Applied Health Journal Topics of Health and Natural Healing

Issue 105 ISSN: 1525-6359

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Would You Rather Wear Out... Or Rust Out?

I have been thinking a lot about rust, lately. I have an old gal that I keep around for “special times”, occasionally stoking her fires, and lovingly coaxing her out for a “dance” or two. Nowadays, she is showing her age. She is sagging, fatigued, and clearly exhibiting signs of some tough years, but she still can teach the youngsters a thing or two when I loosen the reigns and let her run.

Although she may resemble a shadow of her former majesty, she still represents one of my most enduring, rewarding and memorable relationships. I am talking about my old truck that we affectionately nicknamed, the Great White Test-Dummy Hauler, or simply GWTDH.

Yes, the GWTDH is no longer the brightest, most shining filly in the stables.  She has been replaced by a new, shinier workhorse for the heavy lifting chores, and respectfully called the Big Black Test-Dummy Hauler... except by the "ranch hands", who call it "El Mucho Loco Hombre Vagón"... whatever that means...

However, the older gal is still my first love, even with her blemishes, and this is what got me to thinking about rust.

If people knew even a fraction of the stories that the GWTDH has experienced with me, they would be amazed at her condition. I can say with complete confidence that had I not taken such extraordinary care of her for all those years, she would have let me down decades ago.

I cannot help but shake my head and wonder why it had not occurred to me sooner; I practiced diligent protocols on the GWTDH to help her withstand the ravages of oxidation, so why did I not understand decades ago that I should employ tactics to prevent oxidation in me.

 I realize that it is a bit more involved for a human, rather than merely smearing Kit Wax on my surface and vigorously rubbing... (although, that does create an interesting visual that might be worth exploring...), but whatever the effort, the rewards are priceless.

Evidence is continuing to mount that the aging process on a human is little more than the results of oxidation on our cells. As an oxygen-breathing creature, “oxidizing agents” are a natural by-product of our normal energy making process and our metabolism.

Oxygen is essential for life, but it is also very active and can combine easily with many compounds in the body, producing oxidizing agents, such as superoxides or hydrogen peroxide. These oxidizing agents are also known as free radicals.

No, “free radicals” is not a defiant chant from the groovy, anti-establishment inmates during the 60’s Peace movement. Free radicals are electrically charged molecules that are missing an electron. If you meet one of these little buggers, stand back, because he will try and take from you what he is missing.

A free radical has one mission, “get even”. That means all he wants is to find an electron – steal it if he has too – so that he can feel content. The problem is: if he succeeds in stealing an electron from a neighbor, then the neighbor is now a free radical, who steals one from his neighbor, and so on.

Imagine yourself back in 9th-grade, sitting in the cafeteria at one of those endlessly long tables trying to get through lunch. Everyone is anxious to finish their cardboard fish sticks, just so they can enjoy the wonderful little bowl of chocolate pudding that is only provided on alternate Fridays.

    Buford the Free Radical Bully

Now, enter the class bully, Buford. Buford the Free Radical Bully – being the obnoxious glutton that he is – has already dispatched his bowl of pudding before he gets to the table, so when he sits down, he simply reaches over and steals the one from the tray of the dude next to him. This begins a chain reaction where new-puddingless-dude steals one from the next guy, who gets mad and steals one from the next. And so it goes, on down the table, until a savior steps in.

    Sister Sarah Antioxidant

On these special pudding-Fridays, Sister Sarah Antioxidant stations herself among the students, in anticipation of impending chaos that can potentially result from an out-of-control lunchroom.

Armed with nothing more than her graceful robes, glowing disposition, and a few extra bowls of pudding, she is poised to swoop in... (yes, “swoop”) and quickly supply a replacement bowl for the student who last lost his. Because her swooping technique is so honed, she can often replace a swiped bowl with a fresh one even before the student notices it missing.

In this way, Sister Sarah has rescued the day by breaking the chain of events that would otherwise, very likely, deteriorate into a state of total pandemonium, with fish sticks and bowls of chocolate pudding hurtling across the room, careening off the foreheads of any slow-moving students.

This example makes for a useful metaphor when talking about free radicals and antioxidants. Because - just like Buford - free radicals will initiate a chain reaction that can become chaotic in their relentless quest for a missing electron. And, just like Sister Sarah, antioxidants are capable of suppressing the chain reaction by donating an electron from one of the extras that they carry.

What Causes Free Radicals?

As mentioned before, free radicals are the result of normal metabolic processes: breathing, eating, exercise, etc. A healthy body, given healthy foods, is designed to handle a “normal” load of free radicals, just fine. However, other factors can contribute to higher loads that can start to overwhelm our ability to manage them.

Inflammation, infection, allergens, stress, and over-aggressive exercise can cause a flurry of free radical activity. Also, drugs, alcohol, toxins in pesticides and herbicides, cigarette smoke, car exhaust, paint fumes, impure water, microwave oven, radiation exposure, rap music etc., etc., etc....

Okay, I might have fudged on the last one, but you get the idea without me noting every example of things around you that create free radicals. The point is, if this plethora of free radicals remains unchecked, damage to our cells and DNA can occur. In effect, these free radicals will oxidize our bodies, not unlike the “rusting” that is aging the GWTDH, in spite of all my years of care.

Are you able to visualize yet why it is so important to have an abundance of antioxidants in our bodies?

Imagine a world in which gangs of Buford-free-radical-bullies roamed your town, destroying everything in their path. What if there were never Sister Sarah Antioxidants on watch before things got out of control? Or what if there were not enough Sister Sarah’s to suppress a gang that is gaining momentum? What then?...

Well... some examples of free radical damage are:

• Aging
• Cardiovascular disease
• Arthritis
• Diabetes
• Psoriasis, eczema
• Inflammatory bowel disease and colitis
• Multiple sclerosis, Parkinsons, Alzheimers
• Cancer
• And many others

    Where Do I Find Antioxidants?

In the early years, before soils were depleted of nutrients, and before modern fertilizers threw out of balance whatever nutrients were left, and before our environments and lifestyles placed higher demands on our needs, we were able to get adequate levels of antioxidants from our foods. Now days, though... ah... not so much.
 

These days, it is our responsibility to find alternate sources of antioxidants to keep our bodies supplied. Some substances that act as antioxidants are:

• Vitamin A, C, E, beta carotene
• Several of the B vitamins
• Minerals selenium and zinc
• Green foods, like the blue-green algae in our Foundation
• Coenzyme Q10
• Many herbs like green tea, bilberry, grape seed extract
• And others

This list is by no means intended to be all inclusive of important antioxidants. The intention is more to show you the importance of adding some of these common items to your daily regimen. There are many other highly beneficial substances that act as antioxidants, as well. And we can’t forget about the value of pure, organic whole foods. However, we cannot rely on only food for our nutrient needs. Not with today’s lifestyles.

 Who is Most Likely to Benefit From Antioxidant Supplementation?

Some of the most obvious candidates for antioxidant supplementation are:

• Smokers and people exposed to passive smoke
• People with a chronic illness, such as,
  • cardiovascular disease,
  • auto-immune diseases,
  • Crohns,
  • arthritis,
  • diabetes,
  • neurological diseases,
  • eye diseases, like macular degeneration
• anyone exposed to toxic substances on repeated basis
• and, in fact, everyone who wants to regain or maintain a healthy life.

Certainly, one group of people who should be consuming vast quantities of antioxidants is athletes. Athletes, especially extreme endurance athletes, consume enormous quantities of oxygen due to the aerobic nature of their endeavors. This in turn creates a lot of free radical activity, requiring something to suppress it.

A top athlete must carefully monitor several factors to remain in prime form, one of them being to ensure they get plenty of antioxidants as a way to help rebound from training. There is no way I would suggest that I am on the level of some “extremists” that I know, but I am certain that what helps me recover quickly after a severe exercise effort is the mouthfuls of antioxidants that I chug down when I am done.

Immediately after arriving home from a training effort, I routinely consume 10-12 capsules of our Foundation blue-green algae, several tablets of B-complex, several fish oil capsules, and 600-800 mg of CoQ10... and I swig it all down with 2-3 packets of 1000mg vitamin C mix.

This combination has worked so well for me over the years that if I am going for an all day excursion, I organize my pack to carry these supplements to take during the day. It feels a little weird to pour a package of the Emergen’C powder mix in my mouth and chase it with a gulp of water, but if you can get past the whole “rabid foaming-at-the-mouth” effect, you might find you like it, too.

Now that I have learned more about how to take care of myself to prevent oxidation from the inside, I am hoping that in another thirty years, I will be standing the test of time as well as my old Great White Test-Dummy Hauler. That gal has shown me it is far “better to wear out than to rust out”.

    Bill Evans

PS: There are so many outstanding substances to discuss when the topic turns to antioxidants, that it can be quite daunting to even decide how to narrow it down to a few “must have” recommendations. I can think of a dozen off the top of my head that are worthy of a full article to do justice to their importance.

We have done articles in the past about the Foundation Blue-Green Algae product, and I really cannot stress enough just how valuable this product is to overall health. I will do another article soon to highlight this. I also could easily devote an article to all the research in support of vitamin C as an antioxidant.

However, something I will be discussing in more depth very soon is the emergence of Coenzyme Q10 as a vitally important substance for everyone, especially anyone who is taking a statin drug to lower his or her cholesterol (such as, Lipitor or Zocor). So stay tuned...

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Purveyors of Applied ProLine Essential CoQ10
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