But what are free radicals, why are they in my body and are they supposed to be there?
Both antioxidants (as found in rosehip seed powder) and free radicals are chemicals/molecules that are found naturally in your body and the production of these can be increased by diet and your living environment.
Antioxidants block the activity of free Radicals, so basically free Radicals are the bad guys and antioxidants are the good guys.
Let’s have a look at free Radicals
What they do and why are they bad?
Free radicals are highly active chemicals that can harm other cells.
A lot of scientific research has been looking at how free radicals can have a part to play in cancer and other health conditions.
How are free Radicals created
A free radicals comes into being, when a molecule either loses or gains an electron causing it to have an uneven number of electrons this is known as a free radical.
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Your body is made up of all different types of cells and they are made of different molecules and atoms, atoms have electrons surrounding them in their outer shell and the characteristics of the outer shell is what makes it bond with other atoms.
When a weak bond between atoms splits It’s sometimes creates a free radical which is looking for the missing an electron, so basically, it goes on the hunt and looks for the closest molecule to steal an electron from to help it stabilize, and this starts a chain reaction of the next molecule of doing the same thing, but this happens naturally in your body and is Important in normal cell processes especially when it comes to neutralizing viruses and bacteria.
High levels of free radicals can become a threat to the components that make up cells plus environmental factors can increase your free radical count such as smoking and general environmental toxins and pollutants.
What are antioxidants?
Antioxidants are also molecules mainly there to neutralize free radicals, stopping them causing damage in your body.
Your body naturally creates antioxidants called endogenous antioxidants.
Even though your body makes them naturally, sometimes they aren’t enough to do the job, this is where dietary supplements (such as rosehip powder) and certain foods help. A wide number of fruit types and vegetables contain antioxidants and especially good source of antioxidants is rose hip oil.
As the name suggests antioxidants reduce or slow down the oxidation of other molecules in your body by balancing the electrons in free radicals and thus stopping them from continuing a destructive behaviour on stable molecules.