Antioxidants are all about reducing something called free-radical damage, a term you may already be familiar with. Free-radical damage occurs on a molecular, unseen, unfelt, atomic level but it is nevertheless one of the most destructive internal processes affecting the body, which causes both the body and the skin to “age.” It is also responsible for many serious health problems that range from cancer to cardiovascular disease, atherosclerosis, hypertension, restricted blood flow, diabetes, and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, as well as rheumatoid arthritis. For the skin, sun exposure is the major cause of free-radical damage. (Sources: Free Radical Biology and Medicine, March 2008, pages 990-1000; Ageing Research Reviews, December 2007, pages 271-288; InternationalJournal of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, January 2007, pages 44-84; and International Journal of Cosmetic Science, February 2005, pages 17-34.)
What are free radicals and why are they running amok? Molecules are made of atoms, and a single atom is made up of protons, neutrons, and electrons. Electrons need to be in pairs in order to function properly. However, when oxygen molecules are involved in a chemical reaction, they can lose one of their electrons. This oxygen molecule that now only has one electron is called a free radical. With only one electron the oxygen molecule must quickly find another electron, and it does this by taking the electron from another molecule. When that molecule in turn loses one of its electrons, it too must seek out another, in a continuing, spiraling reaction. Molecules attempting to repair themselves in this way trigger a cascading event called “free-radical damage.”
What causes a molecule to let go of one of its electrons, generating free-radical damage? The answer is any compound or element that contains or generates an unstable oxygen molecule, such as carbon monoxide, hydrogen peroxide, sunlight, smoking, and pollution.
Free-radical damage causes mutation and damage to the DNA in your cells, and damaged DNA means your skin, now unable to generate healthy or new collagen, creates malformed skin cells; it also greatly impedes skin’s ability to heal. Free-radical damage is not a pretty process for skin or any part of your body.
You may be asking: With all that free-radical damage taking place (and you can never stop it completely), and all this oxygen, car exhaust, sunlight, and city air around us, how is it that we don’t fall apart right now? The answer to that is antioxidents and the way they function.