What are free radicals?
Free radicals are chemical species, which have unpaired electrons in their outer orbital. This circumstance makes them highly reactive, since they tend to compensate the electronic unbalance, giving and capturing electrons from other molecules of the environment. If they steal an electron to another molecule, it will be unstable and will also become a free radical. Free radicals appear then as a chain reaction, until they burst with a living cell. In the field of health, radicals of oxygen (known commonly as reactive oxygen species / ROS) are a special matter of concern.
How are free radicals produced?
A free radical is produced during certain chemical reactions. Plenty of them are necessary since we produce them ourselves when we breathe, make digestion, protect us from infections, etc. Unfortunately there are not only the radicals caused by our body, but also other factors and external influences that produce even more free radicals in our cells (toxins, ultraviolet radiation, stress, chemical pro-oxidant substances, etc), as well as certain metabolic disorders of our organism.
What damage can they do?
Free radicals damage our body by generating in the best case aging and severe diseases at worst. However, there are several ways to protect ourselves from them.
One part of free radicals in our body is needed to carry out different metabolic processes that are needed for life. Others are self-destruct since they have a short life time, but those who cause us major problems are the ones seeking for electrons in our cells to become more stable, from a chemical point of view. Unfortunately, the latter one normally gets that electron almost always from the DNA of our own cells, which dies within in a few days. This happens continuously in our body and we do not realize it, being one of the principal causes for premature aging.
What are the diseases and ailments related to oxidative damage?
Some diseases resulting from oxidative damage:
How can we remove them?
A free radical can neither be eliminated nor neutralized. It is then when antioxidants start their play, since they can provide the electron that makes them stable and cease its reactivity.
What are the most effective antioxidants?
Hydroxytyrosol is a natural ingredient of olives, which has been evaluated to possess one of the major values of in vitro antioxidant capacity reported up to date. It presents a result much higher than other commonly known antioxidants such as ascorbic acid, resveratrol or catechins in green tea.
How does Hydroxytyrosol work?
Where can you find a top-quality Hydroxytyrosol of natural origin?
