John Arts Abundant Living www.johnarts.co.nz

When identifying nutritional links with disease, we need to distinguish between problems caused by outright nutrient deficiencies and those caused by nutrient inadequacy.

While true deficiency diseases like scurvy are very rare, disease states caused or worsened by inadequate nutrient intake are very common. In many cases the very presence of a chronic disease indicates sub-optimal levels of nutrients.

Only low levels of vitamin C of around 50mg daily are sufficient to prevent scurvy but to retain good vascular health your target should be 10 times this. If you have vascular disease I normally target at least 1000mg daily. Vitamin C is essential for correct collagen formation. Collagen is like the white webbing in a garden hose. It gives strength and stability to the hose. Cheap hoses with inadequate webbing tend to twist, kink and distort while good hoses, much like healthy blood vessels, retain their strength, structure and flexibility.

If you are using vitamin C for circulatory problems, always make sure you add the complementary antioxidants including the citrus bioflavonoids, especially hesperidin and grape seed extract. These work synergistically to restore both strength and elasticity to blood vessel walls. This is very important for all blood vessels, including the tiniest capillaries as these are responsible for delivering oxygen and nutrients to our cells.

I have been assisting someone for over a year who originally contacted me with general fatigue, aching legs at night and some discomfort around one of his foot (metatarsal) bones. He also had underlying hypertension. He was under medical care and was being treated for hypertension and other issues. My goal was to improve his circulation by increasing blood flow and to improve the structure of his blood vessels.

We added a number of antioxidants and other compounds to help with circulation plus minerals to help with connective tissue function in his foot. The outcome has been the elimination of the annoying aching legs at night and improvement in the foot pain and a significant improvement in energy and general well-being.

The real advantage of nutritional therapy is that it is non-invasive and works to enhance and restore body processes. It is generally very complementary with medical treatment. The key is to match the correct therapy for an individual's age, weight, medications and health circumstances. In doing so, you too could see some real improvements to your health. Give me a call if you need help. To join my weekly newsletter go to www.johnarts.co.nz and visit www.abundant.co.nz

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