What are free radicals and where do they come from?Normal metabolic processes introduce highly unstable oxygen molecules called free radicals into your bloodstream. They strive to stabilize themselves by gaining electrons. They do this by snatching electrons from other molecules that they encounter, leaving behind a path of cell damage. But over time, they get the upper hand. That’s when they start causing health problems. Free radicals are unhealthy atoms. To understand what they are, here’s a mini chemistry lesson. An atom is the smallest particle of a substance. All atoms have electrons circling around them in an orbit. A healthy atom has 2 electrons that are a happily married couple, content with each other, not out to bother anybody else, living a happy life together performing their particular function in life.
An unhealthy atom has a single, unhappy electron and this guy is determined to find a 'partner'. It will do whatever it takes and will not stop until it finds one. This renegade atom will steal one of the partners from a happy couple. This process of stealing causes a chemical reaction. The atom is now happy that it has found a partner, but it is not its 'natural' partner. Therefore it is not able to properly perform the function that this 'natural couple' would perform. Even more critical, now that the original couple that lost a partner is not happy and it needs to find another partner. Therefore it has now become an unhealthy cell and will not stop until it destroys another happy couple. This process continues in a downward spiral unless it is stopped or corrected.
Attack the cell’s DNA preventing reproduction, or alter genetic material causing mutated proteins (creating numerous health issues and diseases). Create a host of problems contributing to
aging.
Can disrupt virtually any and all biochemical reactions within the body, contributing to all degrees of symptoms/conditions/illness. Damage white blood cells, reducing their ability in infection fighting, and their reduced number leads to inflammation. This sets the stage for degenerative disease. When free radicals overwhelm the body’s ability to quench or neutralize them, they foster damage that results in symptoms.
All disease is caused by free radicals
Foreign and toxic substances can create damaged cells. Nature would not leave us without protection. God has given us a body with ‘damage control’. A sad fact is that the amount of toxic substances we are now exposed to far outweighs our body’s natural mechanisms of damage control. The body was not designed to handle the ever-increasing amounts of toxins to which the modern world is exposing us. This is where antioxidants can come to our rescue.
Antioxidants have the ability to donate electrons to free radicals, stabilizing the renegade molecules without producing additional cell damage. Some of the key antioxidants nutrients are vitamin C and E, the carotenoids, including beta-carotene, and the mineral selenium. All fruits and vegetables contain generous amounts of antioxidants. Researchers at the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) set out to determine which foods have the highest antioxidant content. They developed a scale to measure oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC). In plain words, it is the ability of various foods to neutralize free radicals. The higher the ORAC score, the more antioxidant protection a food provides.
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