Most people know, especially the well informed type of readers we attract, that free radical damage is linked to most degenerative diseases. Diseases such as arthritis, diabetes, cataracts, Alzheimer’s, heart disease, cancer and so on.

These pro-inflammatory agents, free radicals, are the real “bad guys” for two reasons:

• They have a penchant for attacking certain parts of your cells, which then leads to more problems.

• They trigger the body’s inflammation response which, if prolonged or severe, can cause even more unrepairable damage.

Without the constant or excessive exposure to free radicals, such that we all experience in this unescapably toxic world, our cells would be super healthy and, if an “invader” did manage to sneak inside our body, a normal, balanced inflammation response would stop it dead in its tracks without leading to the chronic, deleterious, cell-level degeneration that is so common today.

The key to counteracting free radicals?

Of course, the wildly popular but often misunderstood–antioxidant–is the key to blasting free radicals.

In fact, according to Dr. Richard Passwater, (an internationally renowned author, antiaging researcher and creator of the “biological synergism of antioxidants” concept) antioxidants are the key to your health and longevity.

Why? Well, it is because of the damage that these free radicals can do. As stated above, free radicals have a penchant for damaging a certain parts of your cells. Here is an overview of where free radicals like to do their dirty work and what that does to you:

1. Cell Walls: Free radicals attack your cell walls and either rupture the cell entirely, tear the cell wall or clog it up. In any case, your cell dies prematurely. Not good!
2. DNA: Yes, believe it or not, free radicals can get into even the nucleus of your cells. Once there, they like to attack the genetic material (DNA) and mess up that life sustaining information. This “contaminated” genetic code leads to various health problems, not the least of which is cancer.
3. Blood and Tissue Lipids: Lipids are “fat cells” and when these are attacked by free radicals, they mutate into sticky blobs that form obstructions (plaque) inside the arterial wall. This is referred to as “hardening of the arteries” or arteriosclerosis and is the leading cause of heart disease.
4. Mitochondria: Each cells energy is derived from the tiny mitochondria inside each cell. Free radicals literally attack and break this cellular “engine” leaving you with a mass of dead cells and a very tired body.
5. Lysosomes: These little “packets of enzymes” in each of our cells have an important role. They eat through anything except the membrane (the packet) that contains them. Free radicals rupture this protective packet or membrane and these lysosomes are released. The lysosomes “on the loose” then proceed to eat through the cell well, rupturing it and so on. The damage from the multitude of ruptured cells accumulates, triggering massive uncontrolled inflammation and weakens the immune system.

You can gain control over the “bad guys”

The information above was selected from the book “The Super Anti-Oxidants” by Dr. James F. Balch. He goes on to list the most potent antioxidants in the fight against free radicals. One of them being a familiar friend, glutathione.

You may have heard of James F. Balch because he is the co-author of the book everyone seems to own, “Prescriptions for Nutritional Healing”. Both are excellent resources.