What are free radicals and antioxidants?
“Antioxidant” is a general term for any compound that can counteract unstable molecules called free radicals that damage DNA, cell membranes, and other parts of cells. Because free radicals lack a full complement of electrons, they steal electrons from other molecules and damage those molecules in the process.
What are 4 sources of free radicals?
Free radicals and other ROS are derived either from normal essential metabolic processes in the human body or from external sources such as exposure to X-rays, ozone, cigarette smoking, air pollutants, and industrial chemicals.
What is antioxidant theory?
Antioxidant therapy The free radical theory of aging holds that a progressive accumulation of oxidative damage caused by ROS impacts physiological function, increases incidence of disease and results in a potentially reduced life span.
What are the types of free radicals?
Types of Free Radicals There are two kinds of radicals, neutral radicals and charged radicals as shown below. Moreover, there are two types of radicals the sigma radicals and the pi radicals.
Is EDTA an antioxidant?
EDTA is itself an antioxidant agent, provoking ROS reduction and the increase of total antioxidant capacity in the blood samples of Cellfood-treated ND patients [73].
What do you mean by free radical?
Listen to pronunciation. (free RA-dih-kul) A type of unstable molecule that is made during normal cell metabolism (chemical changes that take place in a cell). Free radicals can build up in cells and cause damage to other molecules, such as DNA, lipids, and proteins.
What are the characteristics of free radicals?
1 Answer
- Characteristics of Free Radicals.
- (i) Free radicals are generally electrically neutral.
- (ii) They carry on odd (unpaired) electron.
- (ii) They are highly unstable.
- (iii) They are short-lived.
- (iv) They are highly reactive species due to the presence of odd electrons.
What are two examples antioxidants?
Vitamins C and E, selenium, and carotenoids such as beta-carotene, lycopene, lutein, and zeaxanthin are examples of antioxidants.
What is free radical example?
A notable example of a free radical is the hydroxyl radical (HO•), a molecule that is one hydrogen atom short of a water molecule and thus has one bond “dangling” from the oxygen.