John Arts Abundant Living www.johnarts.co.nz

Inflammation can be the cause of disease or it can be as a consequence. If your health problem has the suffix ‘itis' then inflammation is central to the problem.

Some ‘itis' diseases, like osteoarthritis, are relatively simple because they affect specific tissue. Nutritional therapy is likewise uncomplicated. I target an anti-inflammatory diet with higher levels of Omega 3, high potency curcumin extract from turmeric, high grade chondroitin sulphate at 800mg daily and quality glucosamine.

This usually brings real benefits within a few months. Other problems such as autoimmune disease are much more complex because they affect several tissue types and need a much more intensive approach.

Many health problems are greatly influenced by inflammation. For example, coronary artery disease is complex but central to the process of blocked arteries is inflammation within the walls of your arteries. My cardiovascular programme places great importance at reducing systemic inflammation with diet and supplements. The main targets are correcting fat imbalances, reducing sugars and refined carbohydrates, and adding antioxidant-dense foods – especially foods high in nitrates to dilate blood vessels.

The seriousness of inflammatory problems means most people who approach me are under medical care. This is one area of health where medicine and nutritional therapy can be very complementary. Medications control the symptoms while nutritional therapy tries to downregulate the actual disease processes.

It may come as a surprise that often first thing I do is to review vitamin D levels. These can be easily obtained with a self-referred blood test to a medical laboratory. The cost is about $40. The latest research shows vitamin D has a strong anti-inflammatory function when taken in optimal doses. If you are affected by inflammation feel free to give me a call or email: john@abundant.co.nz.

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John Arts is a qualified nutritional medicine practitioner and founder of Abundant Health. Contact John on 0800 423 559. To read more go to: www.sunlive.co.nz