Friday, November 19, 2010

Free Radical Damage

A lot of people have heard of free radicals, but not a lot of people know that they are related to the aging process.

Free radicals are charged particles that cause a lot of damage on the molecular level to basically anything they touch. They have this property due to the fact that they are missing an electron, which makes them highly reactive.

As free radicals contact the surface of various objects, they strip away an electron and destabilize that other molecule. So, in bits and pieces, free radicals tear down the fabric of whatever material they come into contact with.

This is a problem when that material is you. Free radical damage will break down and damage whatever cells they come into contact with, eventually leading to a loss of function. This gradual decline due to free radical damage is one of the major causes of aging.

That's why antioxidants are so popular... they protect you from the effects of free radicals by absorbing them before they can hurt you.

Source: How To Live Longer

Friday, November 12, 2010

Green Tea

Green tea has been known as a healthy beverage for centuries, and a recent scientific article backs up traditional knowledge. Japanese researchers reviewed a large amount of data from many different sources and summarized several conclusions.

Most of their findings were centered around the antioxidant properties of green tea. These are pretty well known, and help increase health and vitality throughout the body, but especially in the blood vessels (it helps keep them elastic).

There's more to it than that, though. Green tea also helps to mineralize (strengthen) the bones, help combat obesity, and even has some anti-viral and anti-fungal properties as well.

Add some green tea in to your daily routine to promote some wellness!

Source article: Health Benefits of Green Tea

Friday, November 5, 2010

Garlic Oil Helps Your Heart

Some new research has shown how garlic helps with keeping the heart and cardiovascular system healthy.

While garlic has been advised for a long time to aid in this sort of health, it's only recently that science has been able to figure out why it's so helpful. It turns out, the antioxidants in garlic are strongly protective to damage caused by free radicals.

Free radicals are damaging, toxic chemicals that are found both in the environment and inside of the body. On contact with body tissues, they chip away at them and make them weaker slowly over time. This is particularly true with heart tissue and the lining of blood vessels.

Antioxidants protect the body from free radicals by essentially absorbing and neutralizing them. Garlic, in particular, has powerful antioxidants that seem particularly effective in protecting the body against the specific free radicals that damage heart muscle versus other kinds of tissue.

So don't skimp out on the garlic! Your heart will thank you!

Source article: Garlic Heart Health