Free radicals

When a cosmetics advertisement mentions free radicals, it is obviously not a reference to some revolutionary political organization, but rather a type of chemical compound that is highly reactive. These compounds are characterized by the fact that they feature a free electron (i.e. a radical) and therefore have a very high tendency to pair with other chemical compounds. If one were to use an analogy from everyday life, one might compare a free radical with a person who has lost their partner and is therefore frantically seeking a replacement. Radicals are destructive. The cause the breakdown of established systems and create chaos.

However, one cannot consider the formation of free radicals as being abnormal: The formation of radicals in biological systems is a more or less inevitable consequence of normal metabolic reactions, and cannot be avoided. Aging processes are an inevitable consequence of living in a oxygen-filled atmosphere.


On the other hand, since radicals are in fact dangerous, defense systems have naturally developed to combat them. These defense systems consist of various types of antioxidants, and antioxidants can be compared with your local “peacekeepers”.










UV-rays hit the cell membrane and cause chaos