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Every second, your body is producing millions of free radicals, an inevitable by-product of cellular metabolism. These molecules, which have an unpaired electron in their outer orbital ring, are essential to life. But if they are unregulated, they have the potential to damage cells and even make them toxic, sometimes causing a chain reaction where one molecule is turned into a free radical, which then does the same to another one, and another, causing a large amount of damage through a chain of potentially over one million reactions.
The genetic disease progeria is a stark example of how unchecked free radicals age a body. People born with this condition cannot synthesise the body’s natural enzymatic antioxidants (which neutralise free radicals as they are produced). By the age of 15 they look as though they are 80 years old, with sagging, wrinkled, dried skin, baldness, arthritis, cardiovascular disease and a stooped posture. Death soon follows. While free radicals are certainly not the only cause of aging, it is easy to understand why neutralising them as much as possible gives a person a much better chance of remaining youthful for a long time.
90% of free radicals are produced in mitochondria, the power plants of cells, when oxygen is used to produce energy (between 1 and 5 per cent of mitochondrial reactions result in free radical formation). In addition, free radicals called neutrophils, which act like bullets to kill bacteria, are produced in white blood cells. But if they are not neutralised properly, they invade into surrounding tissues and damage them.
Excessive free radicals damage DNA, proteins and lipids or even destroy entire cells, lead to neurological damage and senility, and cause inflammation, which itself leads to a variety of degenerative diseases. Environmental pollution, UV light and nuclear radiation can all accelerate the production of free radicals, and excessive fats in the diet, particularly polyunsaturated fats which are ripe for damage with their double bonds, also increase the potential for free radical damage. Damage to DNA is particularly harmful because it can interfere with a cell’s ability to control its own division (in other words, it can lead to cancer). The oxidization of lipids can lead to atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) and eventually heart disease, the leading cause of death in the Western world, as well as stroke.
So what can be done to reduce free radical damage? There are two things: consuming antioxidants to supplement and enhance the body’s own, and reducing the amount of calories in the diet, particularly in the form of unsaturated fat, so that free radical production and damage slows down. It is much easier to increase the intake of antioxidants to a degree where the amount of free radical damage is decreased than it is to go on a calorie restricted diet to an extent that may significantly extend lifespan, however. So this will be the option that the majority of people will take – preserving their youth, but without extending their maximum lifespan. This means they will have a maximum of about 120 years – but for most people, preventing aging is more about remaining vigorous, alert and youthful right through their entire lives than attempting to extend their lives indefinitely.
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