John Arts Abundant Living www.johnarts.co.nz

I don't think the cardiologist that endorsed co enzyme Q10 to one of my clients was thinking too much about the classic Bob Dylan tune 'The times they are a-changin'”. But the times are definitely changing.

I regularly hear now from our clients who have been to a cardiologist and who has either endorsed or recommended co enzyme Q10 (Co Q10), especially for those taking statin cholesterol lowering medication.

The cardiologist not only agreed with the Co Q10 but even suggested they increase the dose and further endorsed the entire nutritional programme created for the client. When the person first contacted me over three months ago they were badly affected by statin myopathy with significant muscle pain and stiffness. After three months on a high potency US sourced CoQ10 (ubiquinol) product he was entirely pain free and was enjoying a return of normal energy levels.

People are disappointed when I confirm that there is no single magic natural health alternative to statins. In saying that, there is a lot we can do through diets and supplements to help lower cholesterol re-absorption. Around 25 per cent of our cholesterol is re-cycled from bile acids in our digestive tract but there are several dietary tricks we can play to block re-absorption and to encourage cholesterol to be excreted in faeces thus lowering total blood cholesterol. This includes soluble fibre from oat bran and psyllium husks and linseed husks.

A study in Nature (2010) showed that acai extracts helped lower cholesterol in rats and also reduced the markers of oxidative stress confirming Acai as a great antioxidant. My preference with acai is to combine it with other synergistic antioxidants such as grape seed extract, green tea extract, resveratrol and some others.

If you are taking statins you should take high grade Co Q10 to protect yourself from muscle weakness, pain, fatigue, memory loss and more. But there is much more to heart health than cholesterol. Improving blood flow with Omega 3, reducing arterial inflammation, reducing cholesterol oxidation with broad spectrum antioxidants are in reality much more important. If you are unsure get some good advice as a few minor changes can make such a great difference. 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.