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By Ben Daviss
Humans are a carbon-based life form—carbon is the common element among most of our molecules—so maybe it’s not surprising that one of the newest health elixirs gaining notoriety is made of carbon: buckminsterfullerenes, also known as buckyballs.
The clusters were named for Buckminster Fuller, the maverick 20th-century visionary whose inventions ranged from the geodesic dome to a self-cleaning bathroom. In the 1960s, he predicted the existence of clusters of 60 carbon atoms and their unusual properties. When the clusters were found to exist during laser experiments in the 1980s, they were named in his honor.
The name “C60” comes from fullerenes’ structure: 60 carbon atoms clustered together in the shape of a soccer ball. The structure gives them electrical properties that make them ideal for neutralizing free radicals in our bodies.
Free radicals are negatively charged atoms or molecules that have gotten loose in the body. Their charge makes them highly reactive, so they can attach themselves easily to other atoms and molecules. When they do, they can impair the normal functioning of those components.
One school of scientific thought attributes aging to the damage done by free radicals over time.
That’s where C60 comes in.
“C60 is unique,” says biochemist Ken Swartz, founder of ShopC60.com, which markets a variety of C60 health supplements. “It achieves a positive charge by pulling up to six positive hydrogen ions inside its cage-like structure.”
One of the two free radicals C60 reacts with is superoxide, an oxygen molecule with an extra electron, making it negatively charged. C60 uses a positive hydrogen ion it has captured in its cage to neutralize superoxide, “which is the most damaging oxidative radical in the body,” Swartz notes.
In the same way, C60 neutralizes hydroxyl ions, powerful free radicals consisting of a water molecule missing a proton and carrying a negative charge. C60 gives the hydroxyl ion a positive hydrogen ion and converts it to ordinary water.
C60 has a particularly powerful impact on mitochondria, the cells that make a chemical called ATP, which is the body’s source of energy.
Mitochondria also are where superoxide routinely appears and does some of its worst damage.
C60 counteracts that invasion of our mitochondria through a two-step process.
Mitochondria’s outer surface is dotted with positive hydrogen ions, which a C60 molecule wants to collect.
The C60 takes on a positive charge, which attracts it through the mitochondrion’s outer shell to its negatively-charged inner membrane.
Once inside a mitochondrion, C60 neutralizes superoxide it finds there. Those neutralized free radicals stick to the C60. At that point, the C60 has used up its positive charge neutering superoxide molecules.
Having lost its positive charge, the C60 is repelled by the mitochondrion’s negatively charged inner membrane and is pushed back to the outer membrane. There, it sheds the neutralized superoxides and takes more positive hydrogen ions into its ball-shaped cage so it can repeat the mitochondrial cleansing process over again.
Another of C60’s talents is clearing senescent cells from the body.
Senescent cells are cells so old that they’ve stopped functioning but they don’t die. Instead, they linger, secreting harmful substances and sparking inflammation, which now is recognized as a root cause of most illnesses.
When C60 sweeps out senescent cells, that sparks stem cells to make more of the cells that were removed. These young cells function like new, which slows the aging process.
A bonus: younger cells have longer telomeres than the cells they replaced.
Telomeres are protein clusters on the ends of chromosomes. Their job is to protect DNA from damage. As cells age, their telomeres shorten and become less effective. Newer cells have longer telomeres and do a better job of maintaining DNA’s integrity, which is key to staving off the usual symptoms of aging.
C60 also is said to multiply the body’s immune cells, making a person better able to resist infections, colds, flu, and similar conditions. Users also report a range of other benefits, from pulling lead and mercury out of the body to having more energy to improved mental clarity.
C60 is available as a nutritional supplement but it’s pricey. High-purity C60 is more expensive than gold due to the complex process of manufacturing and purifying buckyballs.
C60 typically is made by sending a strong electric current through a carbon rod in a light helium atmosphere. The resulting soot can contain up to 10 percent recoverable buckyballs.
C60 for human consumption is purified to 99.99 percent by sublimation, the cousin of evaporation. C60 for research and Industrial uses is purified with solvents such as toluene and is typically of lower purity.
People interested in trying C60 should always look for a sublimated or ‘sublimed’ version.
C60 is not known to interfere with any pharmaceutical drugs, vitamins, or nutrients. However, people should consult with a doctor before taking C60 while on a blood-thinner. C60 can resolve the underlying problem, causing the blood to become too thin.
Also, C60 suspended in oil—a common product for human use—if exposed over time to light can turn rancid and could cause cancer. Any C60 supplements should be stored in a kitchen cabinet or other dark, room-temperature place.