To truly understand this we should probably start off by discussing what free radicals are. Free radicals are unstable compounds. In other words they are molecules, or groupings of different elements that are incomplete.?For example; everybody knows what sodium chloride is, it's salt. Sodium has the perfect shape to match itself with chloride, thus making a stable compound; one of one and one of the other.?Water is another good example; H2O, two hydrogen's, and one oxygen coming together make a stable compound.?Free radicals are not stable compounds, they are compounds where you have groupings of two or more elements that are incompatible with each other, or that don't have a stable ring around the structure.?In order for the free radical to become stable it needs to steal parts from some other unsuspecting elements, molecules, or compound.?It can also bind itself to something, trying to complete itself and make it stable, but it may make a new unstable compound or new free radical.

Now, you maybe wondering where do these free radicals come from??These free radicals come from things we eat, things we breathe in, things we put on our skin/bodies, as well as just the end product of natural body processes.?There are certain processes that help to break down things needing to be broken down, or rebuild other tissues.?This is how we survive, live, exist, and continue to grow.

On the contrary, antioxidants are compounds that have extra parts to give away, or have the ability bind to these free radicals to complete them.?There are lots of types of antioxidants. Some the body makes itself, all we have to do is give it some of the essential building blocks and it can make them itself.?Other antioxidants we need to consume in our diet. For example, ascorbic acid which is part of vitamin C, is an antioxidant, or the tocopherols, which are parts of vitamin E, are antioxidants.?Glutothrene is an example of a powerful antioxidant that our bodies make itself.

So to illustrate this, let's imagine that we have a gym full of children playing a particular board game.?The children will represent the parts of the compound and the board games will represent how many parts a compound need to be stable.?In order to play each board game you must have exactly four players, however; we have an odd number of children.?In this example, let's say that of the many board games being played there are two board games with three players each. Neither has enough players to play alone, and there are too many of them to simply combine the groups.?So the groups of three would be an example of free radicals (compounds that had other parts to become stable).?Whether they combine with another group, or take a player from another team it will always end in an incomplete, unplayable game.?To solve this problem we will add a few more children who have brought a few new, more flexible games that can be played by two, three, or four players.?So much like antioxidants, these board games can allow for players to be lost or gained and still continue play, which quickly restores balance to the gym.?So, we need antioxidants to stop the destructive affects of free radicals on our bodies.

The end product of all of this is damage to chemical compounds, which then causes damage to cells, which then causes damage to tissue. Any time you have damage to cells and damage to tissue you have inflammation.?High amounts of inflammation in one area will increase pain.?Basically, we are talking about any number of different problems all over the body, created because of the instability of these chemical compounds in our bodies.?Our bodies have natural sources of solutions to this problem (once again antioxidants are sometimes made by our body), but there are components in vitamins and other things that help and assist our body in healing.?

Allow me to give you an example of what I'm talking about by telling you about my friend Jeff (not his real name). Jeff had problems in school, church, and most social situations.?His parents approached me a few years ago and while dietary changes (like eliminating white flour and sugar from his diet) helped some, Jeff definitely needed more help.?I gave him a supplement to help his adrenal glands and lack of sugar metabolism, a good multi-vitamin, and omega-3 fatty acids, but most importantly a strong antioxidant formula.?After a couple of months his transformation was so significant that his scout leader (a past patient) felt compelled to thank me (after talking to his mother). Not only was his concentration better, but he seemed to get sick much less than he had before.

There is all kinds of research out there pointing out the tremendous benefits that antioxidants could hold for improving our health, overcoming illness, and preventing disease.?Then again maybe the first step should be to avoid toxic chemicals, radiation, and unnatural foods.?Either way there is no question that antioxidants are necessary for our bodies to maintain a healthy balance throughout our lives.

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