John Arts Abundant Living www.johnarts.co.nz

At a recent family function we had a lot of fun in a tug of war contest.

We had about 30 people in each team. Like any good tug of war, there were several minutes where it was a complete stalemate. Then the other team started to gain momentum and we really had to dig deep to hold them and eventually, several minutes later, our team built enough momentum to win.

Perfect balance
It seems like a strange analogy, but our immune system is just like that too. In order to remain in perfect balance, our immune system is pulled by strongly opposite forces. It needs to do this to maintain a balanced position to be in a state of readiness to defend against invaders. Immune system disorders such as autoimmune disease or even just lowered immunity and persistent inflammation, are examples where our defences are out of balance.

One example is a group of chemicals called prostaglandins (PG's). These are essential for health and are made in our body from Omega 6 and Omega 3 fats in our diet. Omega 6 mostly is responsible for producing PG2 and Omega 3 produces PG1. These have completely opposite, yet equally necessary functions. PG2 is responsible for much of our inflammatory response to injury and sickness and causes swelling, inflammation, redness and blood clotting. The PG1's do the opposite; they reduce inflammation, reduce clotting and promote blood flow and dilated blood vessels.

The problem is we should have an Omega 6 to 3 ratio of under 5:1 (mine is 2.65:1). Most Kiwi's have a ratio of more than 10:1 – causing a massive imbalance resulting in inflammatory diseases from arthritis to heart disease and many others. This is like a tug of war with 30 on one side and five on the other – no contest and the winner is unwanted inflammation and disease.

Nutrient intake
We need to realise that this finely balanced system is largely governed by our nutrient intake and a good diet with nutritional supplements can help restore the natural balance, providing real relief.

This imbalance is usually the first thing I address when creating a nutritional programme for someone with inflammatory problems. The frustrating thing for me is that it is so easy to do –with many people suffering needlessly. Sometimes in life small changes can make such a big difference.

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 john@johnarts.co.nz
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