The Healthy Dose: Free Radicals- Part 2

Free radicals can be destructive within a cell.

Free radicals can be destructive within a cell.

Last week’s edition can be found online. Issue dated June 27,2014.

Continuing, free radicals are made in your body as byproducts of natural processes, called oxidative processes. In the same way that car exhaust is created when you run an engine to power the car, free radicals are formed by the oxidative processes to power your body. Although these processes are very efficient, free radical formation is inevitable in small amounts—even the most efficient engine will produce exhaust.

There are many healthy roles for free radicals, though. For instance, nitric oxide is a free radical that is used by cells to communicate with other cells. In fact it is necessary for proper nervous system function and blood pressure control. Of course, this type of process is very tightly controlled.

But nitric oxide is not what has made free radicals such a big deal. Remembering from Part 1, free radicals cause chaotic chain reactions that can cause abnormal attachments between molecules. It is easy to imagine how rapid and unpredictable chemical reactions like this can cause damage to the human body. It would be similar to a multiple car pile-up, where one car crash causes more car crashes in a destructive domino effect.

Our bodies neutralize free radicals as they are formed, but when oxidative processes are sped up, free radical formation outpaces the body’s ability to control their side effects. If free radicals only killed certain cells, it might not be so bad. After all, cells in the body are killed and replenished regularly. However, the most significant damage occurs when free radicals reach DNA and alter the information that our bodies use to heal. When this happens, mutations are created that can affect almost any aspect of our bodies’ functions. These kinds of changes are what can lead to more rapid aging or even disease, like cancer. For more information check out the WebMD feature “How Antioxidants Work.”

What does this meant to you, though? Substances like cigarette smoke and air pollution can quicken free radical generation. On the other hand, common antioxidants like Vitamin E, Vitamin C, and Vitamin A are effective at combatting their effects. Harvard’s online publication, The Nutrition Source, has a great article about this titled “Antioxidants: Beyond the Hype.”

Parth Dwivedi has a B.A. in Neuroscience and an M.S. in Biomedical Sciences. He likes reading non-fiction and still watches I Love Lucy.

Parth Dwivedi has a B.A. in Neuroscience and an M.S. in Biomedical Sciences. He likes reading non-fiction and still watches I Love Lucy.

 Finally, science works by creating a complete picture of an issue and this picture is still incomplete. Some experts have questioned the effectiveness of antioxidant effects on disease as well as the effectiveness of multivitamins as a source of antioxidants. This might seem confusing but there is a rule for that, too. Talk to your doctor before you do anything!