So, it is easy to understand why the modern human brain has been biologically jolted adjusting to this modern diet that leaves out many of the foods our ancestors ate for hundreds of thousands of generations. Originally, free radicals were placed by nature to help destroy invading bacteria and viruses, but they got way out of hand. Free radicals enter into the body when you breathe, and burn calories, so they cannot be completely avoided. They also get in your body through cigarette smoke, air pollution and toxic chemicals in the air and water. Most important to know, they are also carried into the body through fatty foods .
Experts say that our brain is the most vulnerable target of free radicals .
Free radical activity is a central event in the brains of people who suffer from degenerative brain diseases such as ALS, Parkinson's and notably Alzheimer's. Fats - What Americans Need to Know The American diet has become under tremendous scrutiny lately. What has been discovered about the American diet that is most alarming is the imbalance of certain types of processed oils that is so severe, that it is being considered responsible for free radical damage to the brain as severe as nerve end destruction. Our ancestors' evolutionary diets had a perfect balance between these two types of oils for 4 million years up until only recently when the Industrial Revolution brought drastic changes that ushered in the processed Omega-6 vegetable oils along with other high fat foods. It is the ratio of these oils you eat that is the most important to your brain's health.