John Arts Abundant Living www.johnarts.co.nz

I have people contacting me for all sorts of reasons, commonly from those experiencing some sort of health challenge. In most cases they have been to their doctor and now want to investigate nutritional and other self-help options to implement alongside conventional medical treatment.

Our bodies have complex healing systems and the symptoms we feel are an indication that these healing processes have failed to some extent. The discomfort we experience is often the result of a slow breakdown of defence systems over long periods of time. My goal when providing personalised assistance is to help build and restore these systems so that over time there is a reduction in the symptoms we feel.

As an example, people with osteoarthritis experience joint pain caused by destruction of joint cells and associated inflammation. In most cases, what happens is that over a long period of time, cartilage cells called chondrocytes are damaged by a process of oxidation. What this means is that the local joint antioxidant defenses are unable to cope with the amount of free radical activity and in the case of osteoarthritis, free radicals damage chondrocytes leading to progressive erosion of joint tissue.

To make it worse, the body tries to heal the joint by increasing output of inflammatory chemicals that result in swelling of surrounding tissue. This inflammation often causes as much pain as the actual joint damage. The disease destroys the joint tissue and a misdirected immune response creates much of the pain and stiffness. What is needed then is to add nutrients and other compounds that can slow down the rate of joint cell damage, reduce inflammation and, if possible, help with joint cell regeneration.

When using this nutritional approach it is important to adopt realistic time frames. My preference is to work in three month time blocks with a monthly review to monitor progress. For most problems it is important to start with a more intensive programme where we try to stimulate our healing processes. One of the great things about adopting a nutritional programme is that it is usually well tolerated and can generally be implemented alongside medical treatment. You may be surprised at what your body can achieve when we activate our healing processes.

John Arts is the founder of Abundant Health. For product information
visit www.abundant.co.nz If you have questions or would like a free
health plan phone 07 578 9051 or 0800 423 559 or email [email protected]
You can join his newsletter at www.johnarts.co.nz