How can oxidative stress and free radicals affect my health?

Oxidative stress is "rusting," if you will, of your organs and tissues. This can happen both on the outside, causing wrinkles and premature aging, and on the inside where it can stiffen our blood vessels, damage cell membranes, and essentially wreak havoc on our insides. Oxidation happens everywhere in nature and is a normal part of our biology; it occurs during the natural process of metabolism, which again is simply the body's means of turning calories (energy) from food and oxygen from the air into energy usable by the body.

Oxidation, then, is very much a part of our being, but when it begins to run amok or there's too much oxidation without a balance of antioxidant action, it can become harmful. "Oxidation," of course, entails oxygen, but not the kind we breathe. The form of oxygen that's the culprit here is simply "O" because it's not paired with another oxygen molecule (O2).

Free radicals are molecules that have lost an electron. Normally electrons spin around in pairs, but forces such as stress, pollution, ultraviolet light from the sun, and ordinary body activities (even breathing) can make one of them break off. When that happens, the molecule loses all sense of propriety and starts ricocheting around, trying to steal electrons from other molecules.

This commotion is the oxidation process itself, a chain of events that attacks cells and kicks off inflammation, which creates more free radicals. Because oxidized tissues and cells don't function normally, the whole destructive process sets you up for a bevy of health challenges, from wrinkles and a low metabolism to obesity, heart disease, cancer, dementia, and other diseases. All of these resulting effects equate with low energy as the body is trying to constantly heal itself and repair deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) damage.

It's no wonder that people with high levels of oxidation have an extensive list of symptoms: fatigue, brain fog, low resistance to infection, muscle weakness, joint pain, anxiety, headaches, depression, irritability, allergies . . .

The list goes on and on.

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