Is Oxidative Stress Causing You to Age Quicker?
What is Oxidative Stress?
While Oxidation is a normal and necessary process that takes place in your body, oxidative stress, on the other hand, occurs when there’s an imbalance between free radical activity and antioxidant activity.
Free radicals are oxygen-containing molecules with an uneven number of electrons. The uneven number allows them to easily react with other molecules. Free radicals can cause large chain chemical reactions in your body because they react so easily with other molecules. These reactions are called oxidation.
When functioning properly, free radicals can help fight off pathogens (aka infections).
When the production of free radicals (unstable atoms that are harmful to the body) becomes excessive, the antioxidant mechanisms of the cell becomes overwhelmed, leading to cellular structure and DNA damage.
What happens when oxidative stress occurs?
When there are more free radicals present than can be kept in balance by antioxidants, the free radicals can start doing damage to fatty tissue, DNA, and proteins in your body. Proteins, lipids, and DNA make up a large part of your body so that damage can lead to a vast number of diseases over time.
Some of these diseases include:
Diabetes
Atherosclerosis, or the hardening of the blood vessels
Inflammatory conditions
High blood pressure, also known as hypertension
Heart disease
Neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s
Cancer
And, as suggested by the title of this post, oxidative stress also causes premature aging.
What does premature aging look like?
The aging process looks different for everyone, but there are certain signs of aging that are considered “premature” if you notice them before you turn 35.
External signals of premature aging could be sun spots, gaunt hands, wrinkles and skin sagging, inflammation or hyperpigmentation, dry or itchy skin, or hair loss.
Internal signals include increased fatigue and loss of energy, loss of strength, poor digestion, stress, and poor sleep.
Have you ever met someone and later found out their real age was nowhere close to what you thought it was? Did they look older or younger to you?
Would you rather look (and feel) older or younger to other people?
What can I do about premature aging if I’m noticing these signs?
The first thing we need to do is determine what exactly is causing you to age quicker. Is it your habits, your genetics, your environment or could it be Oxidative stress?
Click here to take my free Oxidative Stress Quiz to see if oxidative stress is what's causing you to age quicker and then let’s figure out what you can do about it!
Or, if you're ready to tackle premature aging NOW (the earlier, the better) call the office to set up a personalized oxidative stress test.