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The discovery and scientific research of free radicals have been around for hundred of years. The fact that animals were poisoned after inhaling too much oxygen first caught the attention of scientists back in 1878. It was not until late forties and early fifities that the first case of premature infants having retrolental fibroplasia due to the excess use of oxygen. It was later confirmed to be closely related to free radicals.

What are free radicals?

Free radicals are in itself a very activate chemical and contains plenty of unstable molecules, atoms or ions. The life of a free radical continously undergoes oxidation in order to transform back into its original state as quickly as possible. And so free radicals exist for only a very short period of time.

The source of free radicals

Depend on the age and sex, the average human body needs to consume 1700 to 2400 of calories every day. Every second the body continously transform nutrients such as fat, carbohydrates and proteins into energy. The process of transforming inhaled air for oxidation of nutrients naturally produces free radicals in most parts of the body. For example, mitochondria is the primary location that produces energy for oxidation in cells.

There are many types of free radicals. The body can produce free radicals through synthesis for an important function, or generate from the metabolic process, and also from the external environment. The three obvious types of free radicals that are produced by the body include superoxide, hydroxyl compound, and peroxide. The increase in free radicals due to external environment can be a result of many factors, such as stress from work and life, prolonged depression, frequent lack of sleep, food, water and air pollution, smoking and second-hand smoke, excessive UV radiation, bacteria and virus, etc… The free radicals consumed in air are generally sulfur dioxide (SO2) from power plant emissions, nitric oxide (NO) from vehicle emissions, ozone (O3) produced from welding and others.

How does free radicals affect our health?

When free radicals remain inside the body, it oxidates the tissues in healthy cells, damaging cell membrane and cells including DNA, resulting in cell apoptosis or mutation. If the body gets attacked by free radicals for long enough, other serious illnesses can occur, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, arthritis and early aging.

About antioxidants

Not all free radicals are bad for the body, though. The body releases a suitable amount of free radicals to aid the daily functions of the cardiovascular system, keeps the mind clear, helps maintain focus, trigger sexual organs, eliminate invading viruses and bacteria, etc… Humans have the amazing ability to skillfully control and utilize free radicals without causing harm, because the body contains a complete antioxidant system. Antioxidant (or free radical scanvenger) neutralizes excess free radicals and eliminates its harmfulness. The antioxidant from synthesis basically fits into four main categories: superoxide dismutase (SOD), methione reductase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase.

As we age, the system that produces antioxidants can malfunction, leading to retained free radicals and causing increased health risks. We can intake additional antixodants to make up for the insufficient amount. In fact, some antioxidants in the form of vitamin, minerals and fruits and vegetables can help prevent free radicals formation and neutralize free radicals; the most common names include vitamins A, C, E and selenium.

Vitamin A: Because an excess of vitamin A can lead to food poisoning (no more than 10000iu per day), it is recommended to isntead take the precursor of vitamin A, β-carotene.

Vitamin C: A potent antioxidant that can pass through barriers and assist in removing free radicals from the brain.

Vitamin E: An antioxidant that prevents fat and cell mutation. Out of the eight species, d-α-tocopherol has the highest biological activity.

Selenium: It is one of the minerals that have been researche extensively. Combined together with protein it acts as antioxidant, helping to prevent cell damage from free radicals and delay the growth of cell mutation.

Fresh fruits and vegetables are rich in natural antioxidants. Common names include lutein, lycopene, quercetin, zeaxanthin, bio-flavonoids, polyphenols, etc…

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Medical News antioxidant, arthritis, free radical, hydroxyl, metabolism, peroxide, selenium, sulfur dioxide, superoxide

Royal jelly (蜂王漿) is the milky white or yellowish paste-like secreted from the heads of the worker bee that is used to feed the queen bee and bee larvae. The royal jelly is known to have a large source of amino acids, proteins, vitamins, minerals and other bioactive substances. Plus, it contains a rare unsaturated fatty acid known as 10-Hydroxy-2-Decenoic Acid (10-HDA), which is good for its bactericidal and anti-aging effect.

1. Scavenging extra free radicals

Too many free radicals in our body can cause tissue and vascular damage, thereby speeding up our aging process. Royal jelly contains an enzyme called Superoxide Dismutase (SOD) that protects our cell by scavenging for free radicals. Being rich in vitamin A, C, E and selenium, zinc, copper, manganese, magnesium and other trace elements, SOD is the natural anti-oxidant with its ability to eliminate the extra free radicals accumulated during metabolism. In short, prolonged use of royal jelly makes us live longer.

2. Strengthen our immune system

As we grow older, we lose our vitality and get infected with diseases often due to a weakened immune system. In this respect, royal jelly contains the royal jelly acid, taurine, vitamins and other trace elements that can restore our immune system.

3. Sexual stimulant

Pharcological researches suggest that royal jelly has properties that can stimulate sexual activity and increase adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). It is benefitial for both maintaining a healthy lifestyle and intimacy.

4. Controlling lipofuscin

Our organs gradually accumulates a substance called lipofuscin that triggers cell degeneration and weakens bodily functions. Royal jelly can tremendously reduce our lipid peroxidation (LPO) and lipofuscin accumulation in myocardial cells. At the same time, it contains large quantities of active substances that can excrete lipofuscin from our body.

5. The role of nucleic acid

Royal jelly also contains nucleic acid, which is the core component of a human body; without nucleic acid our body would not function at all. A shortage of nucleic acid can affect the rate of cell division, causing an insufficient supply of cells. This in turn reduces protein synthesis, causing body injury, disease, aging and even death.

6. Maintains nutritional balance

We all probably know by now that nutritional balance is the key success factor of staying healthy. The royal jelly is a provider of the basic nutritional substances that our body needs, regulates our physiological function and metabolism, strengthens our immune system and prevents many of the aging diseases. These are all important factors of staying alive and preventy many diseases common to many elderly people.

Herbal Medicine acth, antioxidant, bactericidal, bee, copper, free radical, hda, honey, hormone, immunity, lipid peroxidation, lipofuscin, lpo, magnesium, manganese, metabolism, myocardial cell, royal jelly, selenium, sexual stimulant, sod, superoxide, taurine, trace element, vitamin, zinc

A clinical trial report in U.S. made a surprisingly stunning statement: the common believe that drinking water helps our body to clear waste, reduce weight and increase metabolism is in fact, not exactly correct.

This report also rejected another popular believe taught in many households by our mothers since childhood; it claims drinking 1.5 liters of water is beneficial for our health is in fact, also another misconception.

Most people should drink the necessary amount of water that is suitable for their body. For example, people who performs a large amount of exercise should of course drink a greater amount of water; and those who sit quietly in the office daily would not have the same necessity to drink two large bottles of water. So ideally, drink only when you feel thirsty; there’s no reason to forcibly drink water just to meet the quota. A healthy functioning body should send signals to your brain telling you when your body needs to refill H2O.

Looking down on the people living in the 21st century, we are very capable of being early adopters; we can turn our lifestyles around at an annual-basis with portable computers, mp3 players and PDA phones. But some health concepts established centuries ago that should have been rectified are still being used today. Possibly, we care about our health so much that instead of going through the trouble of verifying every single message we receive, we would rather choose to accept them all if it sounds reasonably correct.

I believe some people still thinks that spinach is rich in iron, and you should eat more spinach to replenish your iron level (maybe after a loss of blood).

Oyster, clam shells and red meat are rich in iron

A hundred grams of spinach leaves contain only 2.1 miligrams of iron. It is not a surprisingly high number compared to other food groups such as oysters, clam shells, and even red meat (including beef and pork), which all have higher iron content than spinach. In fact, iron contained in vegetables are not as easy to get absorbed by our body than iron contained in meat. So unless you are a vegetarian, spinach is not the best choice when wanting to replenish iron levels in your body.

The misbelieve that spinach is high in iron wasn’t start by Popeye the Sailor, the cartoon character and his big can of spinach that rose in popularity in the early 19th century; the idea came over a hundred years ago, made by a tiny typo in a scientific report.

In 1870, a German scientist Dr. E von Wolf published a nutritional report on various food. The mistake came when writing the iron content for 100 grams of spinach. The decimal point was placed incorrectly which multiplied the numerical amount by tenfold. This mistake continues when it was referenced by Professor Dr. Gustav B. von Bunge in Basel, Switzerland, who used it as the amount of iron in dried spinach, instead of fresh spinach. And then lastly came Popeye the Sailor, who popped a can of spinach every episode, led all the caring mothers in the world to believe their child should eat the bitter-tasting spinach leaves regardless of how much they whined and complained.

Some health blogs and forums today still contain posts that suggest spinach is rich in iron without having heard of the story behind.

Spinach has other wonderful properties though. It should be noted for the rich in fiber, various vitamins and minerals, as well as lutein and zeaxanthin that is good for the eyes and antioxidant properties; iron should be at the very bottom of this list.

We should know that spinach can be harmful too. It contains oxalate, which can easily cause people who suffered from urolith (urinary calculus) or nephrolith (renal calculus) to have a relapse, and create metabolic arthritis (gout). Spinach requires a large amount of nitrogen fertilization to cultivate, so it often contains nitrogen that is harmful for humans.

The wrong ideas advertised by health food manufacturers

The French magazine Que Choisir had an issue that reported on false advertisements in health supplements. Many commercial nutritional products were tested for its promoted claims including weight loss and vitalizing components. It clarified and explained many of the misconceptions and misinterpretations included in advertisements, one being vitamin C.

The research found that taking vitamin C will not sooth the symptoms of a cold; the real benefitis of vitamin C is antioxidant and delay the ageing process.

According to French laboratory AgroParisTech researcher Ines Birlouez, there is no need to take a vitamin C pill every day, unless you are deprived of vegetables. If you don’t eat much vegetables, it is highly suggested that you change your eating habits to obtain a balanced diet instead of supplementing with nutritional products, because the body is better capable of absorbing vitamin C from vegetables.

Prolonged overdose causes early ageing

According to the recommendations from the French food safety agency (AFSSA), taking unnecessary nutrients can cause the human organs to malfunction. Some nutrients can even be harmful for the body.

An overdose of vitamin C can cause urolith (urinary calculus) and dyspepsia (indigestion); prolonged overdose can even cause early ageing.

An old Chinese saying had once said: medicine can be a double-edged sword, depending on how you use it. Today, we should supplement that by saying: learn to choose your sources wisely, and get the facts right.

Medical News blood, clam, iron, metabolism, spinach, vitamin, water