Get Radical With Free Radicals!

When oxygen reacts to the world around it, things rust. This is because when oxidation occurs, renegade molecules known as free radicals are created, and these damaging molecules can eventually attack other molecules, causing a breakdown in the material. Rust is simply the breakdown of metal, due to free radicals created through oxidation.

Your body interacts with oxygen, and it, too, is rusting. Every day, interaction with oxygen, within and outside of the body, causes the same breakdown in materials. Wrinkling, for example, is at least partially caused by this process. Researchers also believe that this process is linked to many of today's most frequent diseases, such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, cataracts, and immune disorders. Our bodies do provide substances that inhibit this "rusting." They are known as antioxidants and, as their name indicates, they work against oxidation.

The immune system is the army that protects us from invaders. It extends throughout all body systems and is linked to our brain and affected by our state of mind. It protects us from bacteria, viruses, and cancer cells. Its basic strategy is simple: recognize the enemy and attack. The immune system is perhaps the "most important" body system when considering living well and maintaining good health. A healthy immune system can meet all challenges.

Free radicals are highly reactive forms of oxygen that damage cells throughout the body. As your body creates energy at the cellular level, oxygen is metabolized, changing its structure. In this process, the oxygen molecule loses one electron, turning it into a free radical. Free radicals also are created through detoxifying rancid fats and chemicals, such as drugs, food additives, and preservatives; and by cigarette smoke, pollutants, sunlight, radiation, and emotional stress.