When we eat a meal, carbohydrates get broken down into glucose.
Glucose mixes with oxygen inside the body and produces carbon dioxide, water and energy.
But energy in this form is not of much use to the human body – the body has to convert it into something that its system can use.
The format of energy that the body understands is ATP (short for Adenosine TriPhosphate).
There are small bags inside the human cell called Mitochondria, which exchange random energy for ATP but every time they convert, they produce ‘free radicals’.
Now all matter, including a free radical, is made up of atoms and atoms have even smaller particles in them: neutrons, protons & electrons.
Electrons in stable things usually occur in pairs of 2, 4, 6 etc. and elements that don’t have electrons in pairs are unstable and highly reactive.
And in free radicals electrons are unpaired, so it snatches the electron from another molecule inside the body to gain stability.
It is like that child in a playroom who doesn’t have a toy and he snatches it from the next guy, who then snatches the toy off the next guy creating a chain reaction.
This chain reaction, inside the body creates a toxic environment and is called oxidative stress (from oxidation, which means loss of electrons).
Oxidative stress, if not controlled, can be very harmful and many diseases such as cancer, arthritis, diabetes etc. are attributed to it.
Fortunately, our cells also have anti-oxidants i.e. molecules which have the ‘godly’ ability to donate electrons but still remain stable.
But these anti-oxidants are enough only to manage free radicals that get generated through natural body processes.
However, free radicals can also be created in excess amounts by exposure to environmental stresses like smoking, sun exposure, pollution, pesticides, alcohol and fried food.
There are some foods which are considered rich in antioxidants and because we can’t always escape external stress, these foods can help us fight extra free radicals and improve health.
These foods include raw fruits & vegetables, almonds, sunflower seeds, virgin olive oils etc.; exercising (in the long-term) also generates antioxidants
