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Oxidation of Free Radicals
Causes Damage to the Body
As our bodies turn oxygen into energy, there are
by-products that are formed. When wood is burned it produces heat, but it
produces smoke as a by-product. When your body burns oxygen, it produces
energy and by-products called reactive oxygen species or (ROS). These are
the dangerous free radicals, that cause oxidative damage to your cells or
oxidation of free radicals.
If you remember your high school chemistry, you know that
atoms are made of neutrons, protons, and electrons, and that electrons like to
form bonds in pairs. In reactive oxygen species (ROS) or free radicals,
there is an unpaired electron in the atom's outer orbit. That unpaired
electron does not like being alone, so it tries to steal an electron, or maybe a
whole hydrogen atom, from something around it. Free radicals will
tear a little hole in your cell wall or rip a little piece of DNA out of
the nucleus. It doesn't damage much, but it damages important things.
When you multiply that little bit of damage by millions of free radicals created
in your body each second, the damage becomes much more significant.
Literally, free radicals make your body "rust or rot."
ANTIOXIDANTS PREVENT THE
OXIDATION OF FREE
RADICALS
Antioxidants prevent this process from happening. They clean up as many free
radicals as they can by stabilizing the free radicals before damage occurs
by giving up one of their electrons. This process is called prevention. If
you have enough ANTIOXIDANTS (the good guys), then you stay healthy. If
you don't have enough of the right antioxidants, then the
bad guys " free radicals" cause a long list of diseases. A
good example of this oxidative process is with a fresh cut apple, the apple will
rust or oxidize and turn brownish. Cut another apple then dip it in a lemon
juice solution, which is vitamin C. There is no oxidation. Vit. C is
an antioxidant.
WHAT KIND OF DAMAGE
CAN OXIDATION OF FREE RADICALS DO?
Plenty! It is well known that degenerative diseases are
linked to free-radical damage. That means diseases like arthritis, cataracts,
diabetes and macular degeneration are but a few. Free radicals are
strongly linked to heart disease and all types of cancer. They also weaken
our immune systems in various ways. Oxidation of free radicals and aging are strongly
linked. More than eighty age-related diseases can be
alleviated by antioxidants that neutralize oxidant particles. Age is
related to time only by the rate at which oxidative stress is taking its toll on
your body. Antioxidants can dramatically slow this aging process down.
Aging is not, as is commonly thought, the inevitable
"wearing out" of your body parts, as if your body were a car that
needed an overhaul. It is the accumulation of damage done to individual
cells all over your body that results in the problems we associate with aging.
 WE DON'T AGE ONE DAY AT A TIME,
WE AGE ONE CELL AT A TIME!
If you eat five to seven servings of fruits and vegetables
a day, and you are confident that the fruits were ripened before they were
picked, and all of the pesticides were washed off, and the soil that your
vegetables were grown in had all of the trace minerals in the ground, then you
may be getting enough antioxidants without having to supplement. I am sorry, but
I can't get mine from my diet.
From: "mmcullough"
Subject: antioxidants - Oxidation of Free Radicals
Date: Sat, 27 Mar 1999
Now that you know oxidation of
free radicals causes damage to the body, isn't it time you learned about the benefits of using
high quality vitamins!
Fill out the submission form to
attend a free online health seminar or click here to learn more about how the oxidation of free radicals
causes damage to the body.
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