Too many free radicals in blood is not harmless, say experts

As per experts, they don’t hesitate to steal these particles from healthy cells of the body, causing cellular damage.

Thousands of molecular reactions happen inside the body, producing a ton of chemical byproducts. While some are flushed out, a few microscopic ones stay behind.

Free radicals are unstable molecules made of an odd number of negatively charged particles. 

They are a natural offspring of cellular metabolism, so they can’t be completely eliminated from the system but only the exposure to them can be reduced.

As per experts, they don’t hesitate to steal these charged particles from healthy cells of the body, causing cellular stress.

If their number increases in the body, they can cause significant oxidative stress and damage the surrounding tissues.

These molecules are associated with chronic diseases like cardiovascular diseases, inflammation, cancer and others.

How are free radicals formed?

Free radicals are unevenly charged particles released in bodily reactions or enter through external sources like smoking, medicines, UV radiations and others.

Overheated fats and oils are also a source of free radicals as the oil gets oxidised when exposed to air, producing unstable atoms.

Similarly, processed meat also contains fat which is oxidised at high temperatures during cooking, producing free radicals. 

As per some studies, free radicals are also generated during high intensity workout, causing oxidative stress in the muscles.

These unstable molecules keep circulating in the blood and attempt stealing charged particles from healthy cells.

Antioxidants to counter the effect

Antioxidants are also unstable molecules with an uneven number of negatively charged particles, however, unlike free radicals, they don’t steal charge from healthy cells.

Instead, antioxidants happily donate charged particles to free radicals, suppressing their reactivity.

Their primary function is to safely react with the free radicals before the damage has been done to normal cells.

Berries, broccoli, nuts, tomatoes, watermelon, blueberries, coffee, tea and dark chocolate are some rich sources of antioxidants.

Combating oxidative stress

If there are not many antioxidants in the body to keep the free radicals in check, this imbalance can cause the free radicals to behave unruly towards healthy cells.

When free radicals start to steal charged particles from stable molecules of healthy cells, they become unstable. 

This can cause damage to fatty tissue, DNA and protein in the affected cells.

Chronic oxidative stress in the body is associated with diabetes, heart disease, inflammation, high blood pressure, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and cancer.

Oxidative stress also contributes to fast ageing.