The War Within
Sit Back, Close Your Eyes For A Moment, And Focus On Your Breathing. Relax your shoulders and breathe in as deeply as you can, and then slowly release the air from your lungs. Do this several times. Breathe as if you are inflating your whole body, clear down to your toes.
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- Pause and then slowly exhale. Feels great, doesn’t it? The air that enters our lungs brings life. And as we quicken our breathing through aerobic exercise or running, we feel invigorated and may even experience a feeling of euphoria.
- Being a doctor, I like to imagine what is happening inside my body at a cellular level as oxygen enters through my nose and travels to my lungs. Life is an intricately woven miracle, evident in every breath. I fill my lungs with fresh air rich with oxygen.
Read And Learn More: Nutrition Medicine Physicians Defense Notes
- The molecules of oxygen then pass through the thin walls of the alveoli in the lungs into the blood that is passing by. Here it attaches itself to the hemoglobin in my blood, and my beating heart pumps this newly oxygenated blood back out to all parts of my body.
- The hemoglobin then releases the oxygen so it can enter the cells of my body, where it gives energy and life itself. Within every cell in the body is a furnace called the mitochondria. Imagine yourself in front of a crackling, warm fire.
- It burns safely and quietly most of the time. But on occasion, out flies a cinder that lands on your carpet, burning a little hole in it.
- One cinder by itself does not pose much of a threat; but if this sparking and popping continues month after month, year after year, you will end up with a pretty ragged carpet in front of your fireplace.
- Similarly, this microscopic organism, the mitochondria, within the cell reduces oxygen by the transfer of electrons to create energy in the form of ATP,’ and produces a by-product of water.
This process goes on without a hitch at least 98 percent of the time. But the full complement of four electrons needed to reduce oxygen to water does not always happen as planned and a “free radical” is produced.
Chemical Pathway for Oxygen Reduction to Water
The cinder from the fireplace represents a free radical, and the carpet represents your body. Whichever part of the body receives the most free radical damage is the first to wear out and potentially develop degenerative disease.
- If it is your eyes, you could develop macular degeneration or cataracts. If it is your blood vessels, you could have a heart attack or a stroke. If it is your joint space, you could develop arthritis.
- If it is your brain, you could develop Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease. After the passing of time, our bodies can look just like the carpet in front of the fireplace: pretty ratty.
- Together we have just imagined the “bright” side of oxygen and the life it brings (like the warmth of the fire), but we cannot deny the rest of the story.
- This is the part many of us have never heard about the demise that unruly free radicals cause, otherwise known as oxidative stress. This oxidative stress is the underlying cause of almost all of these chronic degenerative diseases.
- Though this occurs on the inside, it is much easier to observe the oxidative stress that is occurring on the outside surface of the body, the skin.
- Have you ever seen a several-generation family portrait? If you looked closely at their skin, you would see the significant difference between that of the youngest family member and the oldest.
- The effect you see is due to oxidative stress on the skin. This same decay is happening inside our bodies too.
The Dark Side Of Oxygen
As I said, through biochemical research we are learning that the underlying cause of degenerative disease, and possibly the aging process itself, is oxidative stress that free radicals cause.
- Chemically, the violent action of these free radicals has been shown to actually produce bursts of light. Not readily neutralized, the free radicals set off a chain reaction leading to potentially dangerous conditions.
- Did you know there is literally a war waging within your body? During the silent, day-to-day breakdown of oxygen, a vital battle is occurring.
- We can consider this war by defining the specific roles of its fascinating and clear-cut characters in the metabolism of our body:
The Enemy: Free Radicals
The Allies: Antioxidants
Behind the Lines: Supporting Nutrients-the B cofactors (B1, B2, B6, B12, and folic acid) and antioxidant minerals. These are like the supply lines of fuel, bullets, and food and the mechanics who keep the machines running in combat situations.
Enemy Reinforcement: Conditions that increase the number of free radicals that the body produces, such as pollutants in our air, food, and water; excessive stress, poor exercise habits, and so on.
MASH: Repair unit for the injured Free Radicals.
Free radicals are mainly oxygen molecules or atoms that have at least one unpaired electron in their outer orbit. In the process of utilizing oxygen during normal metabolism within the cell to create energy (called oxidation), active free oxygen radicals are created.
They essentially have an electrical charge and desire to try to get an electron from any molecule or substance in the vicinity. They have such violent movement that they have been shown chemically to create bursts of light within the body.
- If these free radicals are not rapidly neutralized by an antioxidant, they may create even more volatile free radicals or cause damage to the cell membrane, vessel wall, proteins, fats, or even the DNA nucleus of the cell.
- Scientific and medical literature refers to this damage as oxidative stress.
Our Ally Antioxidants
God did not leave us defenseless against the onslaught of free radicals. In fact, when I look at the intricate complexity of our antioxidant defense system, I have a great appreciation of how marvelously and wonderfully we are made.
- We actually have our own army of antioxidants, which are able to neutralize free radicals and render them harmless. Antioxidants are like glass doors or a fine-wired mesh screen that we place in front of the fireplace.
- The sparks (free radicals) are still going to fly; however, your carpet (your body) is protected. An antioxidant is any substance that has the ability to give up an electron to a free radical and balance out the unpaired electron, which neutralizes the free radical.
- Our body even has the ability to create some of its own antioxidants. In fact, the body produces three major antioxidant defense systems: superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase.
- It is not important that you remember these names, but it is important to realize that we do have a natural antioxidant defense system.
Our bodies do not produce all the antioxidants we need, however. - The rest of our antioxidants must come from food or, as you will learn, nutritional supplementation. As long as adequate amounts of antioxidants are available for the amount of free radicals produced, no damage is wrought to our bodies.
- But when more free radicals are produced than there are antioxidants available, oxidative stress occurs. When this situation persists for a prolonged period of time, we can develop a chronic degenerative disease and begin to lose the war within.
- Balance is the key to winning this ongoing war. We must keep the offensive and defensive equally matched. In order to win our bodies must always be armed with more antioxidants than free radicals.
Most antioxidants we get from vegetables and fruits. The most common antioxidants are vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin A, and beta-carotene.
- We can obtain numerous other antioxidants from our food; these include coenzyme Q10, alpha-lipoic acid, and colorful bioflavonoid antioxidants.
- It is important to realize that antioxidants work in synergy with one another to disarm free radicals in different areas of the body. Like the varied positions of military defense, these antioxidants each have specific roles.
- Some antioxidants have the ability to actually regenerate other antioxidants so they can neutralize more free radicals. For example, vitamin C is water-soluble and is therefore the best antioxidant to target free radicals within the blood and plasma.
- Vitamin E is fat-soluble and is the best antioxidant within the cell membrane. Glutathione is the best antioxidant within the cell itself. Alpha-lipoic acid works both within the cell membrane and the plasma.
- Vitamin C and alpha-lipoic acid have the ability to regenerate vitamin E and glutathione so they can be used again. The more antioxidants, the merrier! Our goal is to have more than enough antioxidants to neutralize the free radicals we produce.
- This can occur only when a complete and balanced army of antioxidants is available at all times.
Behind The Lines
Every army needs a support system behind the battle lines-this is critical in the final outcome of a war. Simply having adequate amounts of antioxidants (or soldiers) available to neutralize the free radicals we produce is not the complete answer.
- Soldiers need continual supplies-ammunition, food, water, and clothing if they are going to perform at their peak level.
- Antioxidant soldiers need the availability of other nutrients in adequate amounts to fulfill their duty on the front lines against the threat of free radicals.
- They need sufficient antioxidant minerals such as copper, zinc, manganese, and selenium, which aid in the chemical reactions of the antioxidants so they are able to do their job effectively.
- If enough of these minerals are not available, oxidative stress will usually occur. Antioxidants also need certain cofactors in their enzymatic reactions in order to perform their job properly.
- Cofactors are the military support system, like the mechanics or supply officers, fuel tanks, and makers of ammunition. These are primarily the B cofactors: folic acid, vitamins B1, B2, B6, and
- B12.
- We need a good store of both the antioxidant minerals and cofactors if we are going to have any hope of winning the war within. The battleground is actually more complicated than I have just described.
- You see, the number of free radicals we produce is never constant. The production of free radicals varies in the daily process of normal metabolism and reduction of oxygen.
- And our defense system never knows exactly how many free radicals it will have to deal with on any given day. Many factors may increase the amount of free radicals we produce and in turn, must neutralize.
- What causes the production of more free radicals than our bodies can fight off? This question drove me to hours and hours of research. I learned to look at the different sources of free radicals to find the answer. Let us now discuss those culprits.
What Creates Free Radicals
Excessive Exercise
In The Antioxidant Revolution, Dr. Kenneth Cooper emphasized the fact that excessive exercise can significantly increase the amount of free radicals our body produces.
- Dr. Cooper became quite concerned when he saw several strenuous exercisers die prematurely of heart attacks, strokes, and cancer. These were individuals who may have run thirty or forty marathons in their lifetimes while at the same time having lengthy daily workouts.
- During his research for the antioxidant book, Dr. Cooper realized the potential harm that overexercising could bring. When we exercise mildly or moderately, the numbers of free radicals you and I produce go up only slightly.
- In contrast, when we exercise excessively, the numbers of free radicals we produce go off the graph, increasing exponentially.
- The Antioxidant Revolution concludes by warning readers that excessive exercise can actually be harmful to our health, especially if we continue it over several years.
- Dr. Cooper recommends a moderate exercise program for everyone, but he also suggests that everyone take antioxidants in supplementation. Only serious athletes should undertake strenuous exercise, and they should balance it with significant amounts of antioxidant supplements.
Excessive Stress
- As with exercise, a mild to moderate amount of emotional stress produces only a slight increase in free radicals. Severe emotional stress, however, causes the number of free radicals to rise significantly, creating oxidative stress.
- Have you ever noticed that when you are under a lot of pressure you frequently become sick? How many times have you known a close friend or family member who has been under tremendous stress?
- For a prolonged period of time only to discover he has developed cancer or had a first heart attack? I don’t have many patients who have run multiple marathons in their lifetimes, but I have hundreds of patients who are under prolonged emotional stress.
- Financial, work and personal pressures have so complicated our lives that emotional stress is the most pressing health factor I deal with in my practice.
- Once you begin to understand the seriousness of oxidative stress, you begin to appreciate the dangerous effects of long-term emotional pressure on your health, and you can begin to counteract it.
The War Within Air Pollution
The environment has a tremendous influence on the amount of free radicals our bodies produce. Air pollution is a major cause of oxidative stress in our lungs and in our bodies.
- When you drive into any major city today, you not only can see the thick haze, you can taste it. I remember my medical-school days at the University of Colorado Medical School in 1970.
- During my rotation on the neurology unit, I had to make rounds at 6:00 A.M. Before I started, I would walk down to the west windows and admire the sunrise reflecting its light on the beautiful Rocky Mountains.
- I then quickly began my rounds, which took about two hours each day. When I finished, I would run back to that beautiful view of the mountains before my first clinical lecture.
- To my amazement, I usually could not even see the mountains by then. All I could see were some white outlines through the thick, red haze. What a dramatic change occurred during the two hours people commuted to their jobs.
- The health effects of air pollution have caused significant concern. Air pollution contains ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and several hydrocarbon molecules, all of which generate a significant amount of free radicals.
- When you are exposed to these toxins day in and day out, they have a major effect on your health. Air pollution has been implicated in the causes of asthma, chronic bronchitis, heart attacks, and even cancer.
- Understanding oxidative stress as the underlying cause of all of these diseases allows us to develop a strategy for protecting ourselves from the damaging effects of air pollution.
- We must consider another aspect of air pollution: occupational exposure to mineral dust such as asbestos fibers. The addition of iron-containing fibers in asbestos can generate even more free radicals.
- Long-term exposure has been shown to cause lung cancer and interstitial fibrosis. There are many other occupational hazards: Farmers are exposed to the fine dust in their barns and grain bins.
- Industrial workers are exposed to various chemicals and fine dust in their work. Needless to say, the quality of the air we breathe is a major health consideration.
The War Within Cigarette Smoke
- One might anticipate that smog or chemicals pose the biggest threat to our health on a daily basis. But would you believe the greatest cause of oxidative stress in our bodies is cigarette and cigar smoke? It’s true.
- Smoking has been associated with an increased risk of asthma, emphysema, chronic bronchitis, lung cancer, and cardiovascular disease.
- We all are aware of the health consequences of smoking, but it is fascinating to realize that the underlying problem is the amount of oxidative stress smoking produces in our bodies.
- Cigarette smoke contains several different toxins, all of which increase the amount of free radicals appearing not only in our lungs but also throughout our bodies.
- No other habit or addiction affects our overall health more dramatically than smoking, I know of nothing more addictive than nicotine.
- When Dr. C. Everett Koop, the U.S. surgeon general, called smoking an addiction rather than a habit, he forever changed the way we look at smoking.
- How? He informed the public about the addictive qualities of nicotine, which the tobacco companies supposedly had known about for half a century. In fact, strong evidence exists that says you can become addicted to nicotine within two to three weeks.
- Is it any wonder that it is so difficult for people to quit smoking? I have found it much more difficult for patients to stop smoking than to stop drinking alcohol. I believe the absurd and far-reaching cost to our health that cigarette smoke causes is far more than we can determine.
What about secondary smoke? Medical research now proves that individuals who are exposed to significant secondary smoke have an increased risk of asthma, emphysema, heart attacks, and even lung cancer.
- This is the reason so many laws have been passed restricting cigarette smoke in public places. Have you recently been exposed to a group of people smoking in a confined area? I recall driving my daughter back from college this past month.
- I had to stop in a small town to fill up the car with gas. When I walked into the station to pay for the gas, six local residents were sitting around a small table, all smoking cigarettes as they sipped coffee.
- I could hardly take a breath without coughing. I actually began to feel sick. For those who are not accustomed to cigarette smoke, its effects are more clearly recognizable.
- I am sure there are times and situations when you’ve had similar experiences. It doesn’t take much imagination to realize that if you are exposed to secondary smoke on a daily basis, it will have a major impact on your health.
The War Within Pollution Of Our Food And Water
Are you thirsty? In 1988 the U.S. Department of Public Health warned us that 85 percent of American drinking water is contaminated. And I can hardly believe things have gotten better over the past decade.
- More than fifty thousand different chemicals now contaminate our water supplies. Here’s a frightening fact: the average water treatment plant can test for only thirty to forty of these chemicals.
- In addition, heavy metals such as lead, cadmium, and aluminum contaminate most of our water supplies. More than fifty-five thousand regulated chemical dumps in America.
- In addition to the estimated two hundred thousand unregulated chemical dumps, are leaking into the water tables across the nation. When we ingest this contaminated water, the production of free radicals increases significantly.”
- Americans have resorted to drinking bottled, filtered, and distilled water in unprecedented amounts today. But you should know this: except for distilled water, you have no way of knowing the quality of the water you are paying so dearly for since it is an entirely unregulated market.
- Since the Second World War, more than sixty thousand new chemicals have been introduced into our environment. No less than one thousand new-fangled chemicals are introduced to our environment each year.
- Herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides are used in the production of most of our foods. Medical research has shown us that all of these chemicals create increased oxidative stress when we consume them.
- Some are more dangerous than others, but they all have potential health risks. These chemicals have allowed our food industry to produce the most abundant food supply ever known. But what is the cost to our health?
The War Within Ultraviolet Sunlight
It is a known fact that people get two-thirds of their lifetime sun exposure to their skin prior to their twentieth birthday. This means you, the reader of this book, have most likely already exposed your skin to the sun’s damaging ultraviolet rays.
- Several different studies have shown ultraviolet light to produce increased free radicals in human skin. This in turn has been proven to produce damage to the DNA in the cells of our skin, which leads to skin cancer.
- These studies provide the best direct evidence that oxidative stress leads to the development of cancer. UVB light is the primary culprit responsible for the sun’s burning rays.
- But both UVA and UVB light increases free-radical production in the skin and thus oxidative stress in the skin. When you apply your favorite sunscreen, which contains an SPF rating of thirty or greater, you are protecting yourself primarily against UVB light.
- This allows us to stay out in the sun longer because we are not getting sunburned. But these sunscreens do not offer much, if any, protection against UVA light, which creates significantly more free radicals deeper into the skin.
- This may in part explain why we have seen a fivefold increase in almost every skin cancer over the past twenty years. We are finally seeing sunscreens on the market that offer protection against both UVA and UVB sunlight.
- Obviously, this is the kind of sunscreen you want to purchase to protect yourself and your children against both being sunburned and developing skin cancer.
- I would encourage everyone to keep a watchful eye on his skin for any unusual growths or changes in pigmented moles.
The War Within Medications And Radiation
Every medication I prescribe causes increased oxidative stress in the body. Chemotherapeutic drugs and radiation therapy primarily work by creating oxidative stress damage to the cancer cells, which kills them.
- This is the main reason patients find these drugs and therapies so hard to tolerate. The increased oxidative stress also causes collateral damage to normal cells.
- It is important to remember that every drug is essentially a foreign substance to the body, and the body has to work harder trying to metabolize and eliminate it.
- This puts increased demand on many of the metabolic pathways in the liver and the body as a whole. Thus increased production of free radicals takes place and the potential to create oxidative stress grows.
- The industrialized world of the twenty-first century has become over-dependent on medications. The consumption of medications in the U.S. and in the world is obviously at an all-time high.
- Even though every drug has been tested to show it provides a benefit, each also carries an inherent risk. Serious adverse drug reactions are the fourth leading cause of death in the United States.
- It’s true: properly prescribed and administered medications are responsible for more than one hundred thousand deaths, and two million hospital admissions, in the U.S. each year.
- Much of the inherent risk of medications is due to the oxidative stress these drugs can potentially produce.
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