Class... raise your hand if you really know what a free radical is. Don’t feel ashamed if you don’t know. Truth is, people tell us all the time eat healthy, exercise, drink plenty of water, antioxidants this and antioxidants that, pollution and stress ages you, and the list goes on and on. Will someone please get to the point about all this free radical stuff??? Sooo... we’re gonna break it down here at Buff Her. Our body has billions of molecular cells. Two cells are held together by sharing electrons. This is called a Covalent Bond. Sometimes cells are held together by weak bonds and they split apart. This results in an unstable molecule with an unpaired electron. This unpaired electron molecule is known as a Free Radical. This free radical begins attacking other near by cells in an attempt to replace there missing electron. When the attacked molecule loses its electron it too become a free radical itself. This chain reaction is called oxidative stress. Oxidative stress damages healthy cells. Many experts believe this stress is thought to be the leading cause of premature aging, your susceptibility to cancer, Arthritis, and so much more. It makes so much since. Just thing about an apple when it is cut. The fruit soon begins to brown. There are many things in your environment that can cause this oxidative stress to happen such as pollution, stress, and cigarette smoke. So, I know you are all asking what can be done to stop free radicals from affecting your body in such a negative way. How can we protect ourself from oxidation. Well... if the distractive part is oxidation then we have to do the opposite of oxidation which is anti-oxidation. This is accomplished by antioxidants. The antioxidants donates one of its electrons to the free radical. One awesome thing about the antioxidant nutrient is that after it donates the electron it does not become a free radical its self. My friends we have arrived!!!! So...the moral of the story is eat more antioxidants to fight the oxidation process.
