How to Live 100 Years and Do it in Perfect Health

Ever wonder what the average life span ought to be in humans? My dad who was a seriously injured war vet, passed away at 87 and in perfect mental and physical health, and he kept telling me he felt he could live for ever. I have seen studies which have extrapolated results that show humans can live happy and productive lives until at least 125. The latter qualification, i.e., "happy and productive" is very important, because living a long time in misery is not what we should be aiming for. But first, what is the cause of human aging and premature death?

It used to be the case, a couple of decades ago, that if you tried to answer the above question by trying to explain the "free radical" contribution to premature aging, and hence death, you'd get a look of suspicion and a remark about your hypothesis being too theoretical and hence of little value.

However, the last few years, many studies have shown that molecules foreign to our body known as free radicals, are the main culprits that reduce human life expectancy. Free radicals are environmental pollutants, such as automobile exhaust, second hand cigarette smoke, pesticides, herbicides, industrial chemicals, inputs to our foods, household cleaners, paint, microwaves from cell phone transmissions, ultra-violet light from the sun--the list is endless. Chemically speaking, free radicals are molecules that lack one or more paired electrons which make them highly unstable and reactive. To satisfy their electrical imbalance they steal electrons from healthy molecules that make up the structure of cells, causing what is known as oxidation. With their structure now out of balance, these cells fail to function correctly, changing their capacity to carry out the normal biochemical cell processes. Out of balance, this system malfunctions, ultimately affecting the immune system causing diseases, such as various forms of cancer, premature aging and ultimately death.

Evidence shows that our bodies are attacked by free radicals about 100,000 times every day. If the attack is on neurons it may be Multiple Sclerosis. If it happens in the joints it might be arthritis; in the capillaries, they may begin to leak-causing easy bruising and loss of blood internally. If it happens in the pancreas we have diabetes, and so on.

The last several decades have contributed to the suppression of the body's natural ability to fight free radicals; for one thing, our foods are exposed to chemicals and our environment to more and more pollutants. Therefore, one of the defense mechanisms should be our effort to consume environmentally safe food, water and air. In addition, the human body can use some antioxidant supplementation; hence the natural question is: of all the zillions of antioxidant supplements out there, which ones are the best to use? In the next blog, I will attempt to present an evidence-based, non-biased opinion regarding antioxidants, and do it by focusing into specific therapeutic areas for specific disease prevention.

Did you find this article informative, thought provoking or interesting? If so, you may also enjoy visiting my blog: http://www.askDrNick-anything.blogspot.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nick_Poulios