Part of the wondrous world of studying the human body and how it works is learning that we can indeed take an active role in helping to prevent our own diseases. I have written recently about how toxins are partially responsible for the enormous increase in cancer rates in the United States in recent years. When we take responsibility for our health and enable ourselves to rid our bodies of those toxins, we make room for healthier tissues to flourish and create an internal environment in which chronic diseases do not feel encouraged to take hold. Another way that we can be proactive in disease prevention is through consuming enough substances called antioxidants. We all have seen the ads in the produce aisle in the grocery store encouraging us to get at least 5 servings of fresh antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables for good health. What are antioxidants anyway, and how do they affect us?
In order to address the antioxidant issue you’ll have to bear with me and allow a little bit of high school chemistry to come through. Beware that this is a ridiculously oversimplified explanation of what actually goes on in our bodies, but I think you will get the idea. Antioxidants are substances which scavenge free radicals from our bodies. Free radicals are substances which are formed when weak molecules break apart in one of the thousands of biochemical reactions that happen in us every minute. Normal metabolism creates chemical reactions in which one substance is turned into another to perform some very important function in the operation of our systems. Molecules are filled with electrically charged particles which strive to bond with each other in an effort to become stable. Weak molecular bonds break and allow unstable particles called free radicals to form. The free radicals search for electrical particles called electrons on the outer surfaces of other molecules and they steal them in an attempt to stabilize. This then forms another free radical searching for another molecule from which to steal electrons and a chain reaction begins. Free radicals continue to form and on and on it goes. Out of control, free radicals will damage our living cells and alter their ability to perform as they should. Metabolism creates free radicals that our bodies’ antioxidant supplies should take care of, but environmental factors such as pesticides, cigarette smoke and radiation create additional free radicals that are sometimes too many for our own systems to handle. If too many free radicals are in our bodies, the cellular damage they cause leads to serious illnesses such as cancer and heart disease.
Antioxidants are substances which are electron-rich and they neutralize free radicals by donating electrons to make them stable. Antioxidants have been called free radical scavengers. They clean up the free radicals and help to prevent the cellular damage that ultimately comes from them. Vitamins A, C and E are all antioxidants. While they are present in our bodies and in foods we consume, many people supplement their diets with these. A word of caution, though, is that vitamins A and E are fat-soluble, which means that excess amounts of them are stored in the liver and fatty tissues. This can create toxicity. Vitamin C is water-soluble and can be excreted easily if excess amounts of it are consumed. Many foods are great sources of antioxidants. That is why the fruits and vegetables aisles in the stores remind us to get 5 to 8 servings of them every day.
As we age the damage from free radicals is exponential. It is urgent that we make certain our intake of fresh fruits and vegetables is adequate and that we supplement if we feel it is not. I personally supplement and eat fresh produce every day. I know that our over-farmed soil is not as nutrient-rich as it once was, and if you eat at the restaurants around here the nutrients are often cooked out of the vegetables anyway. Southern cooking (thank God for it) often renders vegetables deliciously overcooked so that the nutritional values are diluted. Most value is found in raw or only partially cooked produce.
Hopefully this clears up the matter of free radicals and the relationship between them and antioxidants. Free radicals cause cellular damage that ultimately results in serious illness. Antioxidants act as little Pac-Men and get rid of the free radicals. Get lots of antioxidants. We humans must do the best we can to keep ourselves healthy and let nature take its course otherwise. Treat your body well.