What Are Free Radicals?
What are free radicals? Well, free radicals can age you considerably, you can be old way before your time if you don’t fight them.
A simple way of understanding free radicals is to cut up an apple, and leave it exposed to the air.
The apple will turn brown in a matter of minutes; this is how free radicals work. Only you don’t turn brown, you turn wrinkly!
Free radicals contribute to the aging process, and we are aging every minute of the day.
Even though we cannot stop the aging process, we can take steps to improving our health as we age, and keep ourselves looking younger, and feeling healthier.
Free radicals are actually atoms, but to spare the confusion as to how these particular so called atoms work. I thought it would be better to just explain how ‘free radicals’ affect the human body.
Smoking, sun exposure, exercising, pollution, exposure to toxic chemicals all contribute to creating free radicals in our body.
Free radicals are also produced by our breath, and every time we breathe we are generating free radicals in the body. Because of this reaction with oxygen, free radicals may reduce oxygen supply to our cells.
So, unless you stop exercising, never go in the sun, and perhaps stop breathing, you may have a chance of stopping some of those pesky little free radicals. Although, this probably isn’t the safest way, as you won’t be around to notice a difference.
The body produces free radicals to aid in the metabolic processes; this is the digestion and conversion of food into energy. It is when the body produces too many of them, that it can become quite dangerous.
We are continuously increasing the amount of free radicals in our bodies due to the increasing toxins in our living and working environment. Suffice to say, we live in a very toxic environment!
Free radicals (or this atom) will combine and react chemically with other molecules.
Free radicals can virtually damage any molecule in our body, and this kind of damage leads to more free radicals. Therefore, it is very important to stop this chain reaction in our bodies.
The problem is, they are not meant to combine with these other molecules and when they do, it produces what is called oxidation, hence the brown apple theory, aging meaning wrinkles.
Our bodies produce enzymes which neutralise free radicals, but enzymes can’t do this on their own, they need antioxidants from our diet to help, what the antioxidants do is, they destroy the free radicals by feeding them electrons and rendering them harmless.
As we age, we produce even more free radicals, which can inflict even greater damage causing diseases such as cancer, hearth disease, arthritis, diabetes and even premature death.
It certainly makes sense to have a diet high in antioxidants, eating plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, supplements such as Vitamin E and Vitamin C are also good to take.
Many other supplements such as Wheatgrass, is very good, if you are unable to get enough green vegetables into your daily life.
I hope I have been able to explain ‘what are free radicals’ to you in an easy to understand way. I have often been left confused after reading some articles on this subject, and wanted to be able to make some logical sense of it for myself as well.
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