Winter Maladies: Natural Approaches
June Russell's Health Facts
Free Radicals/Antioxidants
[Overview] [Studies and Reports]
Overview
You can't escape from free radicals completely because they are a by-product of normal cell metabolism, such as fighting infection or burning glucose for energy. They also help tone the muscles that line the blood vessels, and are important in the production of certain necessary hormones and enzymes.
Free radicals are highly reactive, unstable molecules that have lost one electron and are aggressively looking for a replacement — a process that can result in damage to everything from your DNA to the collagen layer of your skin because these free radicals combine with your body’s cells and tissues to get that electron they need. In this way, excess free radicals can cause damage to blood vessel tissues, and the medical literature has linked these ‘excessive’ free radicals to nearly all health problems.
DNA can be damaged by a free radical and cause it to reproduce incorrectly, too rapidly, or not at all. Free radicals can change DNA to produce potential carcinogens. These effects of free radical attacks are called ‘oxidative damage,’ and an excess of these (or an ineffective natural defense mechanism that would deactivate free radicals) has been implicated as a contributing factor in many diseases. As we age, our bodies become less effective at combating oxidative damage which leads to signs of aging.
Free radicals alter the functioning of the cell. While the cell is somewhat permeable to allow nutrients to enter and wastes to be removed, the free radicals alter this, causing leakage or clogging, and ultimately the death of the cell. Free radicals interfere with the structures inside cells that produce energy, and then leave the cells weak somewhat less defenseless. Free radicals cause LDL (the ‘bad’ cholesterol) to stick to the walls of the arteries.
Free radicals are formed by exposure to such things as tobacco smoke, alcohol, insecticides, radiation, chemicals in the home or at work (chlorine, new carpeting, air fresheners, etc.), even excessive amounts of sunlight. Other causes are a high-fat diet, eating fried foods, or strenuous exercise. It is the free radical production from these sources that we need to be most concerned about, as they cause the excessive and uncontrolled free radicals that can have devastating health effects.
It is now recognized that free radicals are the contributing causes to more than 60 diseases, such as heart disease, cataracts and rheumatoid arthritis. We can help body to ‘scavenge’ or ‘deactivate’ free radicals before they cause harm by avoiding some of these environmental toxins and increasing antioxidant intake. Because antioxidant compounds are effective at very low concentrations, we can gain protection from even moderate dietary changes that increase antioxidant nutrients.
The body, using raw materials from the diet, manufactures antioxidant enzymes naturally, and when adequate diet is impossible, supplementation may be necessary. Vitamin A is considered an ‘essential’ vitamin, which means it must be obtained from the diet because the body cannot manufacture it. The human body is capable of converting provitamin A or beta-carotene to vitamin A as needed, and there are more than 400 carotenoids beside beta-carotene. Beta-carotene is considered a safe source of vitamin A and does not have the toxic effects associated with high levels of vitamin A. Vitamin A and beta-carotene are most abundantly found in colorful fruits and vegetables such as carrots, apricots, dark green leafy vegetables, red peppers, sweet potatoes, and blue-green algae.
Because the human body cannot manufacture vitamin C, it must be obtained through the diet or in the form of supplements — unfortunately, most of the vitamin C consumed in the diet is lost in the urine. Alcohol can reduce the levels of vitamin C in the body, and its presence may change the effectiveness of drugs taken; for example, sulfa drugs and diabetes medications may not be as effective when taken with vitamin C.
Vitamin C works synergistically with vitamin E, that is, when they work together, they have a greater effect than when they work separately. These vitamins reinforce and extend each other’s antioxidant activity. Vitamin E scavenges for dangerous free radicals in cell membranes, while vitamin C attacks free radicals in biologic fluids.
Vitamin E is a fat-soluble vitamin instrumental in preventing oxidative damage, and there is a link between low levels of vitamin E and immune deficiency. Natural vitamin E (D-alpha-tocopherol) is considered more bioavailable than the synthetic form (DL-alpha-tocopherol), and this vitamin is found in nuts, whole grains, vegetable oils, and to a lesser extent in fruits and vegetables. Although trace minerals are not true antioxidants, minerals have an important role in the effective functioning of antioxidant enzymes. For example, as with selenium and vitamin E; selenium improves the absorption of vitamin E, and vitamin E enhances the beneficial effects of selenium.
Plants contain many natural antioxidants, including carotenoids and flavonoids. There are over 3,000 flavonoids, and they are quite unique in their free radical scavenging as well as being active against a wide variety of free radicals. To increase the carotenoid and flavonoid content in your body tissues, eat at least five or more servings of fruit and vegetables daily.
--- Sources --
- Antioxidants, Part I: Basic Chemistry, Part II: Oxidative Damage, Part III: Antioxidant Nutrition, celltech.com - Oct. 2001
- Antioxidants and Free Radicals, Xtra Health, xtra.co.nzm - Leanne James, Medical Herbalist, Information by Healthyonline.
- “Alcohol Consumption Triggers Free-Radical Damage,” University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, newswise.com - Dec. 2000.
- ABBA Pharmaceuticals and Laboratories, Inc. - abbaproducts.com - Dec. 2000.
- Jane E. Brody, New York Times, April 26, 1998.
- “What are Free Radicals?” staywellvitamins.com - Dec. 2000.
- “Vitamin C - Ascorbic Acid,” Functions of vitamin C, Sprint PCS react.ie/Health/Nutrition, Oct. 2001.
- Dr. Christiane Northrup’s “Health Wisdom for Women” newsletter, March 1998
Studies and Reports
The ethanol produced during the fermentation of wine is a solvent. A study in the September 1999 issue of The Journal of Clinical Investigation showed that alcohol actually raises the level of free radicals. This puts oxidant stress on organs such as the heart and liver, and causes them to deteriorate. There are bad effects of alcohol to consider, in particular the hazards of working machinery and driving automobiles under the influence of alcohol. Moreover, there are other proven ways of reducing the risk of heart disease.
{"Toast to Your Health - A look at the positive effects of wine and alcohol," Dr. Joseph Woo is an Obstetrician and Gynecologist in private practice, a Fellow of the Hong Kong College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, www.hkam.org.hk - August 2002}
Free radicals are more like toxic waste and can cause cancer. Like radiation and carcinogens, free-radical oxidation breaks strands of DNA. The breaks are repaired, but some mistakes occur (mutations).
{"Free Radicals," Discover magazine, Oct. 2002}
The lead researcher of the University of Florida College of Nursing, James Jessup, PhD, RN, told the University of Florida News that when we reach our 40’s, most people begin to naturally produce fewer amounts of antioxidants, but larger amounts of free radicals. {“Taking History,” Health Sciences Institute, e-mail - Sept. 2003}