John Arts Abundant Living www.johnarts.co.nz

I have recently returned from nearly a month in Europe which included a Mediterranean cruise to celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary. We had a wonderful time once we got over a couple of initial shocks at the huge buffet restaurant. The first shock was the amount of food which could have fed 10,000 people. The second shock was to see the obvious poor general health of the guests.

I have not seen a more unhealthy looking lot of 50-plus people in my life. Many were predictably overweight, but the real surprise was that most just looked so unhealthy. Poor skin, tired looking, an inability to walk and move freely and as we found on the shore excursions, ridiculously unfit. You would not see better example of a lifetime of eating calorie-rich, yet nutritionally poor foods, combined with low levels of activity.

I moan about the state of health of the average 50-plus Kiwi, but by comparison with this lot, we have found the fountain of youth. My fellow passengers were starving in a land or at least buffet, of plenty. Their typical plate was filled with low grade fat-filled carbohydrates and meats with a bit of lettuce for decoration despite having a huge selection of really healthy food. Of course I ate too much and put on a couple of kilos. You don't go on a cruise as a health retreat.

Our diets supply more calories (energy) than we need. What is missing are the trace minerals, the vitamins and cell protecting antioxidants that govern and protect cell function. I would bet my house that if I gave each of my fellow cruise passengers a good comprehensive micro nutritional supplement they would have a noticeable improvement in their general health and energy.

If you have low energy and generally feel below par I will give you a challenge. Make sure you have at least five servings of different vegetables and two of fruit daily, plus take a balanced comprehensive micro nutritional supplement and some good fish oil for three months and see what happens. Make sure the supplement has all the major and trace minerals, all main antioxidant groups and is a full multi-vitamin. Give your body what it really needs and it may just surprise you. Give me a call if you are unsure what to do.

To contact John phone 0800 423559 or 07 578 0951 or visit www.abundant.co.nz.