One of life’s greatest ironies is that the very substance that is essential for keeping us humans alive is also the thing that contributes to our eventual demise. That substance is oxygen. Oxygen is necessary for just about every life-sustaining reaction that occurs on your body; just try holding your breath and you’ll soon see what I mean! Unfortunately, around five percent of all aerobic activity results in the production of something called Reactive Oxygen Species or ROS for short. ROS or, as they are more commonly known, free radicals, are oxygen-carrying molecules with an unpaired electron in their outer shells.

The main problem is that free radicals want to have paired electrons and so, they bounce into other molecules and, for all intents and purposes, mug them for an electron. The mugging “victim” also wants to be balanced and does so by mugging another molecule. Once this reaction starts, it can take days to stop and all the while damage is being done to millions of the cells that make up your body. Cell damage can result in cell mutation or cells simply dying off faster than they can be replaced. This is the very essence of aging and age-related physical degeneration.

Free radicals are known to cause damage to:

• DNA – essentially the blueprints that tell your cells how to function and replicate
• Your arteries – free radicals cause your blood vessels to harden and lose elasticity
• Your cell membranes – which exposes cell bodies to damage
• Synovial joints – resulting in degenerative arthritic conditions
• Your eyes – resulting in age-related macular degeneration
• Your skin – one of the reasons your skin loses elasticity, gains wrinkles and gets thinner with age

In addition to breathing, the following are also causes or free-radical production and damage:

• Pollution
• Smoking
• Oxidized unsaturated fats – trans fats
• Ultra-violet radiation – the sun and sunbeds
• Stress
• Aerobic exercise – increased mitochondrial activity
• Strength training – ischemic reperfusion injury and micro tears in muscle fibres

Yes – exercise causes increased free-radical production! But, before you hang up your running shoes and put away your barbells, it is important to realize one very important factor. Whilst exercise DOES increase free radical production, it is also the trigger for the production of anti-oxidative enzymes which “cancel out” the damage caused by exercise. Incidentally, mitochondria are the cells where energy is produced for all activities and ischemic reperfusion injury is the trauma caused by cutting off the blood supply into muscles and then forcing blood back in which happens whenever a muscle contracts forcefully. Strength training also causes micro tears in your muscle fibres which is why they grow back stronger and thicker. So now you know…

Anti-Oxidative Defences

We are not defenceless against free-radicals. Our bodies are very capable of fighting off the effects of evil ROS. Exercise increases your production of anti-oxidative enzymes – AOE for short. These enzymes have the power to stop free radical reactions in their tracks by donating or receiving an electron without becoming unbalanced themselves. The AOE may have complicated-sounding names but luckily we don’t need to be able to list these soldiers in the war against ROS – they go into battle for us regardless. The primary AOE are:

• Superoxide dismutase
• Catalase
• Methione Reductase
• Glutathione Peroxidase
• Heme-Oxygenase-1

In addition to the AOE, there are also a number of anti-oxidative nutrients, AON for short, that can also give up or receive electrons to put a halt to free radical damage. The primary AON are:

• Vitamin A
• Vitamin C
• Vitamin E
• Zinc
• Copper
• Selenium
• Manganese

Foods rich in AONs are rated according to their ability to absorb ROS using the ORAC scale. Standing for Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity, the ORAC scale states which foods offer the most “bang for your buck” in terms of free radical defense. Foods that score very highly on the ORAC scale are often described as “super foods” and it seems barely a week goes past without a new super food being championed by the media. Regardless of the foods, super or otherwise, you eat, it is suggested that you consume around 3,000 ORAC units a day. While this might sound like a lot, a few portions of fresh fruit and vegetables, some natural unsweetened cocoa and a glass of red wine is going to take you well above this figure.

ORAC units per 100 grams/3.5 ounces of some common foods:

Unprocessed cocoa Powder 26,000

Dark chocolate 13,200

Prunes 5,770

Raisins 2,830

Blueberries 2,400

Blackberries 2,036

Kale 1,770

Strawberries 1,540

Spinach 1,290

Raspberries 1,220

Brussels Sprouts 980

Plums 949

Alfalfa Sprouts 930

Broccoli Florets 890

Beets 840

Oranges 750

Red Bell Peppers 710

Red grapes 739

Cherries 670

Onion 450

Corn 400

Aubergine 390

While free radicals are clearly something we need to control, over consumption of anti oxidative nutrients is by no means a guarantee of eternal youth or a disease-free life. Studies have been inconclusive as the long term effect of overconsumption of AONs. The consensus of opinion is that too few AON can definitely lead to ill health but too much may be ineffective at best and unhealthy at worse. Some free radical activity is essential and is one of the triggers for increased fitness and strength after demanding exercise and white blood cells produce free radicals to help fight bacterial infections. It’s not simply a case of all free radicals being bad.

The bottom line is, minimize the production of excessive free radicals by avoiding pollutants, enjoying but not abusing exposure to the sun, not smoking, avoiding trans fats, keeping stress levels to a minimum, exercising regularly but not chronically and enjoying a well-balanced diet rich in naturally nutrient-dense foods. By following these simple tips, you should be well on your way to winning the war on free radicals.