Oxidization, Free
Radicals and Anti-Oxidants
What is Oxidization?
Oxidization is the process that causes steel and iron to rust, a
garden hose to dry up and crack and an apple to shrivel & go brown once cut
open is also responsible for the degeneration or ‘rusting’ of our bodies,
causing cellular breakdown. This process is called Oxidization or oxidative
stress and has been linked to many degenerative and chronic diseases including
heart disease and cancer. It is also responsible for premature ageing.
What causes Oxidization?
Oxidization is caused by oxygen molecules that are missing an
electron, making them unstable. They ‘wish’ to be stable. They collide with
healthy, stable molecules be they in metal, a hose, an apple or our bodies and
then ‘steal’ an electron in order to stabilize themselves. This damages and de-stabilizes
the molecule that they have collided with leaving it now missing an electron
itself. The formally healthy molecule is now itself an unstable free radical
and will also try to stabilize itself by colliding with another healthy
molecule and ‘stealing’ one of its electrons. This creates a knock-on effect
that can damage your bodies cellular structure,
causing disease throughout the body.
What happens when Oxidization
goes unchecked?
This free radical oxidative stress, when checked, can show up
physically as a range of health problems including cataracts, chronic illness,
weakened skin tissue, many cancers and serious cardio-vascular disease. Free
radicals are also thought to speed up the ageing process.
Even the bodies’ natural metabolism can rob an oxygen molecule of
an electron, thus producing free radicals internally. The same applies to
stress. Free radicals are also increasingly produced environmentally by such
processes as pollution, ultra-violet radiation, mobile phones and computer
screens and also cigarette smoke, food additives and pesticides and herbicides.
What protection does your
body have against Oxidization?
Our bodies have natural reserves of protective molecules called
anti-oxidants, which as the name suggests, are molecules that act against the Oxidization
process. We must get them from our diet. They have a loosely bound electron
that can be given up to replace the one missing from a free radical, thus stabilising it and rendering it harmless. This anti-oxidant
has now de-stabilized itself and thus become a free radical itself,
albeit a less aggressive one than the one it stabilized. It now also needs to
be stabilized. This is part of the knock-on effect that was described earlier.
If this process is occurring within your arteries, for instance, it can damage
the cell structure of the arterial wall and begin a process of degeneration. We
need more anti-oxidants in our blood stream to help protect us.
Why do we need added
protection against Oxidization?
Due to the increased environmental production of free radicals and
the fact that the natural reserves of anti-oxidants decrease fairly sharply as
we get older, the amount of free radicals causing damage far outnumber the
protecting anti-oxidants. This leaves us open to the cumulative effects of
oxidative stress, which can be extremely detrimental to our health.
How can I test the Oxidization
process for myself?
If you want to see how anti-oxidants protect things, then get an apple and a lemon (organic of course). Cut the
apple and the lemon in half. Squeeze and rub the lemon juice over one half of
the apple on the exposed side and do not do this to the other half. Leave both
halves of the apple on the side for approximately 30 minutes. After this
period, go back and check the condition of the two halves. The untreated half
will have started to go brown and dry out, this is
caused by Oxidization (free radical attack).
The treated half will still be moist and will not have discoloured. The citric acid (vitamin C) in the lemon juice
is an anti-oxidant, and protected the treated half of the apple. This is a
great visual example to show how anti-oxidants work inside and outside our
bodies to protect us from the effects of free radical attack.
Many prominent researchers and physicians believe free radical
attack is a great danger to our health.
What is the best way to
protect myself against Oxidization and free-radicals?
Eating plenty of organic fruits and vegetables is the first step to
obtain anti-oxidants. However, it is important to note that vitamin and mineral
content of fruits and vegetables have decreased by 75 per cent and more over
the past 25 years. The best solution is to supplement your diet with
sub-colloidal minerals and vitamins and electrolytes and herbal extracts containing
broad spectrum anti-oxidant compounds. These have been shown to be over 150
times more potent than vitamin E and over 60 times more potent than vitamin C.
The information on this sheet is intended for educational purposes only and is not medical advice.
-
UK & European residents:
To purchase Revenol & other NEWAYS superior nutritional products, click here -
USA & Canadian residents:
To purchase Maximol & other NEWAYS superior nutritional products, click here
