Until recently, a 40 year-old was considered to be at the threshold of old age, especially for women. Today, a person of 50 years is still considered young.
This mentality not only implies that people live longer now, but also, that people are developing new ways to take care of their appearance. It is increasingly evident that the rate of aging varies greatly from one person to another. Some people seem to begin aging, or suffer from diseases characteristic of aging, just after reaching 35 years, while others have superb health at 50, 60 or older.
One of the causes of aging that is most widely known, is the oxidation of tissues. It is somewhat similar to what happens when someone peels an apple and leaves it out in the open, or when iron-containing material is exposed to air and moisture. The color change is due to oxidation. In the body, similar reactions occur. The agents that produce free radicals are the cells themselves.
However, there are also some compounds able to counteract the effect of oxidation. These are called antioxidants. Knowing about the things people oxidize more quickly can be the key to living longer and better.
Free Radicals and Oxidative Stress
The human body is composed of molecules, or groups of atoms of which electrons are usually paired. This pairing gives electrochemical stability to the molecule.
If for some reason an electron from an atom or molecule is free, its absence will lead the body to look for another to complete the pair. This “lost” molecule is a free radical, ready to be taken in by other scavenger cells. The process continues for a very long time, and if it does not stop, it triggers other processes that eventually damage the cells.
To avoid this chain of reaction, our body has an internal production of antioxidants (catalase, glutathione, superoxide dismutase (SOD), coenzyme Q10, etc). They have the ability to neutralize free radicals without being oxidized. The normal metabolism of nutrients occurs continuously, while producing a certain amount of free radicals. Even so, sometimes the body uses free radicals in its fight against bacteria and viruses. Internal antioxidants prevent these substances oxidized and prevents people from aging prematurely.
What is Oxidative Stress?
Normally there is a balance between our oxidant and antioxidant activity. There are many cells producing antioxidant enzymes, which gives people greater protection against oxidation. Scientists have identified a protein gene that plays an indirect role in the cell’s antioxidant activities, called the Churchill (ChCh) gene. This gene is also known as the zinc finger transcription factor.
Oxidative stress occurs when exposure to reactive metabolites is greater than what our antioxidant enzymes are able to neutralize, while the consumption of antioxidants in the diet is insufficient to offset this imbalance. This situation, carried over a long time, can accelerate aging and create favorable conditions for the development of degenerative diseases.
In addition to body sources of oxidative stress, the external chemicals present in air, water and food, smoke, exposure to ultraviolet rays, etc. are also responsible. Currently, the exposure of humans to reactive metabolites is greater than ever, due to greater pollution. That's why it is important to have external sources of antioxidants, which helps to achieve a proper level of oxidative stress.
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References:
Eric R. Londin, Laura Mentzer, and Howard I Sirotkin. “Churchill regulates cell movement and mesoderm specification by repressing Nodal signaling.” Biomed Central Developmental Biology. 2007; 7: 120. Published online 2007 November 2.
Finkel T, Holbrook NJ. “Oxidants, oxidative stress and the biology of ageing.” Nature. 2000 Nov 9;408(6809):239-47.
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