You may have heard people talk about free radicals before, but do you have any idea what they are? I didn’t, but I did some research on free radicals to try to give you a “For Dummies” perspective on the topic of free radicals. Free radicals do not really affect weight loss, but they do harm your overall health. If you’re not healthy, then weight loss is kind of a moot point.

In general, a free radical is any molecule that has a single unpaired electron in its outer shell. To understand why that matters, you need to go back to Chemistry 101.

The atoms in your body contain protons and electrons, and these atoms make up molecules that are the building blocks of your living cells. On the outside of the atom are those little electrons floating around, looking to reach maximum stability of the atom by filling out their outer shell with its required number of electrons. Atoms with full outer shells will tend to not enter into chemical reactions. The laws of chemistry state that atoms will always try to reach maximum stability.

If the outermost shell of electrons is not full, the atom will try to fill the void, or empty out its electrons in that shell. It can fill the void by sharing electrons with another cell. The unstable atoms “steal” electrons from stable molecules, causing the molecule itself to become a free radical, leading to a chain reaction that can disrupt the life of a living cell.

Why do free radicals happen?

When the body metabolizes food, cells break down. Usually the breakdown results in stable atoms, but it’s not always the case. Sometimes the body’s immune system will create free radicals to neutralize viruses and bacteria. But this is natural and this level of free radical activity can be handled by our bodies.
(more…)