Apples and bananas turn brown. Butter turns rancid. Iron rusts. All are everyday signs of oxidative stress-destruction caused by free radical molecules. None of these nuisances compare to what destructive molecules can do inside your body, especially to cells of the brain, blood vessels and lining of your joints.
Free radical oxygen molecules are by-products of normal cell processes. They are molecules created from oxygen after certain vital and necessary metabolic processes - breathing, eating and exercising - are completed inside your body. In addition, this same sort of damage can occur from sources outside your body - ultraviolet exposure, cigarette smoke, poor air quality and poor dietary choices such as high-fat meals. We cannot escape this form of internal and external damage daily.
These destructive free radical molecules have an unpaired electron attached to them (a "free" radical). Nature has designed electrons to function best when paired together. An unpaired electron creates a very unstable molecule, wreaking havoc during its hunt for a mate. The source of its devastating action is the oxygen molecule's unpaired electron, making it unstable and electrically charged in a negative fashion.
It only becomes stable by interacting with the nearest available molecule, hoping to find another electron with which to pair. Having no prejudices, it targets lipids, proteins and DNA. It searches everywhere. Scientists have discovered that the free radical's actions as it searches for its pair can damage the molecules with which it reacts - lipids, proteins and DNA. This damage may even produce the cell's demise, often called "degeneration", thus the term "chronic degenerative disorder"- degenerative arthritis, degenerative joint and spine disease, degenerative eye disease and on and on.
When you have chronic or excessive pain, oxidative stress takes on additional significance - a powerful two-edged sword. It is both a source of inflammation in your body as well as a response to inflammation in your body. It produces inflammation when your body is exposed to toxins,injury or microorganisms. At the same time, the process of inflammation, whether for a healing purpose or uncontrolled as in an infection, actually creates more of physiological damage.
Not all oxidative stress is bad. You need some for the normal metabolic processes of life to work. Furthermore, some pain conditions are a result of altered, innate, genetically-determined responses to it, thus leading to excessive inflammation.
Oxidative stress has also been linked to premature aging. It has been cited as a performance-limiting factor in physical activity. Subsequently, preventing or reducing the process may result in an overall improved level of health and wellness. Reducing or neutralizing this physiological reaction can both limit the formation of inflammation in your body from internal and external environmental sources as well as diminish your body's response to inflammation, thus impacting pain and other symptoms.
How do you control oxidative stress? Nature has given you a whole host of innate mechanisms including enzymes made by your body to neutralize it. However, some people genetically cannot produce adequate amounts of enzymes to fight all the physiologic stress they produce or to which they are exposed. Fortunately, your body also has the ability to fight this stress using nutrients found in your diet - vitamin C, E, D and A as well as minerals such as zinc and copper.
In addition, a whole host of bioflavonoids (big molecules found in fruits and vegetables) act as antioxidants, neutralizing this process. The good stuff found in grapes, grape seeds, blueberries, bilberries, i.e. colorful molecules found in fruits and vegetables - are actually nature's way of helping you fight oxidative stress through your diet.
Yet, there are times when diet alone is inadequate to provide enough nutrition, especially antioxidant capability, to neutralize your body's stress. For instance, if your eat a limited variety of foods (a restricted diet) you may not consume adequate levels of antioxidants. In addition, the foods you do eat may be limited in nutrients because they have been excessively processed - stripped of vital nutrients such as antioxidants. Foods grown in poor soil conditions will be nutritionally deficient. This is when supplementation becomes necessary. Supplementation can provide the vitamins, minerals and bioflavonoids missing in your diet to work as antioxidants and neutralize this physical response.
In summary, you have two mechanisms available for reducing unavoidable stress on your body - your own enzyme system and your diet. Control of your enzyme system is involuntary because it is directed by your genetic code. But your diet is under your voluntary control. Wise dietary choices can compensate for the challenges nature may have given you through your DNA code. Make healthy choices to fight oxidative stress, decrease inflammation and fight pain!
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