Have You Ever Wondered To Yourself, "What Is Oxidative Stress?"
If you’ve grown interested in your health, preventative medicine, or healthy aging you’ve probably come across the term “oxidative stress” in a multitude of articles discussing everything from weight loss and bloating to joint pain and chronic disease.
Not everyone offers a simple definition...
I’ll make it simple:
Just as bananas turn brown when exposed to oxygen, our cells oxidize or “rust” too.
This otherwise natural and necessary process may become imbalanced and lead to damaging cellular “stress” that creates the perfect conditions for aging, infections, chronic illnesses, inflammatory conditions, neurodegenerative diseases and more.
🔺🔺WHAT IS OXIDATIVE STRESS?
Your body produces oxidation naturally during energy management processes at a cellular level.
Oxidation releases free radicals.
Free radicals are oxidizing agents, the mechanism that “browns” the banana.
Antioxidants are neutralizing agents that come from vitamins, minerals, and more.
These two forces should be naturally balanced.
🔺🔺What Causes Oxidative Stress in The Body?
Understanding what is oxidative stress is just the beginning; many factors contribute to oxidation in the body:
High Sugar and Carb Diet: also known as an acidic diet, sugar, and carbs require more energy to be burnt from the mitochondria, which increases free radical levels.
Excessive Stress: High levels of the cortisol hormone increase oxidative stress and inflammation, which may lead to the production of free radicals.
Poor Liver Detox: unhealthy liver function leads to toxin saturation, which in turn forces the liver to produce more free radicals. Poor diet, chemical exposure, and cleaning or beauty products may all overtax the liver.
Too Little and Too Much Exercise: your body is meant to move, on a standard 1,600 to 2,000 calories diet if you exercise or move less than 30 minutes a day, you’re probably not getting enough. If you’re doing more than 60 minutes of intense exercise per day, then you could be overdoing it. This lack of balance may lead to oxidative stress.
Tobacco Smoke: contains 4,000 toxic chemicals that may lead to it.
Air pollution: industrial pollution, allergens, chemical exhaust, all contribute to oxidation in the body.
Alcohol Consumption: licor may boost cytokine production, which is linked to oxidative stress and inflammation; they’re pro-inflammatory molecules.
Sleep Deprivation: the less you sleep the more cortisol gets out of control.
Inflamed Gut: oxidative stress and inflammation go hand in hand, if your gastrointestinal tract is inflamed, slow, or backed up it could increase toxicity levels and ultimately free radical production.
Radiation: from x-rays, cellphones, airplanes, WiFi routers, and more are linked to oxidative stress.
Mold: and other environmental toxins found on roofs, bathrooms, etc.
Infections: the immune response activates macrophages which release free radicals when fighting off a threat. However, oxidative stress may trigger inflammation on its own.
🔺🔺HOW TO PREVENT OXIDATIVE STRESS (THE NATURAL WAY):
Breathwork and meditation; it helps the body reduce stress and flush toxins through exhalation.
Eat foods high in antioxidants:
Acai
Apricots
Asparagus
Berries
carrots
Citrus fruits
Mangoes
Peaches
Pomegranates
Pumpkin
Spinach
Tomatoes
Walnuts
Try Using Herbs and Roots with Adaptogen or Antioxidant Powers:
Ashwagandha
Ginkgo Biloba
Ginger Root
Green tea
Matcha green tea
Milk thistle
Rosemary
Turmeric
You can prevent or reduce free radical formation that shows up in your face, joints, and more with simple natural remedies.
Oxidative stress and inflammation are both natural metabolic and immune system processes that only cause harm when they are out of control. Learning what is oxidative stress and how to prevent it is vital to healthy aging and disease prevention; the most powerful defense against it comes from antioxidants that you can get from your diet.
Exercise and stress management also help manage energy and regulate free radical production in the body - always great companions to a healthy diet.
Join one of our Free 30 Day Challenges..gateway to try something new and practice consistency. Checkout our Push up Challenge
🔺🔺Be mindful of what you put into your body and move.🤸🏼♀️
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