Why Are Free Radicals Supposedly Bad for Your Health?

Every day, our bodies are exposed to toxins that are detrimental to our health. Some of these toxins are free radicals.

Free radicals are unpaired oxygen molecules that can cause damage to the membranes of the cells in our bodies, and this may lead to the development of different types of diseases.

Because free radicals contain an unpaired electron, they have a need to bond with oxygen atoms. The membranes of our cells have lipids that contain oxygen atoms, which are targets for free radicals. The oxygen atoms will be stolen by the free radicals, and this will bring about a chain reaction that will greatly increase the presence of free radicals in the body.

The activity of free radicals in our bodies can cause our cell membranes to deteriorate to the extent that they will fail to function effectively. The cellular membrane is a very important part of the human body, because it facilitates communication between different systems within the body.

Modern scientists have come to the conclusion that the cellular membrane is the true ‘brain’ of the cell, and it has greater effect on our biological beings than any of the other microscopic components of our bodies.

Pollution and synthetic toxins are not the only factors that contribute to the presence of free radicals in our bodies; cellular metabolism and digestion also work together to produce free radicals.

Free radicals can cause a lot of problems to our health. When there is an abundance of free radicals in our bodies, the genetic code material of cells can be changed, and this will result in mutations that can lead to serious conditions such as leukemia and other forms of cancer, as well as many other diseases.

In fact, free radicals are said to be linked to most of the chronic degenerative diseases that are known in the world today.

Therefore, the air we breathe and the foods we consume may have a detrimental effect on our bodies. This is why antioxidants play an important role in eradicating free radicals – free radicals which may cause damage to our nervous system, skin, organs, eyesight, and overall health.