Benefits of Free Radicals

People think of free radicals as harmful to the body and something to be gotten rid of. However, free radicals have benefits too. But, not many people are aware of the benefits of free radicals. The benefits of free radicals are often dwarfed by the multi layered advertising campaign of antioxidant products and MLM. Below are some essential benefits of free radicals for your health.

What are the benefits of free radicals?

As with everything in life, excessive amount of anything is often dangerous. Excessive amount of free radicals poses health risk in the body. But, inadequate amount of free radicals in the body also hurt your health. For example, free radicals are used by white blood cells to destroy bacteria and disease-ridden cells. With free radicals in your body, the body is able to fight off small amount of bacteria from infections. Free radicals are also good for the function of the liver. The liver uses free radicals along with cytochrome P-450 enzymes to destroy harmful chemicals that may be very dangerous for the body. These are some of the benefits of free radicals for the body.

Why do we want to destroy free radicals if there are vital benefits?

Although you body needs free radicals to be healthy. Free radicals are produced within the body in an often excessive amount. Excessive amount of free radicals can hurt your health in the following ways:

• Too much free radicals turns good cholesterol bad,
• causes cataracts,
• contributes to Alzheimer's disease, and
• leads to cancer.

The body is not doing nothing to stop the buildup of free radicals. However, for most people, the body is not fast enough to get rid of excessive free radicals and often needs outside influences such as those found in your antioxidant diet. So what if what we eat get rid of too many free radicals?

The effects of excessive antioxidants

Although antioxidants are required by the body to get rid of excessive free radicals, there is a danger in taking excessive amount of antioxidants. The main disadvantage of taking too much antioxidant is that you could be fatigue and your muscles could be weak. You will feel weak if you take too much antioxidnats. Free radicals are essential (in some quantity) for energy production in cells. Some people think that if you take natural antioxidants you would not feel fatigue but this is not the case. Research has shown that any forms of antioxidants, if taken too much of, will cause fatigue and lack of energy. If you are not sure if you are taking excessive amount of antioxidants, try reducing it and see if you feel more energized and needing less sleep. The amount of antioxidants each person need to take is different. If someone is under alot of stress, he or she may need more antioxidants than someone who is not stressed out.