1073

submitted 4 months ago by fossilesque@mander.xyz to c/science_memes@mander.xyz

106 comments fedilink hide all child comments

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[-] the_post_of_tom_joad@sh.itjust.works 11 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

I read some interesting comment before (so take it with a grain of salt) where someone who knew a bit of chemistry said, 'in a way we actually are damaged by the oxygen we breathe'. Details foggy but they mentioned that's kinda what free radicals are about, that we are burning up on a cellular level, albiet over the course of our lifetimes

[-] ThatWeirdGuy1001@lemmy.world 10 points 4 months ago

Yeah it's why we have antioxidants. The idea is oxygen is constantly stealing electrons from nearby molecules and antioxidants help replace those electrons.

Life is just a constant form of slow death. Up until your body simply can't replace the old cells fast enough anymore.

[-] the_post_of_tom_joad@sh.itjust.works 3 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Oh good i remembered it roughly right. you happen to have a good layman-friendly source just laying around? id love a refresher. I don't usually outsource my searches but i mustve used the wrong terms earlier, cuz i keep getting bunk ass health scam sites

[-] threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.works 4 points 4 months ago

This website I found has a decent summary: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxidative_stress

[-] the_post_of_tom_joad@sh.itjust.works 2 points 4 months ago

Hey, tyvm :)

[-] nilclass@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

This may be a good source for it: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25663961-how-not-to-die

The book is about food, but mostly it talks about oxidation of the body and how various foods affect that, because that seems to be the main factor for aging and other degradation of the body. (TL;dr: eat a lot of broccoli)

I'm not an expert though, so cannot judge how accurately the science is presented