Free Radicals? Why would we free radicals?

Have you heard about the “Free Radicals”? They truly are radical and they are “reactive”. Not a good combination. I have heard about them for years and decided to read up on them and report the findings here.

I will provide a summary up front and if you want more detail you can read through the post, if not you can skip down to the next subject.


Free Radicals – what are they? How do they affect me?

First, what they are not….Free Radicals are not a left wing political group. They are chemicals that can have a negative impact on cell structure. Very interesting….did you know that “Free Radicals” are destroying our cells?

It's the radicals, man

Free radicals are atoms or groups of atoms with an odd (unpaired) number of electrons and can be formed when oxygen interacts with certain molecules. Once formed these highly reactive radicals can start a chain reaction, like dominoes. Their chief danger comes from the damage they can do when they react with important cellular components such as DNA, or the cell membrane. Cells may function poorly or die if this occurs. To prevent free radical damage the body has a defense system of antioxidants.

This info was pasted from this Rice University website.

http://www.rice.edu/~jenky/sports/antiox.html

Studies show that by eating fruits and vegetables, damage caused by free radicals can be repaired.

FOR THIS AND SO MANY OTHER REASONS…IT IS IMPORTANT TO EAT

….a minimum of (5) Servings of Fruits and Vegetables.

Thought Provoking Ideas - Saturated Fats...

The ideas included in these articles are not new but they do go against the grain of conventional wisdom in the medical community. I must admit that I am interested in the theory but I have not committed 100% to the idea. I just can't get over the long held view that saturated fats are bad for you.

Regardless...these are two excellent, thought provoking reads.

(these posts are talking about natural dietary saturated fats).

READ these posts and tell me what you think…I’d really like to know.

Nutrition and health in agriculturalists and hunter-gatherers | The Blog of Michael R. Eades, M.D. http://ow.ly/iedo

Is Saturated Fat Healthy? | Mark's Daily Apple http://ow.ly/ievP

Tabata Sprints Update – I ran one set on Monday but due to my back “injury” I have not run any more this week.

TTFN,

Steve