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.
Filed under Cellular Health by .
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.
Filed under Cellular Health by .
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