Free Radicals Have Different Sources

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 . Free radicals are bad news. Sometimes called oxyradicals, free radicals   are unstable or damaged molecules that must steal an electron from another nearby molecule in order to restablize themselves. But, when they do that they make a new unstable molecule and the cycle repeats - starting a chain response? that damages the systems in your body as deep as the cellular level.

One clear place to see the correlation between free radical damage and aging is on the face of a life long sun worshipper . We can see the skin . We cannot see the Liver, lungs or intestinal system .  But arteries get blocked - with cellular junk - and joints go swollen with chronic inflammation- which is directly caused by free radicals. 

Free radicals  can be attacked by antioxidants . These are molecules that are capable of donating an electron to a free radical without becoming unstable themselves. They arrest the chain reaction and prevent the damage.

 But,  where do free radicals come from ? 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.

Daily metabolism -
There is a real scientific term for the free radicals that our metabolism creates. 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 utilised. 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, nearby cells are exposed to free radical damage . Too bad that we can get burned when we fight fire with fire . 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 the same time . It's should come as no surprise 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.

 In a final irony , an enzyme called cytochrome P450 is used by our bodies to defend 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 aging effects of free radicals, you need to add to your supply of antioxidants. Some antioxidants, like Vitamins C and E can be supplemented and unquestionably a healthy diet is very important. Other antioxidants like Glutathione cannot be supplied as an oral  supplement although you can furnish your body with the precursors -raw materials- to produce it yourself. One such product is MAXGXL, the Glutathione precursor from Max International.