To Live you must Die

Well, reading always opens new doors that lead us to a completely unexplored world of knowledge. Those who have a penchant for reading do know that how addictive it becomes once you inculcate this habit in your life. I too seem to have fallen victim to this habit and with every page I read I explore a completely new concept.

This time I was taken aback by a concept that indirectly meant- ‘To live you must die’. Did it sound a bit weird to you too? Then you just take few more minutes to understand what this really implies!

Most of the essential elements needed to sustain life are simply taken as a boon and one hardly ponders over the ill effects that it might have on human body in due course of time. Most of you would agree to this after having experienced similar situations in life. But what if I tell you that the very oxygen that we breathe since our entrance into this fascinating world, is itself the cause behind our ageing process and finally, death! Did it take you by surprise too?

What actually happens is that the oxygen that we breathe enters our lungs from where it gets diffused into our blood and gets transported to millions of cells in our body. This oxygen is then metabolized by the individual cells to oxidize the glucose (food that we eat) and release energy. However, simultaneously this oxidation process releases certain free radicals. (For all the readers with some scientific insight, free radicals are atoms or molecules having single unpaired electron in their outermost shell). These free radicals in order to stabilize, steal electrons from other molecules of the cell. As a result, in the big picture, cell organelles get damaged that in turn result in damage of human body, which we refer to as ‘ageing’. There is a complete theory on this referred to as the ‘Free radical theory of Ageing’ that is still being researched upon.

Now, do you get my idea of the concept, ‘to live you must die’? You are ageing with every breath you take and heading towards your death. But don’t you dare stress or worry after reading this, because factors like stress, smoking, alcohol and pollution accelerate the oxidation process and hence accelerate ageing! What you can do instead is, start consuming food rich in anti-oxidants. Well, anti-oxidants are meant to neutralize the free radicals generated after oxidation n body. There are many food items rich in anti-oxidants that can be looked for over the Internet. You cannot stop ageing but you can definitely try slowing it down!

That is what I learnt in my latest reading spree. Will come up with more interesting concepts as I read. If you happen to come across something new, do share!