By Nicholas Regush

You may think of yourself as a peaceful sort, but I'm sorry to report that there's an all-out, endless war going on in your body.

Still, vulnerable as we are to the carnage, there's reason for hope. Cutting-edge science reveals that the inevitable defeat of the body can perhaps be delayed.

First, a short course on oxygen as a major player on this battlefield. The oxygen we breath is life-giving, but it's also toxic; it sets off a process that unleashes a big-time enemy, known as a "free radical." This is a molecule lacking an electron on its outer orbit, making it extremely unstable. In a desperate attempt to reclaim their electrons, free radicals attack our cells to free up electrons, damaging the cells and boosting the probability of disease.

Bombs Away

Think of the entire body, including your DNA, undergoing this endless assault. Think of your cells, including brain cells, each getting thousands of free-radical hits every day. This violent process is called "oxidation."

But wait! Here come the reinforcements, our saviors: the antioxidants. They include vitamins and other nutrients that target free radicals. Our food, particularly fruits and vegetables, is a powerful source of these valiant protectors, and the body produces some itself. Without antioxidants, there wouldn't be much of a fight. Their role is to limit the damage, maybe slow down disease and keep us living longer. They do this by giving up their very own electrons to those desperate free radicals and saving the cell from attack.

Mapping the Battlefield

Lester Packer, who heads a molecular and cell biology laboratory at the University of California at Berkeley, probably more than anyone else has gathered clues that help us make sense of the free radical battlefield, explaining how antioxidants work and how we might help them win more battles.

In scores of studies and books, Packer has meticulously documented how antioxidants protect us and how some of them appear to work together as a complex network.

He's at the forefront of research on the importance of vitamins C and E in protecting cells against free radical attack. He has also shown that when vitamin E gives up an electron to that nasty free radical, it then becomes a free radical itself. But then vitamin C comes in to save the day, giving up one of its own electrons and thereby recycling the warrior power of E.

United We Stand

Packer has found that this is only a small part of the magnificent fighting network of antioxidants, once thought to be capable only of working alone. For example, he has demonstrated that C (and vitamin E) gets regenerated by alpha lipoic acid, a powerful antioxidant that the body produces in minute quantities.

In fact, Packer believes lipoic acid is the most potent antioxidant of all; it's the only one known to easily get into the brain. Not only does it boost E and C, but animal studies have shown that it's highly effective in helping the body recover after stroke.

Packer is also focusing on the protective properties of antioxidants found in plants. An extract of gingko biloba leaves named EGB 761, for example, appears to have a beneficial effect in animals with cerebral and circulatory disorders. It also targets the oxidation of LDL cholesterol, believed to be a major culprit in clogged arteries.

And, Packer has shown, gingko extract plays a networking role by extending vitamin C activity.

Bark With Bite

These days, the Packer lab is unveiling another hot antioxidant: pycnogenol, an extract from French maritime pine bark. Research shows that the extract protects blood vessels from free radical attack and may increase blood flow from tiny vessels to tissues.

Pycnogenol also appears to have microbial-fighting properties. It does this by acting on a molecule called nitric oxide. And the extract's networking role includes helping out vitamins C and E.

Should we be encouraged by all this? Even though free radicals are gradually wearing us down? I guess that depends on your outlook.

What it means to me is that I should try to eat fruits and vegetables regularly to get those fighting antioxidants screaming bloody murder on the battlefield. It also means popping some vitamin E and C and perhaps a few other supplements that may give my body a fighting chance. But until I know more, moderation is the key.

A word of caution: While Packer and his colleagues are finding substances that may make a difference in the war, much of the data is based on animal science. Human tests are few and far between.

Don't let any alternative medicine advertising hype convince you otherwise. Much of it is as misleading as ads for conventional prescription drugs. There are big bucks to be made here.

And keep in mind that potential side effects for some of these substances are not well understood.

ABCNews.com