Free Radicals and Oxidative Stress

Most people have heard of free radicals and antioxidants and how they are supposed to be good for your body. However, few people actually understand what a free radical is and how they lead to a condition known as increased oxidative stress.

Even fewer people know that antioxidants may not be the best way to combat oxidative stress. While they can help, it is actually much better to stimulate your body's own production or free radical fighting agents!

By the end of this week, I want you to understand what a free radical is, what oxidative stress is, the damage these can do to our body, and the best ways to decrease their levels in our bodies!

What is a free radical?

First, a quick bit of basic chemistry. This is an atom. Remember how all atoms are supposed to have a specific number of electrons (the little things that spin around the center of the atom)? And when they have this specific number, they are happy.

A free radical is missing an electron. This makes it unstable and unhappy. It goes around the body trying to find other molecules to steal electrons from.

How do free radicals form in the first place?

Free radicals can form spontaneously or it may happen as a result of heat, light, toxins in our body, or other environmental exposures. Sometimes our body even generates them purposefully in order to kill invading pathogens.

Normally, our body has mechanisms in place to stabilize these free radicals, but that’s only if the number of free radicals is kept at a manageable rate. Today, we are being bombarded by air pollutants, electromagnetic radiation, industrial chemicals, processed foods, drugs, and more stress than humans have ever had to deal with before.

These things are overwhelming our natural free radical turn-off mechanisms, resulting in too many free radicals!

So what kind of molecules do free radicals steal from?

When an electron is stolen from another molecule, it is considered damaged and does not work the same way. Certain tissues are much more likely to be affected by free radicals, and when they are, the effects can be disastrous. DNA and cellular membranes are two of the most common targets for free radicals.

The DNA normally targeted is located inside your cells in  an organelle known as the mitochondria. The mitochondria are the energy producers. Normally when DNA is damaged, the cells automatically fix it. The DNA inside the mitochondria, however, is not so easily fixed. As more DNA damage occurs, the less productive the mitochondria are, and this is one of the main theories behind aging!

Cellular membranes (or the walls around our cells) are also at high risk for damage from free radicals. When the cellular membrane is attacked, it can increase cell membrane rigidity, disrupt membrane receptors, and alter the activity of enzymes and proteins attached to the cell membrane. 

Basically, free radicals damage the communication network between the cells of our bodies.

Without proper communication, a cell can’t tell other cells that it needs certain nutrients, or that it has been infected by an outside pathogen, or know whether or not it should start multiplying. Certain free radicals are being studied as carcinogens, because it is believed that by messing up the communication process, they are the initial step in the development of cancer.

Later this week: How to Combat Free Radicals and Oxidative Stress!

Yours in health,

Dr. Samantha Boldt