Knowing The Free Radicals And Antioxidants Part 2

Free radicals in the body

The air pollution, tobacco smoke, the herbicides, pesticides or certain fats are some examples of items that generate free radicals that we eat or we inhale. This excess can no longer be removed by the body and in its work,the free radicals damage the membranes of our cells, arriving finally to destroy and mutate their genetic information, thus facilitating the way to develop various kinds of diseases.

The action of free radicals is linked to cancer, as well as to the damage in the arteries caused by cholesterol  which directly related these molecules with cardiovascular diseases.

Oxidative stress
free radicals oxidize many biological structures, damaging them. It is what we call the oxidative damage, a major cause of aging, cancer, atherosclerosis, the chronic inflammatory processes and cataracts, which are the most features.

In certain circumstances, the production of free radicals can increase uncontrollably, situation known with the name of oxidative stress. The concept expresses the existence of an imbalance between the production speeds and destruction of the toxic molecules that leads to an increase in the cell concentration of free radicals.

The cells have mechanisms for the protection of the deleterious effects of free radicals based on a complex defense mechanism consisting of the antioxidant agents.

Oxidative stress occurs in the organisms with poor nutrition, disease or other causes, they lose the balance between free radicals and antioxidants.

It is in this situation of oxidative stress in which is manifested the injuries that produce free radicals which react chemically with lipids, proteins, carbohydrates, and the DNA inside on the cells and with components of the extracellular matrix which can trigger an irreversible damage that if it is very extensive, it can lead to cell death.

Processes or diseases associated with oxidative damage in biological molecules:

• Aging: peroxidation of the fatty acids of the cell membrane and DNA damage.
• Atherosclerosis: lipid peroxidation in the particles of LDL with damage to   other components.
• Cancer: DNA damage.
• Waterfalls: irreversible modifications in the proteins.
• Chronic Inflammatory : activation of genes related to the inflammatory    response.

Free radicals contribute to the process of aging when they take the electron that makes them lack of cells of the collagen tissue of the skin, giving as a result the skin loses its elasticity,the damage of  elastic fibers and the early onset of wrinkles and dryness.

Free radicals can also contribute to the abnormal growth of cells, to lose these the ability to "recognize" the neighboring cells. This uncontrolled proliferation occurs in the benign or malignant tumors (cancer).

Free radicals are molecules that are derived from the oxygen, are in continuous formation in the cells of an organism, and in small quantities does not produce toxic effects. In normal situation the production of free radicals is constant in one concentration and are neutralized by the antioxidant defenses, these can be of the organism's own substances (enzymes antioxidants), or may be substances that that come with the food (vitamin C, E, and beta carotene, flavonoids, etc. ), that we can find in  natural antioxidant foods.

In future articles we will discuss in more detail about the natural antioxidants that help to counteract the effect of free radicals.