The main benefit of consuming acai is its powerful antioxidant activity. To better understand how a powerful antioxidant can help preserve health and prevent disease, consider how much harm and suffering is caused by oxidation. In chemistry, free radicals are atoms that have unpaired electrons, which makes them highly reactive. In biological systems like the human body, this reactivity usually translates into damaging effects on the body's cellular structures (for example, cell membranes and DNA). This oxidative damage caused by free radicals in the body has been associated with a staggering number of diseases and disease-promoting processes, notably cancer, cardiovascular disease, autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, and cognitive disorders such as Alzheimer's disease.
Aging in mammals is the result of normal developmental and metabolic processes. Free-radical damage is also one of the major factors affecting how cells age, making it a major determining factor of how fast and how well (or how poorly) our bodies age. A significant amount of research data clearly demonstrates the causative role of free radicals in the aging process. Research also shows that specific antioxidants help the body resist spontaneous oxidation and combat oxidative damage to DNA, which in turn lengthens the life span of mammals. The incidence of age-related diseases and how long good health can be maintained is thus highly dependent on our total production and intake of antioxidants.
Centenarians typically represent the best example of successful aging. A 1998 study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society found that centenarians had lower blood levels of lipid peroxides (oxidation products) and higher blood levels of antioxidants than did people aged seventy to ninety-nine. Thus centenarians' lower degree of oxidative stress and higher antioxidant defense functioning were directly correlated to their longevity.
On the other hand, major causes of disability in elderly people- including atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), Alzheimer's disease, and rheumatoid arthritis-are caused or accelerated on some level by free radicals and oxidation. Several diseases commonly seen among the elderly are associated with oxidative damage:
Oxidation of LDL cholesterol is considered a primary disease-causing mechanism in the development of atherosclerosis.
Oxidative damage to cells can trigger mutations and malignant growth leading to cancer.
A considerable body of evidence suggests that oxidative stress causes inflammation and tissue damage, for example, in the respiratory system. The lung damage, and later immune damage, experienced by individuals with lowered cellular antioxidant capacity is thought to be a risk factor for asthma.
Free-radical damage to lens proteins damages the eyes and contributes to the development of cataracts. If cataract development in the general population were delayed by ten years through the use of antioxidants, it is estimated that the number of cataract surgeries in the United States would be reduced by half.
Increased lipid peroxidation (a marker of oxidative stress) has been found in the blood of rheumatoid arthritis patients.
Diabetes is known to involve oxidative stress in several different ways. Among patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus there is a significant inverse correlation between levels of glycated hemoglobin (a major risk factor for diabetes) and total free-radical scavenging activity; oxidative damage may also promote non-insulin-dependent diabetes. Oxidative damage is also known to contribute to several of the major complications of diabetes, such as retinopathy, nephropathy, and atherosclerosis.
Antioxidant levels are significantly depressed in fibromyalgia patients.
There is solid evidence that Alzheimer's dementia is associated with oxidative stress.
High levels of the byproducts of oxidation products have been found to be elevated in the blood and cerebrospinal fluid of people with multiple sclerosis.
Oxidative stress is a pivotal problem in chronic pancreatitis. Antioxidant therapy has been shown to be a safe and effective medical alternative to surgery for painful chronic pancreatitis.
Oxidative stress appears to play a role in the tissue damage of active ulcerative colitis, and it has been suggested that a defect in antioxidant defenses is a causative factor in the disease.
Abnormalities of antioxidant function and depletion of the body's antioxidant reserves have been shown to contribute to the development of Parkinson's disease.
Many drugs cause or accelerate the formation of toxic free radicals, which are thought to be responsible for a large number of adverse drug reactions, as well as adverse interactions between drugs.
Skin inflammations, including atopic dermatitis, eczema, psoriasis, and sunburn, are all associated with antioxidant depletion in the skin. Supplementation with antioxidants has improved all of these conditions.
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