All About Free Radicals

In essence free radicals are oxygen molecules that have lost an electron. This occurs in the course of many of our normal bodily functions such as breathing or digesting food. They are therefore unstable and they can combine with an electron which they must steal from a complete molecule in the vicinity. Usually this system is pretty much in balance with the number free radicals kept in a stable proportion to the number of whole molecules. However the presence of certain outside factors such as long-term exposure to sunlight, cigarette smoke or various pollutants increases the percentage of free radicals in the body's system. Under those circumstances the free radicals can break down the skins elastin and cause premature sagging.

Scientists have long known about free radicals and have indicated them as a contributory cause of any number of diseases. However the science surrounding how they work and the damage they can do is still relatively incomplete. We do know that free radicals seem to attack every part of the human cell nucleus where the DNA for our body is stored, this is a key building block and generates the lipids that reside inside our cells and the cell membrane which constitutes the outer layer of our cells. However the free radicals remain a scientific controversy as to whether the effect we see throughout our bodies and of course on our skin is primarily a result of damage to the cells nuclei or simply damage to the outer layer of the skin where the cells are densest and therefore arguably more easily attacked by free radicals. While the debate seems to be swinging in favor of those experts who believe the latter area is of greater importance in causing skin to age possibly both factors are at work. In any case there is no doubt that free radicals do cause skin to age and wrinkles to form.

Since free radicals are molecules in search of another electron which they tend to extract from an existing whole molecule, the way to avoid such damage is to feed these free radicals the extra electron they need. That is what anti-oxidants do. The use of anti-oxidants both topically and internally is one of the basic requirements to maintain healthy skin. Some final thoughts on the subject of free radicals; why, we may ask have our bodies evolved to allow them to exist? In most respects our evolution has caused us to be highly resistant to the environment. One possible answer is that from the standpoint of evolution free radicals were not a problem. Cigarette smoke or other man generated pollutants did not exist so our bodies did not need to evolve to fight them off.