| Life
is about Oxidation (Free Radicals) vs. Antioxidation
What is Free Radical?
As you all know, we develop all kinds of illness
and diseases, such as heart diseases, cancers, diabetes, Alzheimer's
and Parkinson's diseases, as we get older. These are often classified
as "adult diseases", "habitual diseases" or
"chronic diseases", because we seem to domestically grow
them inside our bodies over the time. We all used to accept it as
just a part of the aging process.
With recent medical discoveries, it is now widely
accepted that 90% of these chronic diseases come from the internal
oxidation process over the years, which is none other than aging
process itself. And this oxidation process is led by the Free Radical
activities, which are not so easy to control.
Why?
Free radicals are a vital part of our immune system,
and they attack once our body detects intrusion of unpleasent objects,
such as toxins, virus, etc. In essence, they are very active oxygen
molecules that are patroling around inside our bodies, and we desperately
need them around for our own survivals.
Unfortunately, there is a down side. Free radicals
are also very unstable and overreacting in nature, and sometimes
they could damage other atoms and cells around themselves, including
DNAs. Therefore, it is important to keep them at the bay as much
as possible. The general rule to remember is; no harmful situation
to our body, no excessive free radicals.
Here is the list of situations that are known to
pump up the production of free radicals.
- Oxygen Intake (about 3% of oxygen we take in
through breathing turns into be free radicals)
- Aerobic and Hard Exercises
- Sun Light (particularly Ultra Violet ray)
- Polluted Air
- Toxins (including cigarettes, alcohol beverages,
sodas, food preservatives)
- Stress
How many of you have thought, "Wait a minute!
This is what we all go through every day!"? Given this list,
naturally, situations are probably a lot worse in big cities than
in a much more country setting.
Good news is that these conditions above only account
for about 10% of free radicals production. The remaining 90% is
known to come from abnormal fermentation in your intestines. Bad
news is that you can't really see what's going on in your intestines,
other than the constipation and diarrhea, which apparently are not
good signs anyway.
Here is what to look for to help you determine whether
or not your intestines have abnormal or over-fermentation. Under
the normal fermentation environment, your stool should;
- NOT smell more than the one of a healthy infant's
- be yellow or light soil color
- be consistent and soft
- be light enough to float in the toilet
So how does yours fair? The degree might vary, but
your intestines are very likely suffering from abnormal fermentation
if all of these conditions were not met. What that means is that
you are incubating free radicals much more than necessary, and consequently,
you are getting quietly sicker every single day, without even knowing
it.
No, from now on, you should know this; over 80%
(90% of 90% cause) of all those nasty, often fatal, chronic diseases
are being manufactured right in your intestines.
Having said that, now, we should also mention what
is known to cause this abnormal fermentation. Quite obviously, it
has a lot to do with what you eat and drink, on a daily basis.
- Chlorine (most found in tap water, even from
inhaling the shower mist)
- Meat (fat in particular)
- Milk and dairy products
- Processed foods and drinks (including bread
and pre-packaged juices)
- Food preservatives and other toxins (such as
dioxin leaking out from plastic)
- Alcohol beverages (do we need to say more about
this?)
Again, you might not like this list either.
First, it was about your living environment and
conditions, and now it's your eating habits. Among the list, chroline
is particularly sneaky and dangerous. Chroline is used in public
water system for a sanitation purpose, simply to kill all the germs,
in the first place. However, once it reaches inside your body, it
also kills your microorganisms, which reside in your intestines
and help digesting the food you eat. Without healthy microorganisms,
your body cannot digest the food properly. The result is the abnormal
fermentation.
While we look so useless against the legions of
free radicals we just can't seem to stop self-createing, we do have
a natural defence system to counter-balance; enzymes (such as glutathione),
catalase and superoxide dismutase (SOD). However, studies show the
internal production of such antioxidant properties slows down as
we age. In other words, the ability to self-sustain your own health
declines after a certain point in your life. And for most people,
that point in life is around mid-30's, and it's all downhill after
that.
In
fact, according to a common statistic held by many life insurance
companies, more than 95% of people over 40 years of age either already
have or are nurturing some kind of illness within themselves. And
most people don't know it and often find out too late.
Antioxidant
Nation
Since our daily living is surrounded by toxins more
than ever, it is inevitable for our bodies not to produce free radicals
in excess. We've gone too far away from pollution-free, organic,
self-sustainable lifestyle, which we now only know existed in history
books.
With medical advances of last century in particular
and public sanitation system in place, human kinds succeeded to
wipe out most epidemics that once many feared. Ironically, as our
lifestyle has changed over the time, we developed another set of
diseases instead. And our current medical system hasn't exactly
figured out how to save the world from these often complex diseases
but one important point; prevention is a lot easier than curing
such diseases.
What should we do now?
Well, at least we know that it has a lot to do with
the internal oxidation within our body. And it is only natural to
find it very important to take in antioxidant properties to prevent
chronic diseases and premature aging.
Question now is; what kind of antioxidant should
we be taking on a daily basis?
People take supplements, such as various vitamins
and beta-carotene, and it seems more and more antioxidant products
are coming into the market everyday now. This is only half good
because you are taking some of the antioxidant potentials these
products might have by taking them with tap water or even those
bottled waters, which are all highly oxidizing in nature.
So, how about this super antioxidant water as an
ultimate option? |