free redicals in action
As we all know, oxygen is essential for our life. However, there is a dark-side of oxygen that most of us might not know. It is the oxidative stress or the free radicals damages that happen as a by-product of metabolism.
When oxygen is utilized inside our body, occasionally a charged oxygen molecule (called free radical) is created. This molecule has at least one unpaired electron in its outer orbit. It carries an electrical charge rendering it very reactive and unstable. It goes about and pulls electron(s) out of the nearest stable molecules it comes across. This activity sets a destructive chain reaction inside our body because when the latter molecules lose their electrons, they would become new free radicals.
Dr Ray Strand gives a vivid description about these “bad guys”, the free radicals. He relates them to tiny little sparks coming off from the fireplace. When each of these sparks lands on the carpet, a little burn-mark would be created. Over time, with more and more burn-marks, the carpet would be so damaged beyond repair. This is exactly what is happening inside our body. Chronic degenerative diseases are very much a build up of tiny little damages (cellular damages) over a long, long period of time. For instance, cancer takes easily fifteen, twenty, or even thirty years to surface.
It is estimated that each cell of the body could be bombarded 10,000 hits by free radicals everyday. As a result, every protein or lipid, every structure in the cell, and every substance produced by the cell are all susceptible to damages.
The good news is that we are not left defenseless. We have antioxidants playing an important role to neutralize the free radicals by forgoing their own electrons. They are just like the glass door we place in front of the fireplace. The sparks will still fly but our carpet is protected. The carpet in this case is our body.
Living a healthy life is a matter of balance between the two opposing forces: your enemy – the free radicals; and your allies – the antioxidants and their supporting nutrients.
The name of the game is to stay ahead of the free radicals. You must have sufficient antioxidants to readily neutralize these bad guys as and when they arise. Otherwise, you would expose yourself to free radical damage (oxidative stress) which if left to accumulate over time, would develop into serious chronic degenerative diseases.
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degeneration
Have you heard of Free Radicals? These are highly reactive and unstable molecules which look like sparks of fire under the microscope.
Just image, if we have sparks of fire bombarding our cells which we are primarily made up of, would we be very healthy? Just like the shirt, if we have sparks of fire on the shirt, very soon the shirt would be burnt. And so it is, with these free radicals continually bombarding our cells, our cell walls, our cell proteins, and our cell nucleus which contains our DNA, would be damaged. And, it’s where degeneration begins.
This process of Free Radicals damaging our cells is called oxidative stress, in quite the same way that makes metal rust, and cut apple turning brown.
What’s becoming worrying is that we have more and more of these Free Radicals because of the toxic environment men have created. From the damage to the ozone layer resulting in more harmful ultra-violet rays and radiation, to industrial waste, to agricultural contamination like pesticide and hormones for livestock, to pollution in the environment (the water we drink, the food we eat, and the air we breath), to chemical additives and preservatives, down to the increasingly stressful life we have, free radicals are increasing in big quantities, damaging our cells!
With these free radicals damaging our cells, and the damaging cells continually dividing, you end up with more and more damaged cells. Whichever part of your body gets more Free Radical damage – that is where you would get more degeneration.
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Do you know what is the problem with the fellow in this picture? It is called Bell’s Palsy.
What happens is that the nerves on one side of the face fail to function. This causes a paralysis of the facial muscles, resulting a twist on the face and most noticeably on the mouth. The eye lid of the affected side is not responding properly either, more so when you want to close your eyes.
This was what I experienced close to seven years ago. Pretty scary stuff even when I am thinking about it now.
I remember I first had a slight infection inside my right ear. Two days later, when I woke up and look into the mirror, I suddenly noticed something wrong with my mouth. It was tilted more to one side. I sensed that something serious might have happened, so I hurried for the GP and then the specialist. The first diagnosis was that it might be a mild stroke and I just had to be patient to wait for it to be back to normal again. They said that there was no medication for it.
Not satisfied with the diagnosis, I went for a second opinion. It was a lady doctor this time. She was concerned that the virus might travel through the path from the ear to the centre of the brain so much so that she sent me to the hospital right away.
There in the hospital I was put under observation for 2 nights and three days. No medication whatsoever, except of course the antiseptic cream for my ear. I was sent home to take rest on the understanding that there wouldn’t be a danger to the brain. As to the Bell’s Palsy, they couldn’t established what had caused it. I might get back to normal or I might not. But one thing for sure, there was no medication to treat.
This was my wake up call on health. Never before did I feel that the body can be so fragile and vulnerable. It does not have to be something really drastic. Just a matter of a few nerves breaking down, you life would turn upside down. That was exactly what I felt.
Perhaps it is human nature that we are generally not too good in planning ahead and following through. We tend to tackle issues as they show up, in a reactive way rather than proactively. However, when it comes to health, it could be a big gamble. When things go wrong, it could be a point of no return!
p.s. Start your research and act on your health today. As the motto of L’OREAL is saying: “Because You’re Worth It.”
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the human cell
The human body, on average, is made up of between seventy trillions to one hundred trillions (70,000,000,000,000+) of cells. They belong to something over 200 different cell types, each performing quite different tasks inside our body. In terms of size, each one of these cells is no bigger than the dot following this sentence. Do these facts amaze you? They did to me.
The picture shown here is a cross-sectional view of a human cell. As we can see, there are so many different component parts inside. It is very much like a small universe in itself.
As we know, life starts with a cell. This cell divides, and divides. And, nine months later, a baby is born. This process of metabolism continues, with new cells formed and old ones being replaced. And, the body regenerates itself.
Through this process of regeneration, something really interesting happen. Do you know the entire surface of the small intestine is replaced every five days? The skeleton is renewed every two years? And, we completely change our skin approximately every 27 days?
Quite frankly, I was totally blown away when I first came across the idea of our skeleton renewing itself every two years. As we come to know, every part of our body is a living being. The bone and the teeth are no exception.
Human cell is a fascinating subject. I hope this brief information might arouse at least a bit of your interest to look further in this direction.
As we understand, talking health without getting to know how our cell works can be dangerous. We can easily miss the boat. Indeed, the more we learn about our body, we see the importance of “holistic” and “synergy”. These of course we can cover another time.
PS. A quiz – the picture shown here is taken from a book by a very well-respected author. If you know the book we are referring to, please write back because we have reserved a gift for the first correct answer that reaches us. Have fun.
PPS we apology for the long absence since the last posting. That was because of some bugs in the system. Now the matter is behind us and we look forward to more regular postings in the future. Our thanks to you all for your support and patience, and particularly to the ones rendering their comments. We hope we all grow in this search for truth and health.
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