I ‘know’ we are all walking around with ‘free radicals’ inside us - Some have more than others - but I’m not exactly sure what a free radical is.
I’ve been able to determine that:
the more you eat (and the worse you eat), then the more free radicals that are in you to beat up your cells (age you).
anti-oxidents supposedly eliminate free radicals. “Supposedly” might be a key word because some evidence suggests that while anti-oxidents like some teas might eliminate free radicals, it’s sort of like removing three or four clapping people from an audience of 50,000.
free radicals float around inside us and slam into cells, ensuring the aging process - more or less.
preventing and eliminating free radicals might be the biggest component in slowing or halting the aging process.
Condsider my four points questions in some sense. Are the basic statements above true?
Aside from research by pill pusing companies selling anti-oxident capsules, could someone give me the skinny on free radicals?
What are they? If they are that bad, is there a natural way to prevent them…minimize them?
Are free radicals a built in aging device in all creatures that ensures the aging of cells?
A free radical (in a Chemistry sense) is a atom that is highly reactive and will therefore “rip” electrons off other atoms in order to achieve stability. The best example is a chlorine radical that gets released when CFC’s (remember them) reacts with ultraviolet light. Chlorine exists as a bonded pair in nature and when this bond is broken, the individual atom gains one electron to become stable - the chlorine radical produced by the above reaction is a single, neutral atom of Chlorine which will “attack” any neighbouring molecule (including Ozone) to get its "electron fix…
In a Biochemical sense, I guess the same kind of reactions are taking place, with the radicals “attacking” body molecules to get stabalised, and the body cells/tissues are damaged as a result.
To be quite honest, I think that there is an element of marketing-speak in a lot of products at the moment, and “free radical” is a hot term, along with “anti-oxidant”.
Well, short of not breathing and eating, what can someone do to reduce free radical damage?
I’m trying to give credence to what has beed learned about free radicals, yet trying to avoid all this talk about anit-oxidents as supplements.
I think there is something to be gained by understanding free radicals in the body and their role in the aging process. Unfortunatley, the net is littered with pills and potions.
Much like someone trying to invest in exercise or diet plans, the first 4 million pages they find on the net are probably full of useless abercisers and half ass hollywood miracle diets. Obviously, exercise and nutrition have merits that are lost in the cloud of pill pushers.
When trying to learn about free radicals, one is presented with 4 million pages of goofball formulas. So, while there is merit in understanding the roles of free radicals, it is hard to find the science in all of it.
Many years ago, I heard holistic quacks talking about eliminating these “free radicals” from the body, and now, years later, I hear more reputable sources talking about using “anti-oxidants” to remove free radicals from the body. I want a more scientific explanation of this, and more precise answers to these questions:
(NOTE: I am not discrediting the explanation posted above of free radicals at an atomic level - I’m talking about free radicals at a cellular level, and their presence in the human body)
Do free radicals really exist?
What exactly is a free radical?
Are there really free radicals in my body?
What do they really do?
How did they get there, and how can I get rid of them?
What is an anti-oxidant (in reference to a free radical)?
What scientific evidence do we have that supports the belief in free radicals?
Why are scientific names not used?
What’s the straight dope?
Free radicals are atoms or molecules with unpaired electrons. Free radicals in your body are continually being generated by a variety of chemical reactions, usually involving molecular oxygen, and there’s no way to completely stop them from being generated. Because of the unpaired electron, free radicals are extremely reactive and can not only damage biomolecules in your cells, but they can set off chain reactions that generate more free radicals and do a lot of damage, including to DNA. An anti-oxidant is something that can react with a free radical in such a way that it stops being dangerous and can’t do any more damage, but it’s impossible for anti-oxidants to prevent all the damage being done by free radicals.
Basically, because we live in an atmosphere with so much oxygen in it, it’s a fact of life that that we have free radicals being generated in our bodies all the time. Our bodies have evolved systems to deal with the damage they do, but it’s physically impossible to get rid of them all. In my opinion, you’re probably wasting your money if you pay for anti-oxidants.
All the above (except the “my opinion” part) is based on a Powerpoint slide show of a lecture given to my medical school class last year. There’s a whole big branch of chemistry dealing with the subject. Free radicals definitely cause a lot of pathology, but there’s still doubt as to their role in aging.
What do you base this opinion on? (1) Free radicals soak up unpaired oxygen. (2) Antioxidants neutralize free radicals. (3) Therefore, antioxidants prevent free radicals from soaking up unpaired oxygen, thereby preventing them from causing damage to the cells and body. You don’t have to take pills, but I think it has been demonstrated that antioxidants serve a vital purpose. As a runner, I generate a lot of free radicals, and I take vitamin C to neutralize this. Moreover, studies have shown that the antioxidant supplements, such as Ocuvite, do prevent AMD.