Glutathion Synergie - A Powerful Antioxidant Combination

To find out more - Free radicals, oxidative stress, and antioxidants, what is it exactly?

Our cells are true little energy power plants. Cellular metabolism, through the mechanism of oxidation-reduction, involves the transfer of electrons between the oxygen molecules we breathe and the molecules of glucose or certain fatty acids from our diet (respectively carbohydrates and lipids). By capturing pairs of electrons from them, oxygen allows the transformation of these nutrients into ATP (adenosine triphosphate), cellular fuel, in other words, the energy necessary for the normal functioning of our body.

No energy production can be 100% optimal and inevitably produces waste. Indeed, during cellular oxidation-reduction processes, a percentage of these exchanges does not happen as it should, and a certain number of oxygen molecules end up with an odd number of electrons. These reactive and unstable oxygen derivatives are called free radicals. Thus, the oxygen necessary for our body's life can also become its enemy and accelerate its wear and tear.

As any unstable element seeks to balance itself, free radicals draw the missing electron from their environment. They then destabilize the cells, blood cells, proteins, or microbes they encounter. Admittedly, this natural process is advantageous for our immune defenses, but an excess of free radicals causes chain disruptions that directly affect our health.

Produced in small quantities, free radicals are well managed by our body thanks to the production of antioxidants. The antioxidants present in our body, mostly coming from an appropriate diet rich in fruits and vegetables, are molecules that neutralize free radicals and allow a balance between the two. In this case, they are beneficial for our health: they ensure the cleansing of our body by eliminating old or defective cells. They also intervene in the antibacterial, microbial, and viral fight and participate in proper immune functioning.

However, our modern lifestyles are the source of an excess production of free radicals, under the effect of numerous factors:

• external: water and air pollution, tobacco smoke, UV rays from the sun, radiation, etc.;
• internal: medications, alcohol, tobacco, industrial food;
• lifestyle: sleep deficit, excess or lack of physical exercise, overwork, etc.;
• stressful environment: overwork, stress, anxiety, negative emotional states.

Produced in too large a quantity, free radicals cause what is called oxidative stress or oxidative damage. Our cells (including the DNA present within them) oxidize, deteriorate, and die. If our body does not have enough antioxidants acting as shields against free radicals, oxidative stress leads to the premature aging of our cells and increases the risk of developing certain degenerative diseases (such as cancers, etc.), neurodegenerative, inflammatory, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, etc.

Antioxidants, capable of reducing or even preventing the oxidation process of our cells by free radicals, are essential to protect us from oxidative stress and its devastating effects on the health of our cells, organs, and skin.