John Arts Abundant Living www.johnarts.co.nz

Last week we saw our 50s are a critical time where we start to see the effects of our previous health choices, but more importantly, set the scene for our health outcomes in the later part of our lives.

Once we hit middle age, we can no longer rely on the resilience of youth. We need to make the decisions that will determine the health of our later life.

One of my concerns is that health has become too symptom-focussed and we tend to view health as a collection of body parts or systems parts, rather than as a whole. I prefer a cellular biochemical view on health. By that, I mean that people whose cell chemistry functions well, will have good health. Healthy cell function is entirely dependent on optimum intake of both essential nutrients, such as the 21 known essential minerals and all the vitamins, to a huge range of biologically active phytonutrients that protect our cells against free radicals.

One of the consequences of inadequate intakes or nutrient imbalances are the 70-plus diseases that are either caused by or supported by over production of inflammation. Our immune system is responsible for turning on inflammation when we need to heal, but over production can actually create disease. People are often surprised when the strategies we use to lower inflammation in joints can help with other supposedly unrelated problems such as asthma.

Another real problem for those in the 50-plus group are failures in our cell mitochondria; the tiny energy producing membranes that, when subjected to sustained oxidative damage, can trigger processes that cause almost every fatigue-related illness, especially autoimmune diseases like chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia and almost all neurodegenerative illness like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

If you are concerned about your health, the first thing you need is a plan to improve cell function to help with current health problems, to ensure that your health can sustain you in your later years. If you want to join my free weekly newsletter, visit www.johnarts.co.nz
If you need help, feel free to contact me, phone 0800 423559 or 07 578 9051 or visit www.abundant.co.nz