It's not always fun being in my industry. Every supplement distributor, vendor or MLM (Multi-Level Marketing) nutrition related marketer whether independent or founder looks to me as a gold mine for their product. It doesn't stop there either. There is a whole army of self-proclaimed anti-aging specialist out there as well.
I am not a big fan of supplements and focus on getting my clients to eat whole foods. I do have my favorite brand which is why I take it for breakfast but for the most part I eat what mother nature continues to provide by purchasing it at local Farmer's Markets. So what does ORAC mean? It means Oxygen Radical Absorbency Capacity. So why is this important? Free Radicals are theoretically believed to cause aging in organisms and in this case I am referring to the human body. Anti-Oxidant levels in foods are measured by this ORAC system. So theoretically it is believed that foods high in Anti-Oxidants or in this case those that have a very high ORAC score are thought to have very strong anti-aging and immune system boosting properties. Wikipedia describes it this way, "Antioxidants are reducing agents, and limit oxidative damage to biological structures by passivating them from free radicals". So if this is true, that would mean that you are reducing the speed of aging in this sense of the word Anti-Oxidant thus it would make sense to consume foods high in ORAC value or antioxidant levels.
When you cut an apple in half you immediately start to see a browning effect and as you continue to allow it to be exposed to the elements such as air and sun. You will notice that the apple will continue to age and eventually rotten. This is what is defined as oxidation. Who came up with this theory? A man named Denham Harman back in the 1950's.
Free Radicals damage today are believed to be the cause of pre-mature again, a poor immune system, cancer and many other life threating, life shortening diseases. So how does this happen? Again, theoretically it is believed that Free-Radicals are unstable atoms or electrons which are missing an electron in one of it's orbits. Since Electrons normally occur in pairs on any given orbit of it's structure and this is not true of a Free-Radical, when it comes in contact with another molecule it will strip away an electron from it to complete it's needed pair. Well guess what? That once normal molecule in the body becomes a Free-Radical and the viscous process continues. This can also happen in DNA molecules and cross-linking can occur. This damage leads to mutation of the DNA molecule and therefore believed to be the cause of cancer, aging and various other health problems.
So now your wondering how Antioxidants stop this nightmarish process. Antioxidants are believed to donate that needed electron to create the pair needed by Free-Radicals which then leads to it's neutralization.
So what can lead to an increase in Free-Radical production? The answer: It's funny that I talk about health threatening foods all the time because they cause cancer, heart disease, central nervous system disorders but they also cause the increased formation of Free-Radicals. These foods are fried foods, meats, polyunsaturated fats and saturated fats (not true of monounsaturated fats so consider eating this type of fat). Meat in particular raises pH in the body causing acidity levels to increase (thought to be a main way to feed cancer cells) which forces the body to release calcium from the bones (which cause bone loss and eventually osteoporosis). Calcium is alkaline and reduces acidity which is the reason you will find calcium in all your over-the-counter antacids (no surprise). Other non-diet related causes of increase Free-Radical production include mental distress (anger, anxiety, tension or stress), alcohol abuse (and consumption in general), smoking, food preservatives, pesticides, environmental pollution, sunlight, chemotherapy and radiation).
So if you are interested in anti-aging you need to eliminate as many causes of increased free-radical producing behaviors and foods as possible and stop wasting money on all these anti-aging products out there. Eliminate the cause and you eliminate the problem and the reason to protect against them. Prevention is always the best medicine, so if you truly want to take health promoting, free-radical demolishing measures all you really need to start doing is: Get enough sleep, Eat an abundance of Fruits, Vegetables, Nuts, Grains and Legumes plus avoid the promoters of free-radicals as much as possible. You will also need to get at least 30 minutes of exercise daily :D Good Luck.
When you cut an apple in half you immediately start to see a browning effect and as you continue to allow it to be exposed to the elements such as air and sun. You will notice that the apple will continue to age and eventually rotten. This is what is defined as oxidation. Who came up with this theory? A man named Denham Harman back in the 1950's.
Free Radicals damage today are believed to be the cause of pre-mature again, a poor immune system, cancer and many other life threating, life shortening diseases. So how does this happen? Again, theoretically it is believed that Free-Radicals are unstable atoms or electrons which are missing an electron in one of it's orbits. Since Electrons normally occur in pairs on any given orbit of it's structure and this is not true of a Free-Radical, when it comes in contact with another molecule it will strip away an electron from it to complete it's needed pair. Well guess what? That once normal molecule in the body becomes a Free-Radical and the viscous process continues. This can also happen in DNA molecules and cross-linking can occur. This damage leads to mutation of the DNA molecule and therefore believed to be the cause of cancer, aging and various other health problems.
So now your wondering how Antioxidants stop this nightmarish process. Antioxidants are believed to donate that needed electron to create the pair needed by Free-Radicals which then leads to it's neutralization.
So what can lead to an increase in Free-Radical production? The answer: It's funny that I talk about health threatening foods all the time because they cause cancer, heart disease, central nervous system disorders but they also cause the increased formation of Free-Radicals. These foods are fried foods, meats, polyunsaturated fats and saturated fats (not true of monounsaturated fats so consider eating this type of fat). Meat in particular raises pH in the body causing acidity levels to increase (thought to be a main way to feed cancer cells) which forces the body to release calcium from the bones (which cause bone loss and eventually osteoporosis). Calcium is alkaline and reduces acidity which is the reason you will find calcium in all your over-the-counter antacids (no surprise). Other non-diet related causes of increase Free-Radical production include mental distress (anger, anxiety, tension or stress), alcohol abuse (and consumption in general), smoking, food preservatives, pesticides, environmental pollution, sunlight, chemotherapy and radiation).
So if you are interested in anti-aging you need to eliminate as many causes of increased free-radical producing behaviors and foods as possible and stop wasting money on all these anti-aging products out there. Eliminate the cause and you eliminate the problem and the reason to protect against them. Prevention is always the best medicine, so if you truly want to take health promoting, free-radical demolishing measures all you really need to start doing is: Get enough sleep, Eat an abundance of Fruits, Vegetables, Nuts, Grains and Legumes plus avoid the promoters of free-radicals as much as possible. You will also need to get at least 30 minutes of exercise daily :D Good Luck.
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