What is a virus and how can antioxidants help?
What is a virus?
A virus is an infectious agent that can multiply only in the living cells of animals, plants or bacteria.
Unlike bacteria, parasites or fungi, a virus is not technically alive. It lacks cell structure, and cannot reproduce or undertake basic metabolic processes.
A virus is made up of nucleic acid – genetic material that is either DNA or RNA – and protein that can replicate. It is therefore not something that is free living, or strictly speaking, an organism.
Viruses behave like parasites. Not only do they depend on their host for most of their functions, but they also use the energy and other metabolic functions of their host cell.
Viruses thus require a host. Hosts in animals may differ from protozoans (single-celled animal organisms) to humans.
How a virus behaves depends on how destructive it is towards its host cell and environmental conditions. Many viruses can lie dormant with our causing much, if any, harm until provoked, usually by environmental factors.
Interestingly, most viruses don't cause disease and can even help relay information that enables the host to better adapt to hostile environments.
The human body's innate immune system best weapon against cells infected with a virus is Natural Killer Cells. Once they identify a cell as having unusual carbohydrates or proteins on its surface, or that it's stressed, they will send a kill signal. This forces the cell to either kill itself or deliver destructive enzymes that destroy it.
Ensuring good general health is one of our body's best defences against harmful viruses. This includes eating whole foods, hydrating well, avoiding stress, and reducing exposure to pollutants like chemicals and pesticides. Research on the harmful effects of electromagnetic radiation on human health is also growing.
Antioxidants and viruses
Increasing the amount of antioxidants you eat can also help suppress and fight viruses along with inflammation and bacteria.
Antioxidants are chemical compounds that retard oxidation. Oxidation is a chemical reaction that can produce harmful free radicals. Free radicals are are unstable atoms that can damage cells, causing accelerated ageing, cell damage or mutations, tissue damage (to our blood, bones, skin and organs), the activation of harmful genes and an overloaded immune system.
In the human body, when particular kinds of oxygen molecules are able to travel freely, they can cause such oxidative damage resulting in the formation of these free radicals. This occurs when our antioxidant levels are lower than our free radical levels. This can be due to poor nutrition i.e. diets high in carbs and processed foods, and exposure to toxins along with stress.
Antioxidants are generally powerful. They turn on genes, which activates cells needed to solve the problem. In terms of viruses, they direct your genes to alert your immune system that they're present. The immune system then creates more white blood cells to kill the viruses.
Antioxidants are abundant in some foods. They include things you may have heard of before like vitamins C, A and E, beta-carotene, flavonoids and lycopene. These are best when they come from chemical-free sources.
Here are some foods high in anti-oxidants on the ORAC scale (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity). Eat at least 3 servings of these fruit and vegetables, adding some of these tasty herbs and spices:
Herbs and Spices – cloves, oregano, rosemary, peppermint, thyme, cinnamon, turmeric, vanilla, sage, allspice, rosehips, marjoram, parsley, coriander
Goji berries
Wild blueberries
Dark chocolate
Pecans
Artichokes
Elderberry
Kidney beans
Cranberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries
Green and black tea
Colourful vegetables and fruit