The Free Radicals that Age You
The Free Radical Theory of Aging wasn’t on my mind 20 years ago, but the older I get the more I care about it . I used to think that free radicals had something to do with politics. I was wrong about that, but they’re still bad news. Free radicals are unstable or damaged molecules that must steal an electron from another nearby molecule in order to restablize themselves. In so doing they create another unstable molecule and the cycle repeats – creating a chain reaction that damages the systems in your body right at the cellular level.
Just check out the wrinkles on a 50+ sunbather if you doubt the impact of cellular damage on aging . We can see the skin . We cannot see the Liver, lungs or intestinal system . But arteries get blocked – with cellular junk – and joints get swollen with chronic inflammation- which is directly caused by free radicals.
The picture is not all bad. At least we have antioxidants on our side . These are molecules that are capable of donating an electron to a free radical without becoming unstable themselves. They halt the chain reaction and prevent the damage.
But, what’s the source of free radicals ? Free radicals original from two key sources – one source is the outside environment – think of pollution and cigarette smoke and the host of toxic substances that we inflict on our bodies . We also make free radicals ourselves . There are four unique ways that our bodies make free radicals – oxidants.
Our regular metabolic functions – I can’t spell the scientific expanation. But let’s just say that our body, creates energy with oxygen as fuel and converts it to water. In the process, the oxygen molecule is not completely and cleanly utilized. There are by-products called oxy-radicals- our own version of nuclear waste- So that’s one – huge source of free radicals.
We use oxidants to fight chronic infections, bacteria and parasites. Unfortunately, there can be some collateral damage . We fight fire with fire and sometimes manage to burn ourselves in the process . We also produce hydrogen peroxide- another free radical version of oxygen – when we metabolize some fatty acids.
These processes never stop and are happening in millions of cells at once . It’s no small wonder that antioxidant supplements are so popular and a huge benefit that our body also produces some superb antioxidants like glutathione and CoEnzymeQ10 to help us deal with them.
And here’s something else you should file under “it figures” , an enzyme called cytochrome P450 is used by our bodies to sustain against toxins like drugs, other foreign chemicals and pesticides. In the process of creating this enzyme, our body will also produce free radicals. In a way, this makes the external toxins doubly damaging.
If you’re interested in helping your body combat the debilitating effects of free radicals, you need to boost your supply of antioxidants. Some antioxidants, like Vitamins C and E can be supplemented and emphatically a good diet is very important. Other antioxidants like Glutathione cannot be supplied as an oral supplement although you can provide your body with the precursors -raw materials- to manufacturer it yourself. One such product is MAXGXL, the Glutathione precursor from Max International.
