Free radicals have a positive effect on our body and are therefore indispensable. However, if they are present in our body in increased numbers, this positive effect is reversed into the negative. If too many free radicals unfold their harmful effect in our body, this can lead to the fact that important proteins of the metabolism and even the genetic material are attacked.
What are free radicals?
Free radicals lack an electron in their chemical structure. Therefore, they are constantly striving to complete their chemical structure and attack other molecules to rob them of an electron. In this way, the molecules attacked and deprived of an electron also become free radicals. A vicious circle develops! Every tissue and every organ of the human body is affected.
Medical and health functions, tasks and meanings.
Without oxygen, the human body cannot function because important metabolic processes would not be possible. Humans would not be able to live. Free radicals are unavoidable intermediates that are formed in our body during the further processing of oxygen in every cell and are very reactive. But they are also unavoidable in terms of their tasks in the human body. This is because free radicals help in the further processing of oxygen for energy production, and they also play a crucial role in immune defense processes. For example, in the fight against viruses and bacteria. The devastating effect of too many free radicals in the human body on the aging process can best be observed in people suffering from premature senescence (Hutchinson-Gilford syndrome). They age visibly from childhood because their body has no functioning protective mechanism against free radicals and is therefore defenseless against them. But we can all see what free radicals do at some point in the mirror from skin wrinkles, drooping eyelids, thinning skin, etc: They accelerate the aging process. In addition, free radicals are linked to many diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, rheumatism, diabetes mellitus, etc.
Diseases, ailments and disorders
Our body absorbs free radicals increasingly through environmental pollution, alcohol, UV rays, smoking. In a healthy person, there is a so-called “oxidative balance“. This is a state in which the formation of free radicals and the intake of antioxidants are in balance. In contrast, we speak of oxidative stress when the balance shifts in favor of the oxidative process. As already mentioned, free radicals then attack cell membranes or can damage genetic material as well as significantly accelerate the aging process. Antioxidants such as vitamin E, C and secondary plant compounds are able to neutralize free radicals. A healthy tissue can therefore easily protect itself against the destructive influence of free radicals. Nevertheless, it is becoming increasingly important to eat enough fruits and vegetables every day. Those who are unable to do so should ensure the supply of important free radical scavengers (antioxidants) through dietary supplements. However, there is a lack of scientific evidence regarding the effectiveness of dietary supplements, in which antioxidants are usually found in isolation and not together with natural accompanying substances, against free radicals. Thus, it has not been proven whether the additional intake of antioxidants via dietary supplements is beneficial to health. Basically, the following is true: It is becoming increasingly important to protect ourselves from free radicals. On the one hand, they are increasingly caused by environmental pollution, stress, smoking, etc.. On the other hand, our diet is no longer as balanced as it was fifty or a hundred years ago. Furthermore, fruits and vegetables today do not contain as many important ingredients as they did a few decades ago. According to an American study, by far the largest part of the antioxidants supplied by the daily food intake nowadays comes from coffee. However, this is not so much because the stimulant contains large quantities of radical scavengers, but rather because of people’s current eating habits, at least in the USA and Europe. Most people in these regions eat too few vegetables and fruits, but consume all the more coffee.
