John Arts - Natural health researcher John Arts is a natural health researcher and supplement formulator. If you have questions or would like a free health plan you can contact John on 0800 423 559 or join his newsletter at www.johnarts.co.nz.

Our body has a number of almost miraculous healing properties that allow us to recover from sickness and injury.
There are of course several conditions. The first is that as we become older these processes are not as vigorous and definitely respond to a helping hand - and frankly a bit of cheating with appropriate supplements.

The second is that these healing processes are entirely dependent on the nutrients we get from food and supplements.
Today we want to focus on the power of our immune system to fight bacterial, viral and fungal infections.
Our immune system is much like an army and affects every cell in our body. These complex defences have organisational and defence components. The organisational part includes the manufacture of immune cells from bone marrow to the thymus which acts like the master computer governing immune response. The active germ-fighting components are cells like B cells which produce antibodies to invaders, white blood cells which engulf invaders and are the clean-up brigade, while the T cells are like trained commandos which seek and destroy cancer cells and viruses.
Most people get sick from time to time but a good indicator your immune system is not working well are chronic respiratory problems such as asthma, allergies, and constant chest, throat and sinus infections. I recommend that almost everyone uses a well formulated multi-antioxidant that also provides all the essential trace minerals and vitamins. These nutrients are essential for your immune system to operate properly. If someone has a poor immune system I also like to add boosters to help the immune system to become more responsive.
The first is Vitamin D as this activates our T cells to fight bacterial and viral infections. Without Vitamin D our immune system is like a perfectly good army that is soundly asleep, and with insufficient Vitamin D we basically have no immunity. I then like to add in differing amounts grape seed extract to about 400mg daily, reishi mushroom extract, NAC (n-acetylcysteine) for glutathione recycling and of course mighty Vitamin C at about 2-3. Like all nutritional therapy it is critical to have a programme created for your age, weight and health circumstances.

John Arts is a natural health commentator and researcher. If you have questions or would like a free health plan, email John john@johnarts.co.nz or phone 07 578 9051 or 0800 423 559. You can join his newsletter at www.johnarts.co.nz