John Arts Abundant Living www.johnarts.co.nz

Swollen and bleeding gums may seem like the most minor of health problems, and of course, they are. Swollen gums are generally just the presence of inflammation in gum tissue. If you have swollen gums, talk to your dentist or doctor to make sure there are no specific causes.

A few years ago, a friend of mine in the US needed a coronary by-pass. His cardiologist made a throw away comment that any persistent sign of inflammation in the body may be an indicator of potential coronary heart disease risk. You can have a blood test called an hsCRP (high sensitivity C Reactive Protein) which measures even very low levels of inflammation in the body.

Cardiac researchers like Professor Paul Ridker M.D have established a clear link between elevated levels of background inflammation and coronary artery disease. If you want to read more visit http://www.crphealth.com.

As a medical doctor and cardiologist, he recommends medical treatments such as high dose statins to help combat high CRP and cholesterol.

My approach is to adopt nutritional strategies that can help lower CRP and therefore the risk of cardiovascular problems. The first step is to reduce intake of inflammatory foods. These, especially polyunsaturated vegetable oils actually cause the immune system to produce unwanted inflammatory chemicals. These may end up inflaming your gums, your joints, tendons, muscles, or even worse, your arteries. The second step is to ensure a good intake of fats that do the opposite. They cause the production of anti-inflammatory chemicals which switch off unwanted inflammation.

Next time you are getting cholesterol blood tests, ask your doctor about adding hsCRP to your tests. According to Paul Ridker, if your CRP is 3-plus this indicates a high risk of heart disease; between two and three a moderate risk and one or less a low risk. You can have high cholesterol, but low CRP and have a low risk. Likewise, you can have low cholesterol and high CRP and have a high risk of heart disease.

If you have swollen gums or any obvious inflammation, it is time to look at systemic inflammation and adopt a number of dietary approaches to lower this. Your gums may well be a window into your heart health.
Give me a call if you need help. To join my weekly newsletter visit www.johnarts.co.nz or www.abundant.co.nz

John Arts is the founder of Abundant Health. To contact John phone 07 578 9051 or 0800 423 559.