It plays a role in protecting the body from free radical oxidative stress, which can lead to premature aging of cells
It has several, and they work together in ways researchers are still mapping out
In addition, the inhibition of the Xc system, the subsequent accumulation of ROS, and the decrease of GSH levels create a void in the antioxidant defenses of the cell, which may ultimately lead to ferroptosis (Xie et al., 2016)
Mechanisms such as cellular senescence, genomic instability, telomere attrition, mitochondrial dysfunction, epigenetic alterations, and loss of proteostasis all contribute to an aging phenotype (Tenchov et al 2024) and are considered hallmarks or biomarkers for aging
The lack of preservatives allows bacterial contamination and degradation to occur more rapidly