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What are free radicals?

You often hear these words around you—antioxidants and free radicals—that it is easy to become confused with them? What are they and what do they do? What really is a free radical? These two terms have been bandied about so much that it is now difficult to buy cosmetics without your eye searching them out. But let’s find out what they really mean.

What are free radicals? Free radicals are present in the human body and may also be present in the environment. They can be in the sun, in cosmic emissions such as solar flares, x-rays, cigarette smoke both passive and active, alcohol, exhaust, and the ozone. Free radicals are also found in mercury, lead and cadmium. In the human body, each free radical is a highly reactive compound that releases excess energy.

When your body is attacked by free radicals, they interact with the chemicals in your body, and prevent it from functioning normally. This leads to problems such as cancer or atherosclerosis. For you to be able to withstand the onslaught of free radicals, your body will need to have an adequate supply of antioxidants.

By definition, free radicals are atoms or groups of atoms with an unpaired number of electrons. They can be formed whenever oxygen interacts with certain molecules. When formed, they can start a chain reaction and is capable of a lot of damage to cellular components such as our DNA or the cell membrane. Cells can die if this happens. To fight the free radicals and prevent their formation and damage, our body produces its own soldiers—a defence system called antioxidants.

What are antioxidants? Antioxidants are molecules that interact safely with free radicals and stop its chain reaction before the latter damages important molecules. The chief micronutrient or vitamin antioxidants in the body are vitamin E, beta-carotene, and vitamin C. However, the body cannot manufacture these micronutrients, so our diet must supply it.

Antioxidants are those substances that can counter the damaging effects of the physiological process of oxidation in animal tissue. Antioxidants are nutrients comprising vitamins, minerals and enzymes that prevent the development of chronic diseases such as cancer, heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and cataracts.

Your body not only contains but also manufactures its own antioxidants, though it can also be deficient in these. This is why it is imperative to eat foods rich in antioxidants so that your body’s immune system can successfully stave off the harmful effects of free radicals. You might, in certain cases, have to add supplements rich in antioxidants to your diet.

It is the duty of antioxidants to reduce the amount of energy produced by free radicals and to stop their formation entirely. Another function is to stop the chain reaction caused by oxidation; therefore it is called an anti-oxidant.

Antioxidant-rich food are found in vitamin C, beta carotene, lutein, lycopene, zinc, copper, manganese, vitamin B12, cysteine and coenzyme Q10 and in herbs such as bilberry, grape seed extract, gingko and curcumin. These foods protect the body against the damaging effects of free radicals.

Even if you do follow this diet strictly, remember that moderation is the key here too. So, eat a balanced diet of 5-8 servings of fruits and vegetables a day.