Get To Know What Are Free Radicals In The Body And How To Stabilize Them For Good Health

By James Tender


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.

These radicals are known as "free" because of the fact that they are floating around aimlessly in search of stabilization. They are defined as "radicals" since they can pair with so many other electrons in the body. When they find another molecule to pair with, the donating cell loses an electron, thus becoming a "free radical" as well. The vicious process of looking for yet another lone molecule to pair with thus causes a snowball effect and may end up damaging all healthy body tissues.

Some of the diseases linked to these include cancer, heart disease, glaucoma, rheumatoid arthritis, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and mucular degeneration often associated with aging.

In the process of attaining their stability by bonding with other molecules in the system, the molecules end up destroying their good health status, thus worsening the already damaged process. It is because of this that there is a very close connection between antioxidants and these radicals.

There is reason to believe that antioxidants, e. G., Vitamin E, Vitamin C, and betacarotine, selenium, lycopene, lutein, lipoic acid, and resveratrol, can significantly reduce the damage brought about by the lone electrons in the human system. This they do by inhibiting the formation of the molecules in the first place. Antioxidants are vital molecules, present in most foods, which help prevent the lone electrons form affecting healthy tissue. In other words, they neutralize the free radicals thus protecting healthy body tissues against oxidative stress.

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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