How to help your body fight free radicals

Zinc is a mineral that you get by eating a balanced diet. It helps protect the cells in your body against oxidative stress, which is a biological imbalance in which the body’s natural production of free radicals is accelerated, causing biological stress and stepping up the risk of cellular damage.

Everyone knows what stress is. But have you ever heard of oxidative stress? It is a condition where the protective antioxidants in your body are no longer able to deliver the full package of protection because of a surge in free radicals.

It has been shown that things like smoking, too much alcohol, air pollution, radiation, and multiple other lifestyle factors can increase the free radical burden.

Eat a balanced diet and take supplements if needed

Zinc is one of the things that can protect your cells against oxidative stress. You get zinc from eating foods such as meat, shellfish, legumes, nuts, and whole grain, which is why it is so important to eat a balanced diet.

If you are worried that you are not getting enough zinc you can include a supplement like Bio-Zinc, where each tablet gives you 15 mg of highly bioavailable zinc gluconate. A zinc supplement may not be such a bad idea.

Fewer signs of free radical damage

So anyway, let us look closer at the problem with oxidative stress. A group of scientists from Tehran University of Medical Sciences in Iran carefully analyzed 10 studies of zinc and the mineral’s effect on the body.

Some of these studies looked at zinc’s influence on blood levels of a compound called malondialdehyde (MDA), which is a kind of “cellular exhaust” that follows in the wake of free radical damage. The higher the MDA levels, the more oxidative stress.

What the researchers could clearly see was that people who took zinc supplements had significantly lower MDA levels than people who took dummy pills (placebo).

Stronger immune defense

Other studies look at something called total antioxidant capacity (TAC), which is a way of measuring the body’s ability to protect itself against free radicals and oxidative stress.

The studies showed that people taking zinc fared substantially better than non-supplementers. Zink supports various antioxidant systems in the body such as glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) that are known to offer protection against oxidative stress.

Free radicals are a natural part of the body’s energy metabolism. What is important, however, is that the free radicals should never outnumber or outcompete the protective antioxidants, as this sets the stage for oxidative stress and cell destruction.

As long as we have enough antioxidants like zinc to fight free radicals, we are able to keep them under control.