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This article was originally published in the February 2012 issue of Body Mind Spirit Magazine, a Michigan based alternative health publication.
This article was originally published in the February 2012 issue of Body Mind Spirit Magazine, a Michigan based alternative health publication.
_Antioxidants: The Secret to Staying Young
by Dr. Carol Ann Fischer, BS, DC, ND
_
Everyone wants to stay young. No one wants to look or feel older. There are natural ways to slow aging. The secret to youth has been discovered and has been shown to really help slow the aging process: antioxidants.
Originally, the term antioxidant was used to refer to a chemical that prevented the consumption of oxygen. While life requires oxygen to live, oxygen is a highly reactive molecule. It damages living organisms by producing oxygen free radicals, also known as reactive oxygen species or ROS. But not all ROS are bad. Living organisms use ROS as part of a signaling process. To keep production of ROS at optimal levels, living organisms have an extensive and complex network of their own antioxidants.
ROS cause damage by producing free radicals. A free radical is an atom that loses an electron. In an effort to get its electron back, it steals an electron from a neighboring molecule, damaging it in the process. A chain reaction of molecules stealing electrons occurs. This is how free radicals cause cellular damage on the inside of the body, and create internal health problems. They also cause the outside of the body to age by forming wrinkles on the skin.
Free radicals are naturally produced when cells in the body burn oxygen to produce energy. We cannot avoid free radicals. They are caused internally by normal aerobic respiration and metabolism, and also by inflammation. We also have external triggers that cause the formation of free radicals. Toxins from pollution, nutrient deficiencies and stress, all cause more free radical formation than the body can neutralize on its own.
The solution is antioxidants. Antioxidants work by donating an electron. This allows the antioxidants to capture and neutralize free radicals, stopping the chain reaction of electron loss. This is why antioxidant supplements are the number one selling product on the planet. Antioxidant supplements remove the potentially damaging free radicals in living organisms. Natural sources of antioxidants include fresh vegetables and fruits that contain micro-nutrients and antioxidants that destroy the excess free radicals.
In the late 1990’s research revealed the reason that fruits and vegetables were able to act as antioxidants was their ability to transport and donate a negative hydrogen ion. Negative hydrogen ions have been discovered to be the original antioxidant for all life forms on our planet, and are the most potent antioxidant we can ingest. All living organisms also use negative hydrogen to help generate energy on a cellular level.
Negative hydrogen, also known as active hydrogen is fragile and destroyed by processing, bleaching, blanching, milling, heat and prolonged exposure to air or prolonged storage. This is why it is best to eat fruits and vegetables in their fresh, raw state. Ideally only 20 – 25% of our food should be cooked, while 75-80% should be raw.
To stay young, eat more raw foods high in antioxidants, like Vitamins A, C and E. Vitamin C is found in all fresh fruits and vegetables. Vitamin E is found in vegetable oils and in the germ of the wheat. Carotenoids and lutein (lycopene and carotenes – Vitamin A) are found in fruits, vegetables and eggs. Polyphenolic antioxidants (resveratrol, flavonoids) are found in green tea, fruit, olive oil, chocolate, cinnamon, oregano, and red wine.
There are water soluble and fat-soluble antioxidants. Common water-soluble antioxidants include ascorbic acid (vitamin C), glutathione, lipoic acid, and uric acid. The fat-soluble antioxidants are carotenes, alpha tocopherol (vitamin E), and ubiquinol (coenzyme Q). The fat-soluble antioxidants keep fats from becoming rancid. Other natural sources of antioxidants include specific plants and herbs like rosemary, turmeric, bilberry, elderberry, and grape seed extract. Look for antioxidant supplements containing a mixture of these ingredients.
The excess free radical production occurring in the body from exposure to environmental toxins can no longer be handled by just consuming raw foods and supplemental antioxidants. Americans consume three pounds of oxidizing chemicals each year in the form of pesticides. Over 186,000 chemicals in the air, food, personal care products and water bombard Americans every day.
Add to this a diet of processed and cooked foods, since most people do not eat a raw food diet. This results in a very high free radical production, requiring even more antioxidants to neutralize all of the excess. There is another way to get more negative hydrogen into the body, just as our ancestors did.
Active hydrogen, as an antioxidant, is found naturally in high altitude glacial run off, wells and springs, but is inaccessible to most people. The most useful and common supplemental source of active hydrogen for almost 40 years in Japan, and the past 8 years in the USA has become “alkaline ionized water”, produced by Japanese medical equipment in the form of kitchen countertop water ionizers. (The active hydrogen in “alkalized ionized water” donates an abundance of electrons to neutralize free radicals, leaving only water as the residue from the encounter.). Learn more about the science behind hydrogen water.
Some medical experts feel that the Japanese have discovered the secret to staying young. They all agree that antioxidants are the key to helping slow the aging process caused by free radical damage. Decrease toxic exposure and reduce nutritional deficiencies that contribute to free radical production. Increase consumption of antioxidant herbs, fresh raw foods and/or active hydrogen or "alkaline ionized" water to look and feel younger.
To learn more about fresh“alkalized ionized water” check out http://www.drinkyourselfhealthy.info
Everyone wants to stay young. No one wants to look or feel older. There are natural ways to slow aging. The secret to youth has been discovered and has been shown to really help slow the aging process: antioxidants.
Originally, the term antioxidant was used to refer to a chemical that prevented the consumption of oxygen. While life requires oxygen to live, oxygen is a highly reactive molecule. It damages living organisms by producing oxygen free radicals, also known as reactive oxygen species or ROS. But not all ROS are bad. Living organisms use ROS as part of a signaling process. To keep production of ROS at optimal levels, living organisms have an extensive and complex network of their own antioxidants.
ROS cause damage by producing free radicals. A free radical is an atom that loses an electron. In an effort to get its electron back, it steals an electron from a neighboring molecule, damaging it in the process. A chain reaction of molecules stealing electrons occurs. This is how free radicals cause cellular damage on the inside of the body, and create internal health problems. They also cause the outside of the body to age by forming wrinkles on the skin.
Free radicals are naturally produced when cells in the body burn oxygen to produce energy. We cannot avoid free radicals. They are caused internally by normal aerobic respiration and metabolism, and also by inflammation. We also have external triggers that cause the formation of free radicals. Toxins from pollution, nutrient deficiencies and stress, all cause more free radical formation than the body can neutralize on its own.
The solution is antioxidants. Antioxidants work by donating an electron. This allows the antioxidants to capture and neutralize free radicals, stopping the chain reaction of electron loss. This is why antioxidant supplements are the number one selling product on the planet. Antioxidant supplements remove the potentially damaging free radicals in living organisms. Natural sources of antioxidants include fresh vegetables and fruits that contain micro-nutrients and antioxidants that destroy the excess free radicals.
In the late 1990’s research revealed the reason that fruits and vegetables were able to act as antioxidants was their ability to transport and donate a negative hydrogen ion. Negative hydrogen ions have been discovered to be the original antioxidant for all life forms on our planet, and are the most potent antioxidant we can ingest. All living organisms also use negative hydrogen to help generate energy on a cellular level.
Negative hydrogen, also known as active hydrogen is fragile and destroyed by processing, bleaching, blanching, milling, heat and prolonged exposure to air or prolonged storage. This is why it is best to eat fruits and vegetables in their fresh, raw state. Ideally only 20 – 25% of our food should be cooked, while 75-80% should be raw.
To stay young, eat more raw foods high in antioxidants, like Vitamins A, C and E. Vitamin C is found in all fresh fruits and vegetables. Vitamin E is found in vegetable oils and in the germ of the wheat. Carotenoids and lutein (lycopene and carotenes – Vitamin A) are found in fruits, vegetables and eggs. Polyphenolic antioxidants (resveratrol, flavonoids) are found in green tea, fruit, olive oil, chocolate, cinnamon, oregano, and red wine.
There are water soluble and fat-soluble antioxidants. Common water-soluble antioxidants include ascorbic acid (vitamin C), glutathione, lipoic acid, and uric acid. The fat-soluble antioxidants are carotenes, alpha tocopherol (vitamin E), and ubiquinol (coenzyme Q). The fat-soluble antioxidants keep fats from becoming rancid. Other natural sources of antioxidants include specific plants and herbs like rosemary, turmeric, bilberry, elderberry, and grape seed extract. Look for antioxidant supplements containing a mixture of these ingredients.
The excess free radical production occurring in the body from exposure to environmental toxins can no longer be handled by just consuming raw foods and supplemental antioxidants. Americans consume three pounds of oxidizing chemicals each year in the form of pesticides. Over 186,000 chemicals in the air, food, personal care products and water bombard Americans every day.
Add to this a diet of processed and cooked foods, since most people do not eat a raw food diet. This results in a very high free radical production, requiring even more antioxidants to neutralize all of the excess. There is another way to get more negative hydrogen into the body, just as our ancestors did.
Active hydrogen, as an antioxidant, is found naturally in high altitude glacial run off, wells and springs, but is inaccessible to most people. The most useful and common supplemental source of active hydrogen for almost 40 years in Japan, and the past 8 years in the USA has become “alkaline ionized water”, produced by Japanese medical equipment in the form of kitchen countertop water ionizers. (The active hydrogen in “alkalized ionized water” donates an abundance of electrons to neutralize free radicals, leaving only water as the residue from the encounter.). Learn more about the science behind hydrogen water.
Some medical experts feel that the Japanese have discovered the secret to staying young. They all agree that antioxidants are the key to helping slow the aging process caused by free radical damage. Decrease toxic exposure and reduce nutritional deficiencies that contribute to free radical production. Increase consumption of antioxidant herbs, fresh raw foods and/or active hydrogen or "alkaline ionized" water to look and feel younger.
To learn more about fresh“alkalized ionized water” check out http://www.drinkyourselfhealthy.info