The Anti-Aging Antioxidant!

- Some say, "You are as young as you feel". The truth is you are only as young as your connective tissue.

To a large extent, youthfulness is determined by the suppleness of the body's connective tissue, the meshwork holding the body together. Some people appear prematurely old, while others appear youthful. Think of the cowboy in the desert, with his sun worn, wrinkled face as hard as leather. Then recall the soft supple skin of a newborn baby or a beautiful young model. The difference is due to the amount of oxidation, or free radical damage, which has occurred to the connective tissue.

The theory of free radicals and aging was first put forth by Johaan Bjorksten in 1941. Working for a branch of Eastman Kodak, Bjorksten noticed the similarity between the aging of film and the human body. When exposed to oxygen, film filaments became cross-linked, hardened and brittle. Bjorksten theorized that the aging of living organisms is likewise due to cross-linking of cellular proteins as well as strands of DNA and RNA which control the rate of aging. This cross-linking occurs as a result of free radical activity.

Bjorksten's theory has been confirmed as one of the major causes of aging. Free radicals are unstable forms of oxygen that occur within the body from normal metabolism, from the digestion of dietary fat, and from exposure to certain chemicals, environmental pollutants, sunlight, radiation, burns, cigarette smoke, drugs alcohol, viruses, bacteria and parasites. This free radical oxidation occurs throughout the body, destroying cell membranes and cellular components as well as collagen and elastin.

Collagen, the most abundant protein in the body together with elastin, forms what is known as the connective tissue. Connective tissue forms the structural framework of the entire body and holds everything together. It is often called the mortar of the cells. The skin, blood vessels, joints and every membrane within the body are laced together with connective tissue.

During infancy the connective tissue is extremely soft and pliable. Overt time, free radicals cause the collagen and elastin fibers to gradually become cross-linked, or rigidly bound together at the middle. As this happens, unless you increase your supplemental intake of nutritional free radical deactivators, your connective tissue becomes tougher and firmer, your skin becomes leathery and wrinkled, your joints and cartilage stiffen, your vision becomes clouded by cataracts, your spine becomes stiff and bent, even your brain becomes impaired. In short every part of your body gradually deteriorates.

The good news is you can fortify your resistance, push back the clock, and even reverse the effects of aging on your body. Scientists have recently discovered that certain elements, known as antioxidants, have the effect of neutralizing free radicals. The best known antioxidants are Vitamin E, Vitamin C, and Beta-Carotene.