Dear Subscribers,

There are many theories of aging as well as speculation on what would constitute a normal life span for homo sapiens. I have some thoughts of my own but would like to present one of the more persuasive propositions in today's world of medicine. This is the free radical theory of physiological damage and degeneration.

At this time, more than a hundred diseases have been attributed to free radicals. These include everything from wrinkles to cancer, heart attacks, and strokes as well as virtually all degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and multiple sclerosis.

A free radical is an atom or molecule that has an unpaired electron in the outermost orbit surrounding the nucleus. The radical is unstable because of this electron shortage so it seeks to stabilize itself by robbing an electron from some other source. The involuntary donors will themselves become free radicals and this sets off a chain reaction that will continue more or less unimpeded unless something steps in to arrest the pirating. All aerobic creatures have evolved some capacity to manage free radicals so the efficiency of the system depends on enzymes produced by the host, dietary intake and chemical reactions that occur during digestion, as well as what might be called random encounters with exogenous hazards such as environmental pollutants and radiation.

One of the chief sources of free radicals is oxygen, a substance we all need in order to survive. When a reaction occurs between oxygen and something else, it is oxidized. Going back eons in time, a lot of the oxygen that was first released into the atmosphere resulted from the splitting of the water molecule by cyanobacteria. These ancient organisms needed the hydrogen to produce greater density of structure so the oxygen was separated. Most of this oxygen created chemical reactions with metals that caused oxides to form. Except for the noble metals such as gold and platinum, most metals will corrode and here we have a clue as to what the problem is between stable and unstable elements or molecules.

What happens to metals can also happen to oils. When this occurs, rather than rust, we have rancidity. The chemical process is called lipid peroxidation, and it can happen to an oil before or after ingestion. In actuality, oxidation also affects to oils used in industry that are not intended for consumption.

Lipids are part of our protection. Well, they have lots of purposes, but the cell membrane is composed of lipids that make the surface slippery and less penetrable by infectious organisms. Lipids are also necessary for ease of movement since they buffer against friction, and they are used in the production of hormones. In short, they are critical to proper functioning of the body.

To give this a yet broader context, we can look at nitrogen and carbon. The oxides that form have profound value in the right situations but can also cause acid rain and carbon monoxide. Since the chemistry is obviously complicated, what we need to understand is that an antioxidant stabilizes what would otherwise be a toxin. In the mainstream world, vitamins A, C, and E are usually regarded as the main antioxidants but the reality is that eating the right food can supply most of the antioxidants required, but for those who want higher powered antioxidants, herbal antioxidants can be much more potent than food. They are, however, taken in much smaller amounts.

Radicals only live for seconds or fractions of seconds, but they can be very dangerous and leave havoc in their wake. In this brief existence, the radicals can penetrate cells, destroy them, and damage DNA. Now we can understand how something as simple and "normal" as whitening of the hair or drying of the skin can be regarded as medical conditions or at least precursors of complications that have the same underlying cause. Pigment is removed from hair by naturally occurring hydrogen peroxide. If you have sensitive ears like mine, you might be able to hear a kind of sizzle when hydrogen peroxide is active on the scalp.

Technically speaking, hydrogen peroxide is not a free radical but it is involved in the production of reactive oxygen species, ROS. It can form a hydroxyl free radical and cause significant cellular damage. To underscore the significance of something that is usually regarded as a normal part of the aging process, we can look at cases when someone's hair turned white overnight, usually as a result of a severe shock. I have seen this with people who lost a beloved person due to sudden death, people who were beaten or tortured, as well as people who were exposed to serious electrical or chemical poisoning. It would be fair to suggest that aging was caused in a precipitous manner by the adverse experiences.

When younger, I used to believe what I read in books, especially if they purported to be scientific. Now, this is rare for me, but one of the statements I often found is that these signs of aging or shock could never be reversed. My own observations suggest that they can definitely be reversed but to do so, something would first have to normalize, then stabilize, and then regenerate. The sequence here is quite important.

To some extent, this is what is meant in Ayurveda when a dosha is aggravated and then pacified. The Ayurvedic theory is that when we are young and growing, our bodies have more kapha. From roughly puberty to middle age, we are more pitta, and in old age age, we are more vata. All of the symptoms of free radical toxicity are similar to descriptions of vata derangements. It is worth pointing out that the three ages are reversed in Siddha Medicine but the explanations are also a bit different.

In any event, if we have what is known as an accumulation of vata energy, we may start exhibiting some of the symptoms associated with aging, not just loss of pigmentation of the hair but also loss of agility, memory, and strength. In other words, we shouldn't think of hair color as an aesthetic issue so much as a barometer of the condition of invisible forces at play in our bodies.

To make the information more useful, people ought to consider the sources of free radical damage. Obviously, we have only nominal control over certain sources of free radical toxicity: ionizing radiation, solar radiation, electromagnetic fields, acid rain and other pollution, but we can exercise more discretion where our consumption of food and herbs is concerned. One of the biggest improvements will come from using higher quality oils for cooking. The next biggest gain will come from replacing white foods with foods with more color, all the colors of the spectrum, especially the darker blues and purples that are found in berries, Forbidden Rice, purple potatoes and even purple carrots. Next, we can deliberately choose foods that have high antioxidant ratings. Most of these will be berries but there are also some greens that are valuable antioxidants, especially artichokes and kale, my favorites. Then, we have herbs, lots and lots of herbs that are antioxidants. This includes all the Ayurvedic rasayana herbs. These herbs are unique in that they are regenerative and rejuvenative in addition to being antioxidants.

During our recent label changes, I made the rasayana herbs easier to distinguish by giving them blue labels (except for Rasa itself which has a green and orange label).

http://www.ayurvedicbazaar.com/rasayanas.php

Two more rasayana herbs are being added more or less as we speak.

What is interesting about the rasayana herbs is that they not only function as antioxidants but they aid repair of tissue following exposure to damage. For instance, ashwagandha not only increases stamina and lessens the body's need to produce more cortisol to cope with stressors, but it protects from free radical damage, and helps to regenerate many tissues, most especially those of the male reproductive system and brain. Gotu Kola is less well known but it is a major tonic herb for the nervous system and brain. It is calming and aids sleep. This is important because regeneration occurs when we sleep. Guduchi is detoxifying, even to treacherous mycotoxins. It crosses the blood-brain barrier and is said to prolong life if taken consistently for three years. The language used in ancient Ayurveda texts was often lavish and more poetic than scientific, but it's important to consider that the texts have been used for more than two thousand years so that if clinical proof were lacking, the claims would have been refuted in more or less the way we dismiss old wives' tales. Each person then has to decide whether to put more faith in rat studies or tradition. I leave that up to you.

One of the challenges with which I have wrestled is how our world has gone from organic to its current level of pollution. In any organic world, we are chiefly afraid of microbes and mold. Today, we have superbugs and antibiotic resistant bacteria plus mold and chemicals. The level of free radical interference with our physiological functioning is immense. Quite some years ago, I realized that if we do not take the aging situation seriously, the quality of life as we live longer will be such that we cannot express our intelligence much less our spiritually in the defective vehicles we call bodies. Therefore, it we do live long enough to face creaky joints and memory loss, it behooves us to take protective measures to assure that the gray matter is in tact and memory functions reliability. Alas, for many today, this is not a guarantee which is why it is never too soon to begin sensible programs for maintaining health.

Many blessings,

Ingrid

Copyright by Ingrid Naiman 2013

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