Reducing Oxidative Stress and Free-
Radical Activity
Mitochondria combust oxygen to produce
energy. But like that old car of
yours that burned oil and released clouds
of black smoke from the exhaust,
when metabolism isn’t efficient—when it
doesn’t burn clean—it produces
hazardous free radicals. And mitochondria
are easily damaged by free
radicals. Damaged mitochondria produce
more free radicals. And the free
radicals damage fats, proteins, and even
the DNA in our cell nuclei.
Environmental toxins worsen the situation.
Most dangerous are pesticides,
which work by destroying the
mitochondria of invasive pests and are
designed to stick to the plants and not
wash off easily in the rain, or when you
rinse your vegetables at home. And
residual pesticides have the same deadly
effect on your mitochondria as they do on
pests.
The more oxidative stress on your body,
the more antioxidants you will
need. You can get antioxidants from foods
like berries, but you would need to
eat close to 40 pounds of blueberries a day
to neutralize the billions of free
radicals circulating through your body.
Fortunately, the body can produce
natural antioxidants like glutathione and
SOD. Unfortunately, these
endogenous antioxidants stop being
produced around the age of 35, and their
levels drop down to zero by the time you
are 40 years old.
An amazing discovery of the shamans
were the medicinal plants that could
switch back on the dormant antioxidant
systems. Nrf2 activators like
transresveratrol
curcumin and pterostilbene restore the
free-radical scavengers to
the levels you enjoyed in your 20s. And
we will learn how you can do this in
as little as seven days.
Inflammation
Localized inflammation is a natural and
healthy immune response. When
you fall and hurt your knee, white blood
cells rush to the area to trap foreign
matter like bacteria so they can be
neutralized. But chronic inflammation
disturbs the body’s equilibrium, and the
immune system will begin to attack
healthy cells and tissues, mistaking them
for foreign invaders. The death
clock speeds up when inflammation goes
unchecked, and you develop heart
disease and autoimmune disorders like
rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, and
multiple sclerosis.
Chronic inflammation can damage brain
structures, including the
hippocampus, and can lead to conditions
like Parkinson’s disease and
Alzheimer’s. Fortunately, the Nrf2
activators at the core of the Grow a New
Body program have extraordinary anti-
inflammatory properties. Researchers
have discovered that even common anti-
inflammatory medications like
aspirin and ibuprofen will lower
Alzheimer’s risk by as much as 60
percent5
and reduce the risk of Parkinson’s disease
by a staggering 45 percent!6