Oxidative stress is essentially an imbalance between the production of free radicals and the ability of the body to counteract or detoxify their harmful effects through neutralization by antioxidants.

What is Oxidative Stress?

Like an apple turns brown when exposed to air, our cells can “rust” when we breathe due to oxidative stress, a process caused by free radicals.

Free radicals are unstable molecules that damage or “oxidize” cells throughout the body in a process called oxidative stress. Over time, oxidative stress can leave our cells and tissues unable to function properly. According to anti-aging specialist Dr. Catherine Waller, this means that free radicals can have serious consequences for our health.

“They damage tissue, they damage our DNA, they damage our cell membrane,” Dr. Waller says. “They’re the underpinnings of almost all of our chronic diseases.”

Because free radicals contribute to disease, hardened arteries and wrinkles, they’re often intertwined with the health problems we experience with age. Avoiding the causes of free radicals and adopting a lifestyle that helps you fight back against them can help you safeguard your health by preventing oxidative stress.

What are free radicals?

A free radicals is an oxygen containing molecule that has one or more unpaired electrons, making it highly reactive with other molecules.
Oxygen by-products are relatively unreactive but some of these can undergo metabolism within the biological system to give rise to these highly reactive oxidants. Not all reactive oxygen species are harmful to the body. Some of them are useful in killing invading pathogens or microbes.
However, free radicals can chemically interact with cell components such as DNA, protein or lipid and steal their electrons in order to become stabilized. This, in turn, destabilizes the cell component molecules which then seek and steal an electron from another molecule, therefore triggering a large chain of free radical reactions.

What are antioxidants?

Every cell that utilizes enzymes and oxygen to perform functions is exposed to oxygen free radical reactions that have the potential to cause serious damage to the cell. Antioxidants are molecules present in cells that prevent these reactions by donating an electron to the free radicals without becoming destabilized themselves. An imbalance between oxidants and antioxidants is the underlying basis of oxidative stress.

Chronic inflammation is a pathological condition characterized by continued active inflammation response and tissue destruction. Many of the immune cells including macrophages, neutrophils and eosinophils are involved directly or by production of inflammatory cytokine production in pathology of chronic inflammation. From literatures, it is appear that there is a general concept that chronic inflammation can be a major cause of cancers and express aging processes.

Moreover, many studies suggest that chronic inflammation could have serious role in wide variety of age-related diseases including diabetes, cardiovascular and autoimmune diseases. Inflammatory process induces oxidative stress and reduces cellular antioxidant capacity. Overproduced free radicals react with cell membrane fatty acids and proteins impairing their function permanently.

In addition, free radicals can lead to mutation and DNA damage that can be a predisposing factor for cancer and age-related disorders. This article reviews the antioxidant defense systems, free radicals production and their role in cancer and age related diseases and also some of the recent patent relevant to the field. Study of the role of free radicals in human diseases can help the investigators to consider the antioxidants as proper agents in preventive medicine, especially for cancer and aging processes.

Effects of Oxidative Stress

Oxidation is a normal and necessary process that takes place in your body. Oxidative stress, on the other hand, occurs when there’s an imbalance between free radical activity and antioxidant activity. When functioning properly, free radicals can help fight off pathogens. Pathogens lead to infections.

When there are more free radicals present than can be kept in balance by antioxidants, the free radicals can start doing damage to fatty tissue, DNA, and proteins in your body. Proteins, lipids, and DNA make up a large part of your body, so that damage can lead to a vast number of diseases over time. These include:

diabetes
atherosclerosis, or the hardening of the blood vessels
inflammatory conditions
high blood pressure, which is also known as hypertension
heart disease
neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s
cancer

Oxidative stress also contributes to aging.

Easy Ways to Fight the Damage Caused by Free Radicals

1. Start Eating More Foods Rich in Antioxidants
The National Institute on Aging, a part of the National Institutes of Health, developed a scoring system to measure the amounts of antioxidants in foods. The score given to a particular food is known as its ORAC score. ORAC stands for “Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity.” Unfortunately, the National Institutes of Health decided to remove the ORAC database in 2012, but these scores are still available via Superfoodly.

Here are just a few foods that have very high ORAC scores:

Brightly colored fruits and vegetables — Orange foods like carrots, sweet potatoes, pumpkin and squash, or cantaloupe contain carotenoids that are beneficial for your skin and eyes. These antioxidant foods help reduce sunburn and wrinkles while protecting your vision. According to the International Dermal Institute, oxygen free radicals are implicated in the overall aging process and are responsible for photoaging, cancer and inflammation in the skin. (6) Similarly to orange veggies, citrus fruits contain a compound called quercetin. Spinach and other leafy greens like kale are high in lutein, and tomatoes and red peppers contain lycopene, all of which have anti-aging effects.
Berries, grapes and red wine — These deeply hued fruits are some of the highest in antioxidants, such as resveratrol. A study in the Journal of Agricultural & Food Chemistry found berries an easy winner in the amount of antioxidants for the price, especially when you buy the organic kinds frozen. (7) As an added bonus, berries also tend to be lower in sugar than other fruits and contain lots of fiber.
Green and white tea— White and green teas are very minimally processed and contain less caffeine than coffee (or even other varieties of tea). They also contain a very high concentration of antioxidants called polyphenols that have been shown to have cancer-fighting properties. (8)
Cocoa —A study from Seoul National University found that cocoa has a higher antioxidant content that green tea, black tea and even red wine. (9) But you want to make sure the cocoa or dark chocolate you eat is very minimally processed, such as the kinds that are a high percentage of cocoa (more than 65 percent or so) and labeled raw and organic.
Herbs and spices— These include things like cinnamon, oregano, ginger, turmeric and rosemary. Additionally, essential oils made from the same plants can also be a great source of antioxidant, anti-inflammatory compounds.

While eating more antioxidant foods is a big step in the right direction, you also benefit from limiting intake of pesticide- and herbicide-laden foods (those that are not organically grown) and by avoiding too much sugar, refined oil or refined grains. Use natural, cold-pressed oils like coconut or olive oil, since heat oxidizes fats in refined oils. And be sure to limit intake of antibiotic- and hormone-laden foods, such as farm-raised meat or fish.

2. Avoid Toxin or Pollutant Exposure

Besides improving your diet, here are other ways to start reducing free radical damage:

Avoiding environmental pollutants in water
Reducing chemical exposure in household and cosmetic products, such as by purchasing those that are natural and made from essential oils
Avoiding overuse of medications and antibiotics
Reducing stress in your life
Regularly getting moderate amounts of exercise. Keep in mind that while being sedentary is definitely not helping you to age any slower, either is overworking yourself. Exhaustion, mental fatigue and burnout also cause the immune system and body more damage.
Reaching and maintain a healthy body weight
Trying to normalize blood sugar and cholesterol levels to prevent diabetes, heart problems and blood pressure changes