What Is Oxidative Stress & Free Radicals?
Many people don’t fully understand oxidative stress and the extreme importance of controlling free radical cellular damage in the body. I know I didn’t when we first started looking for alternative remedies for Sarcoidosis; the disease my husband was diagnosed with in 2004. I had to ask “What is oxidative stress?” But once I learned about it, I felt that it was the missing link which unlocked the door to healing for Jack. Click what is oxidative stress to find out more about Sarcoidosis, 60+ other diseases linked to oxidative stress and how to overcome them.
How A Free Radical Causes Oxidative Stress:
A free radical is an unstable oxygen molecule that must find another electron to make itself complete. In order to do this, the free radical begins randomly bombarding the body’ cells, resulting in injury to the surrounding cell tissue and causing oxidative stress. As we get older the level of free radical build up in our bodies increases. Many free radicals in our environment are synthetic and are of chemistry that our body’s natural antioxidants (SOD, Catalase and Glutathione) cannot interact with to neutralize.
In other words, free radicals are the little ghosts on Pacman that kill him, only worse; when a free radical (ghost) attacks a cell (pacman) it turns that cell into a free radical (ghost) and then those two free radicals turn two more cells into free radicals and those four turn four more… you get the picture.
What is oxidative stress? Cellular mutation.
It takes a long time for cells to mutate but this is exactly what happens after years of oxidative stress caused by free radical damage. Sounds extreme but that is really what they do until an antioxidant stops this chain reaction.
What Is Oxidative Stress:
Sings and Symptoms of Oxidative Stress:
1. All signs start small and simple. A manageable headache, indigestion, constipation, rash, soar joint and or muscles… DO NOT ignore! Your body is trying to tell you something.
2. Decrease in blood levels of micro-nutrients and trace elements as well as many vitamins. As the cells are damaged by free radicals they are not able to assimilate nutrients as well thus causing further damage. Thus supplementing with broad spectrum, liquid nutrients is imperative.
3. Inflammation seems to be at the base of oxidative stress. As cells mutate our immune system is overworked and eventually inflammation sets in. Inflammation is our bodies natural and appropriate responses of the immune system (your body’s defense system) to infection and trauma but hidden inflammation run amok is at the root of all chronic illness. Conditions like sarcoidosis, heart disease, obesity, diabetes, dementia, depression, cancer, and even autism.
4. Metabolic syndrome is the generic name of chronic conditions such as obesity, hypertension, diabetes mellitus and hyperlipidemia. All of these conditions are the result of inactivity, poor nutrition and oxidative stress but remember… every one of them start with a “manageable” symptom before they become debilitating diseases.
The Answer To Oxidative Stress:
Antioxidants
Destroy free radicals with antioxidants. Remember above that free radicals steal electrons from healthy cells and turn them into free radicals as well.
Antioxidants stop free radical damage by donating an electron without becoming a damaging free radical themselves.
The problem in today’s society is that because of the lack of proper nutrition and moderate exercise, the number of free radicals in our bodies vastly outnumbers the number of antioxidants. This oxidative stress leads to premature aging and chronic disease.
Raw fruits and vegetables are highest in antioxidants but our soils are around 75% deficient in vitamins and minerals so even organic food no longer supplies our cells with the basic building blocks and nutrients they need to maintain health.
The answer to this dilemma is to supplement our diets with plant-derived substances that contain a broad spectrum of antioxidants; foods from every color of the rainbow. However, not all supplements are made the same. Some supplements contain mostly fillers or impure plant products and toxic ingredients. Sometimes, the plants from which the supplements are made were grown in soils that lack the necessary vitamins and minerals to create a plant rich in antioxidants & photonic energy.
We drink smoothies at home with Green Superfood in them. It is a great way to “hide” all the healthy stuff so the kids love them too. 🙂
Green Superfood is made by Amazing Grass a USA company that is certified organic, grows and harvests the grasses and formulates several different Superfood products. Green superfoods contains wheat grass, spirulina, barley grass, chlorella, spinach, acai, maca, raspberry, green tea, & a pro/prebiotic blend plus more. One shake a day is a simple way to fight oxidative stress & improve overall health.
Fucoidan is another great antioxidant that our family takes every day. Fucoidan from the brown seaweed, Limu Moui contains the highest concentration of U, F & G Fucoidan (around 21% higher than other forms of brown seaweed). Researchers in Madrid, Spain, showed that ingredients in brown seaweed exhibited great capacity as a natural antioxidant-even greater than extracts from green and red sea plants.
Fucoidan also naturally provides all 8 essential Saccharide’s for cellular communication: Mannose, Glucose, Fucose, Galactose, N-acetylgalactosamine, N-acetylglucosamine, N-acetylneurominic Acid & Xylose and is believed to be one of nature’s most diverse & effective cell signalers with enormous power & energy in supporting significant and forceful effects on stem cells, organs, tissues & many biological structures. We use a liquid supplement called Fucoydon that is excellent and cost effective for our family. Click here for more info.
I could go on forever about the benefits of these two supplements but you can take time to look around and get the information you specifically desire. Just know this, our environment & health will not improve on their own. We must help by giving our bodies the whole nutrition it desperately needs and stop contaminating ourselves and our world with toxic products made by companies that care more about profits than people.
Stop oxidative stress with broad spectrum antioxidant supplements and regain your health – after all, which Pacman do you want to be?
This smoothie packs a Pacman punch and kicks oxidative stress in the @#$! (gluteus maximus)
1/2 c. water (filtered) 1/2 c. favorite berries 1 c. spinach or kale
1 banana 1/2 oz Fucoydon 1 scoop Green Superfood 1/2 c. ice
If this information was helpful to you it will be to someone else as well so please share! To expand your world of wellness even further get a copy of our book “Against All Odds” and learn how we overcame a seemingly incurable disease. Click here.
