ArticlesLongevity science: the theories of ageing - the free radical theory - how did free radicals get into our cells? How did free radicals get into our cells in the first place? Well, here's where you really have to take a scientific leap of faith. We breathe them in with every breath of oxygen we take, with every breath of oxygen we need to live. We also produce them every time we digest a meal, every time our heart beats, every time we do a maths problem. Free radicals are the result of normal functioning. They are by-products, the waste of living. Free radicals are part of the whole package of life and age and death, and there's not much we can do about that. But that's not the only way these cellular rapists got in. If it was only through breathing, or eating or thinking, our normal defence systems would probably do the job and disarm them and we might not have to worry about free radical damage. But we are the agents of excessive free radical damage. We are the ones who help overload our own bodies' defence systems. We are the all too often willing accomplices in our own cellular destruction. We open the doors wide to free radical scavengers and damage with every cigarette we smoke or every puff of polluted air we swallow. We get them started with every slice of processed meat like bacon and sausage we cook up. We give them free rein to do their damage by eating extra fat, by living stressful lives. They love a drink or three. (I think vodka is their favourite.) We invite them in every time we expose ourselves to the sun directly without any sunscreen protection. It is estimated that our bodies suffer 10,000 free radical "hits" every day. *18\323\8* |
