Oxidative Stress Symptoms: Can They Be Reduced or Reversed?

Oxidative stress happens when there is an imbalance of certain molecules in the body. If you see a dermatologist or aesthetician, you are probably familiar with oxidative stress, because it plays a role in how our skin ages. Sun exposure can cause oxidative stress in the form of fine lines, wrinkles, and sun spots.

The skin isn’t the only organ that can suffer from oxidative stress. Our entire bodies are susceptible to the effects of oxidative stress because it is a cellular event. 

That means oxidative stress happens at a cellular level and can affect every tissue and organ in our bodies. That may sound like bad news, but the good news is we can protect against high levels of oxidative stress and even reverse some of the damaging effects of oxidative stress in the body. 

We’ll talk about the symptoms of oxidative stress, what you can do to reduce and reverse it, and how a simple fatty acid is one of the most powerful tools in your arsenal.

What Is Oxidative Stress?

Oxidative stress refers to a state of imbalance between two types of molecules in the body, free radicals and antioxidants. Both molecules are naturally produced by the body, and the body needs both to function properly. 

However, when the balance tips in favor of free radicals, oxidative stress occurs, and the body experiences negative impacts within its cells. This can lead to bigger problems, like illness, disease, and accelerated aging.

What Are Free Radicals?

Free radicals are unbalanced oxygen molecules that are created when an atom gains or loses an electron. These molecules then search for an additional electron so they can once again be balanced. 

Free radicals will “steal” electrons from healthy molecules, damaging them and making them unstable. This damage results in a trickle-up effect that damages cells, tissues, organs, and entire bodily systems. Over time, the damage is cumulative. 

What Are Antioxidants?

Antioxidants are molecules that neutralize free radicals. Like molecular superheroes, they volunteer one of their electrons to free radicals, protecting the healthy molecules in the body from becoming free radical victims. Ideally, we need more antioxidants in our bodies than we have free radicals to avoid oxidative stress. 

Where Do Free Radicals Come From?

Free radicals are produced naturally in the body as a byproduct of cellular energy production. Inside our cells, tiny organelles called mitochondria use oxygen to create adenosine triphosphate, or ATP. 

ATP is cellular energy, which is carried to other organelles within the cell to keep it functioning. When ATP is produced, free radicals are a byproduct. This type of free radical is referred to as reactive oxygen species, or ROS. 

Free radicals are also produced when our bodies are exposed to certain environmental elements, like the sun, cigarette smoke, pollution, or alcohol use. Stress is also a factor that causes our bodies to produce more free radicals. 

Too many free radicals and not enough antioxidants lead to oxidative stress. You may not notice you have symptoms of oxidative stress until some damage has already been done.

Symptoms of Oxidative Stress

Oxidative stress is cumulative. Consider sun damage. You probably got a few sunburns in your youth. At the time, your body was producing free radicals, and some of your skin cells became damaged. However, that damage wasn’t visible until much later in life, when more oxidative stress was present. 

Symptoms of oxidative stress show up differently in everyone, but some of the most prominent age-related conditions and illnesses have oxidative stress as a known cause or association. 

1. Fine Lines and Wrinkles 

The skin is one area where the symptoms of oxidative stress are most noticeable. Fine lines, wrinkles, and sunspots are all the effects of years of oxidative stress due to sun exposure, and in some cases, pollution and other toxins. The best way to prevent oxidative stress on the skin is by wearing sunblock, avoiding smoking, and limiting alcohol. 

2. Buildup of Plaque in the Arteries

Atherosclerosis, or the buildup of plaque in the arteries, is a condition that underlies heart disease and can lead to stroke, hypertension, and congestive heart failure. You won’t know you are experiencing a buildup of plaque in your arteries until a blood test shows that your cholesterol levels are too high. Then, your doctor may order a test to determine if you have atherosclerosis. 

Oxidative stress plays a role in atherosclerosis because the LDL molecules circulating in your bloodstream are oxidized by ROS, which causes them to harden and build plaque. 

3. Premature Aging

Oxidative stress accelerates the aging process. Aging happens at a cellular level through processes that longevity experts refer to as the 12 Hallmarks of Aging. 

Higher levels of ROS in the body are directly associated with chronic inflammation, DNA damage, and a faster race to the proverbial finish line. This is why many researchers are focusing their efforts on how to address these hallmarks of aging and slow them down. 

4. Neurological Dysfunction

Oxidative stress has been linked to the occurrence of Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, and other neurological disorders. 

Toxic peptides, which are produced through free radical action, have been found in the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s disease, leading researchers to believe that a reduction in free radical activity could slow the progression of the disease or even reduce the risk that a person may develop it. 

5. Type 2 Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes affects the way the body handles glucose. A type 2 diabetic does not produce enough insulin to remove glucose from their bloodstream, and has cells that have become resistant to taking up the glucose needed to support cell function. 

Oxidative stress plays a role in reducing the cells’ nutrient-sensing abilities, which could cause them to become insulin resistant faster. It might seem like the cocktail of “symptoms” is unavoidable. 

How many older folks do you know who don’t have type 2 diabetes or high cholesterol? The good news is that we can change how oxidative stress affects our bodies and support healthy aging that doesn’t involve commonly accepted age-related illnesses.

Reducing and Reversing Oxidative Stress

Reducing your levels of oxidative stress is a combination of taking in more antioxidants and being more proactive about lifestyle changes that could trigger the production of more free radicals. 

Load Up on Antioxidants

Antioxidants are found in foods that contain essential vitamins. Vitamins E and C are two powerful antioxidants, as are beta-carotene, lycopene, resveratrol, and flavonoids. You can load up on these antioxidants by eating whole fruits, vegetables, seeds, and nuts. 

Exercise

Exercise has many benefits for your body and brain, including the prevention of oxidative stress. In particular, moderate exercise is useful in reducing oxidative stress and offering additional protection against cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and neurodegenerative diseases. 

Pentadecanoic Acid

Pentadecanoic acid is a sturdy fatty acid that strengthens cell membranes against lipid peroxidation and oxidative stress. Studies have shown that pentadecanoic acid has the ability to reverse aging at the cellular level and support our long-term metabolic, red blood cell, liver, and cognitive health.

Pentadecanoic acid, or C15:0 for short, was discovered by a team of veterinary epidemiologists studying longevity in dolphins. Populations of dolphins with higher levels of C15:0 had fewer occurrences of age-related illness compared with populations with lower levels. 

Since their discovery, which was published in Nature’s Scientific Reports in 2020, there are now over 100 peer-reviewed studies supporting the benefits of C15:0 to human health. 

Understanding C15:0

C15:0 is an essential, odd-chain, saturated fatty acid that repairs cells and reverses cellular aging by restoring cellular strength and revitalizing cellular energy.

C15:0 reverses cellular aging by:

• Strengthening cell membranes by up to 80%.
  
  
• Protecting against ROS. C15:0 repairs mitochondrial function, increasing our cells’ energy output and decreasing damaging reactive oxygen species by 45%. C15:0 also increases cellular energy (ATP) by up to 350%.
  
  
• Clearing damaged cells. When cells become damaged, they need to be removed from the body so that they do not cause an inflammatory environment. Sometimes, cells lose their function but don’t die. C15:0 activates AMPK, a clean-up molecule that rids the body of these “zombie” cells.
  
  
• Calming and lowering proinflammatory cytokines (key drivers in the aging process).
  
  
• Activating PPARɑ and PPARẟ receptors. By activating these receptors, C15:0 has been shown in peer-reviewed studies to support metabolic, immune, heart, and liver health in relevant models. These receptors also help to improve mood and deepen sleep.

These cellular mechanisms explain why C15: has also been shown to:

• Lower LDL cholesterol
• Improve liver enzymes
• Improve the gut microbiome
• Target 6 out of the 12 cellular hallmarks of aging. 

C15:0 is so effective that researchers behind its discovery studied whether or not we could develop a deficiency if our levels were too low. Turns out, we can indeed be deficient in C15:0.

Science Says You Can Be Deficient

C15:0 is so important for our long-term health that without enough of it, our cells break down, leading to an increased risk of developing chronic metabolic, heart, and liver conditions. 

This nutritional deficiency is known as Cellular Fragility Syndrome and is characterized by fragile cells that break down prematurely and accelerate cellular aging. The deficiency syndrome is the first to be discovered in over 75 years (think vitamin C and scurvy or Vitamin D and rickets)

Cellular Fragility Syndrome may currently be impacting as many as 1 in 3 people worldwide, as we have removed this essential nutrient from our diet.

How Much C15:0 Do We Need?

Most people today have C15:0 levels around 0.2% of total fatty acids. Normal C15:0 levels should be between 0.2% and 0.4% of a person’s total fatty acid count to protect against Cellular Fragility Syndrome. Additionally, there is evidence to support that higher C15:0 levels (0.4% - 0.6%) can further support longevity and long-term heart health. 

Fixing Cellular Fragility Syndrome

The best way to know your C15:0 levels is to get tested, either by asking your doctor to order a test or by getting an at-home test like this one. Once you know your levels, you can make sure you are preventing Cellular Fragility Syndrome and optimizing your levels to protect your body against free radicals and oxidative stress. 

The ideal way to prevent nutritional deficiencies like Cellular Fragility Syndrome is usually by eating foods high in that nutrient. However, combating C15:0 nutritional deficiencies may require supplementing the diet because C15:0 is only found in trace amounts in full-fat dairy products like whole milk and butter. 

Eating a large amount of these foods could become problematic, due to excessive calorie intake and the consumption of other pro-inflammatory fats that aren’t good for our long-term health. There is an easier way to increase C15:0 levels. 

Fatty15 is the first and only supplement that contains the pure, sustainable, patented, and award-winning version of C15:0 known as FA15™. Each fatty15 capsule has one calorie per dose, is vegan-friendly, and gives you only the essential fatty acid you need, nothing else.

Stress Free

Safeguarding your body against oxidative stress is important for improving your long-term health and wellness. Adding fatty15 to your routine with a healthy diet and exercise is one of the smartest decisions you can make to improve your metabolic, liver, red blood cell, and cognitive health. 

Understanding how oxidative stress affects the body and how reversing it might just save you from experiencing detrimental health effects is good motivation to get started today.

Sources:

What are free radicals? A dietitian explains | MD Anderson Cancer Center

Add antioxidants to your diet | Mayo Clinic

Free Radicals, Antioxidants in Disease and Health | PMC

Oxidative Stress: Causes, Symptoms & Treatment | Cleveland Clinic 

Oxidative Stress: Harms and Benefits for Human Health | PMC

Oxidative stress: role of physical exercise and antioxidant nutraceuticals in adulthood and aging | PMC

Efficacy of dietary odd-chain saturated fatty acid pentadecanoic acid parallels broad associated health benefits in humans: could it be essential? | Scientific Reports

A review of odd-chain fatty acid metabolism and the role of pentadecanoic Acid (c15:0) and heptadecanoic Acid (c17:0) in health and disease

Effect of an Asian-adapted Mediterranean diet and pentadecanoic acid on fatty liver disease: the TANGO randomized controlled trial | ScienceDirect

Pentadecanoic Acid (C15:0), an Essential Fatty Acid, Shares Clinically Relevant Cell-Based Activities with Leading Longevity-Enhancing Compounds

The Cellular Stability Hypothesis: Evidence of Ferroptosis and Accelerated Aging-Associated Diseases as Newly Identified Nutritional Pentadecanoic Acid (C15:0) Deficiency Syndrome

Hallmarks of aging: An expanding universe | PubMed

Oxidative Stress in Type 2 Diabetes: Impacts from Pathogenesis to Lifestyle Modifications | PMC