals to fight off intruders such as harmful bacteria and viruses.
But as we move from a ‘perfect’ to a ‘less-than-perfect’ state of health, free radicals can become a problem. Free radicals are dangerous because they attack healthy cells, causing changes in the cell membrane or in DNA. This causes cells to die prematurely or to function poorly or improperly which can lead to a host of problems including weakened immunological function and inevitably, disease.
It is also a problem in that, when a free radical attacks a cell to gain an electron to become stable, the cell it attacked is now unstable, or a free radical and then will go on the attack to regain the electrons it lost, and so a chain reaction has been started.
Another big problem is free radicals cause aging. The rate at which we age is not necessarily connected to the number of birthdays we have celebrated, but more by the condition of our cells, our cell vitality. Cells can be damaged by direct exposure to toxins such as pollution, alcohol, herbicides, radiation and cigarette smoke. Stress, nutritional deficiencies and direct trauma can also damage the cells because all of these damaging factors cause inflammation and the creation of free radicals. So if the rate of cell damage and/or death is greater than the rate of repair or new cell production, a person is going to experience premature biological aging.
Beyond the metabolic processes and environmental conditions that lead to free radical production, oxygen itself interacting with certain molecules can cause free radicals. This means that although exercise is vital for our health and longevity, it can also cause additional free radical production as oxygen intake is increased during times of exercise.
So what’s the solution? Little combating agents called antioxidants. As their name suggests ‘anti’ – oxidants are molecules that serve to stop the free radicals by binding together with them. The sooner this can happen the less the damage caused, as it breaks the chain reaction of free radical production. In addition, antioxidants can also help in the repair of the damage caused by the free radicals. It is interesting to note that antioxidants themselves are stable entities and even if they give up one or more electrons to stop the free radicals, they remain stable.
So where do these antioxidants come from? Though the body does produce some, most come from the food we eat: mainly fruits and vegetables. That is why it is recommended to consume a minimum of 5, ideally at least 7, servings of fruit and vegetables each day; preferably ones with deep colors such as green leafy vegetables, red peppers, carrots and blueberries. Vitamins A, E, C and beta-carotene are considered to be highly beneficial antioxidant agents. The more antioxidants your body has available, the greater the likelihood of quickly shutting down the free radicals and their potential to wreak havoc in your body.
