What are free radicals in the body is a question that most health conscious people ask a lot. When the human system uses oxygen, as it always does, the by-product of the oxidation process brings about oxidative damage to body cells. During the process, very highly reactive molecules, mostly from environmental pollution, Ultraviolet light, and smoking will come by as free radicals.
It is worth noting that they often come as an unpaired electron, and for them to be stable, they have to constantly search for another lone electron in which they will bound. Another thing worth noting is they are often responsible for a myriad of processes and complications in the human system, top among them tissue damage, aging, and a couple of diseases linked to these radicals.
They are indeed "free" since they float around till they stabilize, and are "radicals" because there are so many molecules from which they can derive and pair with an electron. Note that once the reactive process of pairing with other electrons starts, it becomes a snowball effect that wreaks havoc on otherwise healthy tissues. This is because the new molecule that pairs with it, also misses an electron in the process, hence acquires the new title of a free radical, and the chain continues.
As previously mentioned, these molecules have been linked to a myriad of health complications including heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer's disease, rheumatoid arthritis, age-related mucular degeneration, Parkison's disease, and glaucoma to mention but a few.
Worth noting is that when looking to pair with other roaming molecules, the process significantly destroys an otherwise health status of other cells and tissues in the system, thus making the process worse. Luckily, thanks to antioxidants, the snowball effect is significantly reduced.
Antioxidants are known as lone radicals scavengers. They inhibit the creation of the lone molecules in the first place. They further neutralize the lone molecules, thus ensuring the healthy tissues of the system are well protected against the harmful effects brought about by oxidation stress. Examples of antioxidants include Vitamin c, Vitamin E, betacarotine, lutein, selenium, lycopene, resveratrol, and lipoic acid. Also worth mentioning is that antioxidants are readily present in most diets today.
They can always be derived from foods and natural food sources such as cocoa, goji berries, chokeberry, oolong tea, acai, medicinal mushrooms, wheatgrass, white tea, black tea, as well as tart cherries. Ensuring there is a sufficient amount of fresh fruits and vegetables, grains and enough proteins has also been proven to be an effective remedy for ensuring there are enough antioxidants in the system. Even so, they can still be bought and used in their supplement form.
The need to have a free radical scavenger can never be overemphasized enough. This can be a mineral, vitamin, or enzyme that has the ability to destroy the roaming and unstable molecules. The main role of the scavenger in the body is to hunt down all unstable molecules and work to destroy it early enough so they do not cause significant damage to cells. Once you understand what are free radicals in the body, you will be in the best position to search for these scavengers (read antioxidants).
It is worth noting that they often come as an unpaired electron, and for them to be stable, they have to constantly search for another lone electron in which they will bound. Another thing worth noting is they are often responsible for a myriad of processes and complications in the human system, top among them tissue damage, aging, and a couple of diseases linked to these radicals.
They are indeed "free" since they float around till they stabilize, and are "radicals" because there are so many molecules from which they can derive and pair with an electron. Note that once the reactive process of pairing with other electrons starts, it becomes a snowball effect that wreaks havoc on otherwise healthy tissues. This is because the new molecule that pairs with it, also misses an electron in the process, hence acquires the new title of a free radical, and the chain continues.
As previously mentioned, these molecules have been linked to a myriad of health complications including heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer's disease, rheumatoid arthritis, age-related mucular degeneration, Parkison's disease, and glaucoma to mention but a few.
Worth noting is that when looking to pair with other roaming molecules, the process significantly destroys an otherwise health status of other cells and tissues in the system, thus making the process worse. Luckily, thanks to antioxidants, the snowball effect is significantly reduced.
Antioxidants are known as lone radicals scavengers. They inhibit the creation of the lone molecules in the first place. They further neutralize the lone molecules, thus ensuring the healthy tissues of the system are well protected against the harmful effects brought about by oxidation stress. Examples of antioxidants include Vitamin c, Vitamin E, betacarotine, lutein, selenium, lycopene, resveratrol, and lipoic acid. Also worth mentioning is that antioxidants are readily present in most diets today.
They can always be derived from foods and natural food sources such as cocoa, goji berries, chokeberry, oolong tea, acai, medicinal mushrooms, wheatgrass, white tea, black tea, as well as tart cherries. Ensuring there is a sufficient amount of fresh fruits and vegetables, grains and enough proteins has also been proven to be an effective remedy for ensuring there are enough antioxidants in the system. Even so, they can still be bought and used in their supplement form.
The need to have a free radical scavenger can never be overemphasized enough. This can be a mineral, vitamin, or enzyme that has the ability to destroy the roaming and unstable molecules. The main role of the scavenger in the body is to hunt down all unstable molecules and work to destroy it early enough so they do not cause significant damage to cells. Once you understand what are free radicals in the body, you will be in the best position to search for these scavengers (read antioxidants).
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