If you have any interest in how your body is aging - and I would think everyone over the age of fifty will pay a lot of attention to this question, then you should learn a little something about the Free Radical Theory of Aging. If you've never heard of free radicals, I can assure you that they are not politically motivated, but are quite distructive never the less. Free radicals are unstable or damaged molecules that need to steal an electron from another nearby molecule in order to restablize themselves. In so doing they create another unstable molecule and the cycle repeats - creating a chain reaction that damages the systems in your body starting right at the cellular level.
Antioxidants are nature's answer to free radicals. These are molecules that are capable of donating an electron to a free radical without becoming unstable themselves. They halt the chain reaction and prevent the damage.
Our bodies are machines and like other machines, the breakdowns start small (at the level of our cells) and build up until systems - like our immune system or respiratory system or nervous system - can no longer function properly with so many little bits of them clogged with cellular garbage and just not working properly.
Free radicals a.k.a. oxidants - have to come from somewhere, though, right? Yes indeed they do. They come from external and internal sources. The external or exogenous sources of oxidants include cigarette smoke, chemicals in the environment, trace minerals like lead and some normally ingested substances like caffeine. We also produce free radicals as a normal by product of many of our metabolic functions.
There are four different ways that our bodies create free radicals - oxidants.
To create energy we use oxygen as fuel and generally convert it to water. But like many other processes in nature, the fuel doesn't always burn as cleanly as we would like and the result is free radical versions of the oxygen molecule.
Our body uses some oxidants to fight chronic infections, bacteria and parasites. Unfortunately, in the process other cells in our body are exposed and vulnerable to the free radicals. We fight fire with fire and sometimes manage to burn ourselves in the process. We also produce hydrogen peroxide- another free radical version of oxygen - when we metabolize some fatty acids.
These processes are always going on in our body and happening in millions of cells. It's no small wonder that antioxidant supplements have become so popular and no small miracle that our body also produces some superb antioxidants like glutathione and CoEnzymeQ10 to help us deal with them.
In an effort to combat the external sources of oxidants - like drugs, pesticides, cigarette smoke and other foreign and toxic chemicals our bodies creates an exzyme called Cytochrome P450. However, in calling up this necessary enzyme, we create a by-product, free radicals. The toxins damage us on their own, and we damage ourselves to fight them. It ages us.
With the abundance of oxidants available to damage our cells and age us, it's important to ensure that we promote the production of antioxidants to fight them. They are among our best anti-aging and immune supporting defense systems. Among them C0Q10 and glutathione are incredibly important antioxidants to combat the damaging effects of free radicals.
Antioxidants are nature's answer to free radicals. These are molecules that are capable of donating an electron to a free radical without becoming unstable themselves. They halt the chain reaction and prevent the damage.
Our bodies are machines and like other machines, the breakdowns start small (at the level of our cells) and build up until systems - like our immune system or respiratory system or nervous system - can no longer function properly with so many little bits of them clogged with cellular garbage and just not working properly.
Free radicals a.k.a. oxidants - have to come from somewhere, though, right? Yes indeed they do. They come from external and internal sources. The external or exogenous sources of oxidants include cigarette smoke, chemicals in the environment, trace minerals like lead and some normally ingested substances like caffeine. We also produce free radicals as a normal by product of many of our metabolic functions.
There are four different ways that our bodies create free radicals - oxidants.
To create energy we use oxygen as fuel and generally convert it to water. But like many other processes in nature, the fuel doesn't always burn as cleanly as we would like and the result is free radical versions of the oxygen molecule.
Our body uses some oxidants to fight chronic infections, bacteria and parasites. Unfortunately, in the process other cells in our body are exposed and vulnerable to the free radicals. We fight fire with fire and sometimes manage to burn ourselves in the process. We also produce hydrogen peroxide- another free radical version of oxygen - when we metabolize some fatty acids.
These processes are always going on in our body and happening in millions of cells. It's no small wonder that antioxidant supplements have become so popular and no small miracle that our body also produces some superb antioxidants like glutathione and CoEnzymeQ10 to help us deal with them.
In an effort to combat the external sources of oxidants - like drugs, pesticides, cigarette smoke and other foreign and toxic chemicals our bodies creates an exzyme called Cytochrome P450. However, in calling up this necessary enzyme, we create a by-product, free radicals. The toxins damage us on their own, and we damage ourselves to fight them. It ages us.
With the abundance of oxidants available to damage our cells and age us, it's important to ensure that we promote the production of antioxidants to fight them. They are among our best anti-aging and immune supporting defense systems. Among them C0Q10 and glutathione are incredibly important antioxidants to combat the damaging effects of free radicals.
About the Author:
While working with Whole Earth Health, Anna Ruth has written a number of health related articles on subject ranging from anti aging supplements to natural pain relief support.
