In my previous EzineArticle I introduced "My Action Health Strategy", and uncovered the battle raging in our bodies between antioxidants and free radicals. In the section "The Basic Body Infrastructure Overview," I explained antioxidants, the four most important ones, and why we need to supplement them as we age. This article focus on free radicals.
Free Radicals
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Free radicals are not free. They are so expensive that even the super rich can not afford them. After all, health is our real wealth. Free radicals are unstable molecules, and they find, attack, damage and destroy through oxidization, our stable, healthy molecules and cells. Sounds like our bodies are at war.
Much of the destruction is through oxidation, and we know about oxidation. What happens to a bright, shiny nail when we leave it laying outside. It oxidizes, turning to rust, until, over time, it becomes a pile of rusty ashes. And so, as the free radicals win the battle, we oxidize slowly, becoming sick until we finally become a pile of ashes.
There are two free radicals, the hydroxyl radical (-OH) and the super-oxide radical, which consists of two linked oxygen atoms (O2) with a single, unpaired electron, that are the most destructive. These are unstable molecules, because they have only one electron. A stable molecule has two electrons that balance with the two oxygen atoms, so that the molecule can perform the functions necessary to keep our bodies healthy.
All substances, including our bodies, are composed of atoms, molecules and cells. There are 92 different kinds of atoms in nature, from hydrogen, the lightest, to uranium, the heaviest, and substances are made from a combination of different kinds of atoms linked together. Our bodies are made from just over 20 different atoms, but about 90% of our bodies are made from only four-carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen.
These combinations of atoms are called molecules. Molecules are what forms our cells, and their normal functioning determines our health and how quickly we age. They can not operate normally when the unstable free radicals are attacking them in increasing numbers.
These free radicals, each with their single electron, attack and damage almost every molecule found in the body. They are extremely active, and after, forming, only a fraction of a second passes before they join and attack, a stable molecule. During the attack, the free radical (unstable molecule) will take an electron from a stable molecule to make up their pair. The free radical becomes stable but the attacked molecule now becomes a free radical. This starts a chain reaction that races destructively through tissues.
Where do these free radicals come from? Under normal conditions they exist in our bodies, naturally, and are in the oxygen we breath to live. They enter our bodies also, as we interact with our environment. They are in the air we breathe, contaminated air provides more free radicals, sunlight, and the food we eat. So we can not avoid them. Unfortunately, our damaged environment, the exploding new technologies in society, and the way we eat and live today, have contributed to a dramatic increase in the flow of free radicals that enter our bodies.
So supplementing the declining supply of antioxidants to combat the ever increasing flow of free radicals becomes an important issue for us as we age.
My next articles will explore the important antioxidant avenues open to us for dramatically increasing their supply.
Why You Need to Understand Free Radicals
D. Quentin Webb, Ph.D., earned three university degrees, not online, during eight years of university studies. This background provides the tools and mindset for the research and writing that he is currently undertaking.
During his 40 years in the employment stream, he spent considerable time studying and using, in a "street smart" manner, the healthy living information that he found during his practical research. Diet, nutrition, natural foods, vitamins, minerals, herbs, alternative medicine were the areas of research and practical use.
The author is well over 65 years old, and is a testament to his healthy living efforts. He has a vast reservoir of energy, very alert, no aches or pains, is very active, never gets the flu or colds, and is slender and athletic. In short, he is quite healthy (wealthy). His primary web site is [http://www.squidoo.com/naturalhealthconcepts/]
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