It's the Radical, Man

I think a while back I was joking around about free radicals.  I didn't understand what they were.  I love being free so that part resonated positively with me.  The radical part, well I've been called radical on more than one occasion in my life because I tend to think way outside the box sometimes, plus sometimes my zest for being free interferes with the "done thing".  A little kooky but harmless.

To compound my misunderstanding of free radicals, I thought that anti-oxidants had to be bad guys cuz they were so, ummm, anti. 

Well thank God for education!  After a few years in school I know more than I really need to about how terribly wrong my original thinking was.  You will not find me saying to any free radicals in my body "Hey dudes, go for it!"  Oh no.  These "dudes", the free radicals, are out to make me old before my time, and totally screw up my body chemistry.  Free radicals destroy DNA, clog up arteries, and disrupt cells. 

So where do these dudes come from?  Some are naturally created during metabolism.  Sometimes the body's immune cells purposefully create them to neutralize viruses and bacteria.  They DO have their function when the body is in complete balance and harmony.  Normally the body can handle them.
Normally eating a GOOD diet with anti-antioxidants is enough.

But oh those free radicals.  They tend to accumulate with our aging process.  They become really accelerated in production by environmental pollution, cigarette smoking, and poisons like cleaners or herbicides - the chemicals we really REALLY need to avoid in our lives.  When they become dominant and out of control (they are unstable to begin with) it's a great set-up for diseases and will help put you on the fast track to the grave.

Enter the anti-oxidants .  They are anti the free radicals, so in essence, they are really the Good Guys!
We get them by eating 5-8 servings of fruits and veggies.  If we are not consuming this amount, (I highly recommend organic because you can easily counter the benefits with herbicides/pesticides on your food) then maybe its time for some supplementation.

The best are A, E, C and beta carotene.  Obviously getting these nutrients from food makes them more easily absorbed, but get them however you can.  The foods that are just great for their anti-oxidants are, nuts, seeds, fish oil, whole grains, apricots, citrus fruits, green peppers, cabbage, spinach,broccoli, kale, antaloupe, kiwi, strawberries, carrots, squash, yams, tomato, peaches, egg yolk, and milk.  Not a bad list to chose from if one wants to prevent heart disease and cancer, and stop aging too fast, eh?

I got ticked off about the recent put down of Vitamin E.  Supposedly research found that Vitamin E doesn't prevent heart disease they way "they" thought, so they actually were saying on the news not to bother taking it.  This kind of misinformation from the media is so criminal.  I'm sure Vitamin E BY ITSELF would not be enough to prevent squat.  What I wanted to know was what were these people in the study EATING?  You cannot have a diet of burgers and fries, take a lousy little Vitamin E and think you will not ever have a heart attack.  But, sadly, this kind of misinformation for the general public does rather mislead people.

I take an anti-oxidant called Astaxanthin - actually the label is BioAstin.  It is Vitamin A, E, Lutein and natural astaxanthin.  It's part of my attack on the free-radicals.  Of course I eat a pretty fair amount of fruit and veggies every day too.  It's not a fountain of youth pill, but I feel like, between the coconut oil and this, my skin looks pretty darn youthful for a 65 yr. old - yikes I am too young to be this old! Haha!

Ok - disclaimer time - I am not a medical doctor.  But I have had over 1200 hours of nutrition and herbs classes, which is more than any conventional medical doctor I know of!  And I'm still in school!

To me, this is part and parcel of preventative care that everyone should practice.  If we keep ourselves healthy and disease free, we have a better quality of life, a longer life, and have saved a bundle on drugs.  Sure these supplements cost money, but I spend far less on them than many people spend on their drugs.

The wrap up:
Free Radicals - NOT hippie protesters - they are needed but easily can get out of control and once that happens, it's not good!
Anti-oxidants - Eat them up!!!  These are the good guys!  They will keep those free radicals in line.

I simply must put in another plug for eating organics.  Seriously, if the herbicides/pesticides are IN or ON your foods, you have just increased the nasty free-radicals.  If you consume GMO's the pesticide is IN the food, in it's DNA, you cannot avoid it by washing to food.    If you smoke, you add more radicals.  If you are exposed to chemicals, (room deodorizers, cleaning products - oh that smell of "clean" is toxic - personal care products ladden with chemicals) you have added more crazy free- rads.
The best way to have cellular balance is always to eat right.  And you KNOW what that is, right?