The more the body has to 'burn', the more difficult the food is to digest, and the more 'pocket-sized' free radical ogres are created. The trick is to eat less, not more. This may, perhaps, be one of the reasons why people who eat 30-40 per cent less of their actual, or 'normal', requirement live the longest
Free radicals are akin to 'home-grown terrorists' - they are the personification of malice. In Bollywood parlance, they are the 'bad guys', waiting to be annihilated by the all-conquering superhero. Free radicals are also the ultimate villains at the cellular level and in cellular aging.
This is why the mêlée to overcome illness is nothing but a 'missile-attack' between them and antioxidants, our superhero from the movie script.
A free radical, in its quintessence, is an atom, or group of atoms, that has one, or more, unpaired electrons. They can have positive, negative or neutral charge. They are formed as necessary intermediates in and for a host of normal biochemical reactions. Conversely, when they are generated in surplus, or not appropriately controlled, they can inflict mayhem from the inside out.
When a free radical emerges, it goes on a 'sight-seeing' expedition around the body looking for another compound.
This results in the release of a new free radical - and, the sequence goes on.
The best studied free radical chain reaction is lipid peroxidation. The term, lipid, refers to any fat-soluble substance - vegetable or animal. It also means the formation of a peroxide molecule - molecules with the most aggregate of oxygen molecules. For example, a water molecule has two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. Hydrogen peroxide has two hydrogen atoms and two oxygen atoms. Put simply, there is an 'overload' of the oxygen atom in a hydrogen peroxide molecule. In other words, you'd equate the 'adverse' oxygen molecule with the rusty element found in building materials, or decayed vegetables and fruits.
The reactions free radicals trigger in our body are plentiful. Yet, the most common of all is the altered state of cells and tissues under siege. Autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, Alzheimer's disease, heart disease and cancer, among others, are apparent outcomes of such 'transformed' states- all headline-grabbing 'free radical-triggered' paradigms.
White blood cells (WBCs), or 'soldiers of health', for example, such as neutrophils, are corollaries to such a spectacle.
They 'kill' invading pathogens.
Studies evidence that free radical damage, including cancer risk, is, in part, reduced by antioxidants, vitamin C and vitamin E, along with other equally effective 'like-substances', such as lycopene in tomatoes, beta-carotene in carrots and pumpkins, or resveratrol in dark grapes.
Vitamin C acts primarily in cellular fluid. It holds a pre-eminent place in combating free radical formation caused by pollution and cigarette smoking.
Besides, it helps return vitamin E to its active form.
Studies have, not surprisingly, correlated high vitamin C intake with low rates of heart disease and cancer - especially, cancer of the mouth, larynx and oesophagus. Vitamin E is, likewise, suggested to protect against heart disease by defending against low-density lipoprotein (LDL), or 'bad' cholesterol oxidation - one of the contributory factors for the formation of arterial (atherosclerotic) plaque.
A study on 87,000 hospital nurses found that individuals who had a vitamin E intake in the upper 20 per cent had a 35 per cent lower risk of heart disease, while subjects whose beta-carotene was in the upper 20 per cent had a 22 per cent lower risk of heart disease than others. Research also suggests that adequate amounts of beta-carotene, vitamin C and vitamin E, in food, or in appropriate supplemental form, and dosage, have the innate ability to block the oxidation of low-density lipoproteins (LDL), or 'bad' cholesterol - one of the cumulative triggers, but not the only 'architect', for heart disease.
A study of Japanese quail, whose arteries are similar to us, found that the antioxidant nutrient, vitamin E, protected their arteries from damage. Without vitamin E, the animals had oxidised cholesterol, which, among others, produced high blood cholesterol levels and increased atherosclerotic lesions in their artery walls.
This brings us to the essentials of the essentials.
Metabolism is the foundational principle of chemical conversions in our body. All the food we eat, the medications we take and the fluids we drink are processed by the body. Our food is converted into energy in our little powerhouses - mitochondria - which require oxygen to function at their optimal level. During the process, free radicals are generated as a by-product.
In simple terms, the more the body has to 'burn', the more difficult the food is to digest, and the more 'pocket-sized' free radical ogres are created. The trick is to eat less, not more. This may, perhaps, be one of the reasons why people who eat 30-40 per cent less of their actual, or 'normal', requirement live the longest.
The Hunzakuts- an ethnic group of people indigenous to the Hunza Valley in the Karakorum Mountains, who claim Greek descent, following Alexander the Great's 'blitzkrieg' - offer such a 'perfect' paradigm.
On the other hand, large quantities of food, meat products, junk-food and fatty-meals, or superfluous eating, especially in the evening, are perfect nurturing grounds for free radicals and also disease.
What does this connote? Exercise is good for us to burn calories - but, only in moderation, just like food. Not in excess. This is precisely the raison d'être why most athletes, or long-distance runners, and other sportspersons, recognise the fact that they are sitting on a volcano, encompassing of a superfluity of free radicals, waiting to erupt. Hence, they endeavour to cope smartly with the overload and take preventative measures to protect their lungs, heart and muscles, which are all subject to increased oxidation - thanks to their higher metabolic rate. This brings us to the most interesting cog in the chronicle of free radicals told and retold - that there is no need to guess why the slowest animals, such as turtles, have the longest life.
Nidamboor is a wellness physician, independent researcher and author
A version of this article appears in the print on January 24, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
