Free Radicals: An Explanation
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Free Radicals: An Explanation
Lately, we’ve been hearing so much about free radicals from antioxidant skin care experts, but no one takes the time to explain what a free radical actually is. In order to understand why antioxidants are so important for your skin, as well as the rest of your body, it’s essential that you gain a basic understanding of free radicals, how they’re caused, and why you need to neutralize them.
Let’s go back to Chemistry 101 to begin our free radical overview. Everything is made up of atoms. Atoms, in turn, are made up of neutrons, protons and electrons. (Sound familiar? I’m sure it’s all coming back to you now…) Protons and neutrons are found in the nucleus of the atom, and electrons are found around the nucleus. The number of protons (positively charged) determines the number of electrons (negatively charged). Electrons “orbit” an atom in layers, called shells. The first shell is full when it contains two electrons, then the subsequent shell is full when it reaches eight electrons, and so on. An atom has not reached maximum stability until its outermost shell contains the maximum number of electrons. In order to reach maximum stability, atoms will bind with each other to “share” electrons, creating a molecule.
A free radical (otherwise known as a lone or free electron) occurs when damage caused by UV radiation, pollution or carbon monoxide reacts with our bodies’ molecules, causing the molecule to lose an electron. The molecule becomes unstable and automatically tries to regain maximum stability by “stealing” an electron from a nearby molecule. While the first molecule reaches its goal of achieving maximum stability, the “attacked” molecule is now unstable and, like the first molecule, attempts to find a new electron to complete its outer shell. This results in a chain reaction that can lead to the disruption of a living cell.
Free radicals are believed to cause many issues within the body, including heart disease, stroke and, of course, visible signs of aging. The theory is that antioxidants can help prevent these things by neutralizing free radicals. Antioxidants stop the domino effect of free radicals by “donating” an electron to the broken molecule. Therefore, antioxidant foods and antioxidant productsfor the skin are essential for keeping the your body’s cells at optimal function.
September 6th, 2010 at 5:41 pm
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