John Arts Abundant Living www.johnarts.co.nz

During the past two weeks I have been attending a nutritional medicine clinic in Sydney.

Most of the time we were taking cases, assessing diet and nutritional status and creating programmes to help address any underlying problems.

I recall one particular client who appeared to have a problem with every body system. I assessed her as early 60s and was surprised she was early 50s. Our initial client consultation included a one-hour assessment of all body systems and it seemed there was a tick and comment beside every conceivable problem. During discussion of these complex cases the first question was to identify a starting point. In most cases treatment was a little like a long set of stairs. The only way to get to the top is one step at a time.

We identified the first step and included some measures to improve just a few problems. When facing multiple health challenges it is important for people to experience progress to give them hope that further improvement is possible. In her case our initial plan was to make some adjustments to her diet and some supplements to improve her digestive system and energy. In particular we wanted to include protein with every meal to help regulate her blood glucose and to remove the highly inflammatory fats in her diet.

This completely contrasted with another case where the person looked like she was early 40s and I was surprised to find she was early 50s. She had paid great attention to her diet, exercise and other positive lifestyle factors and was in amazing health. Her only complaints were a minor digestive problem and slightly lowered bone density. For her, all we needed was a slight dietary adjustment and supplements to optimise bone density.

You may be incredibly healthy and all you need is to ensure your diet and nutrient intake is able to retain your health as you enter the next phase of your life. You may have multiple health challenges and need a detailed plan to start to deal with the underlying causes of the problems. Addressing these over time will usually mean real improvements but you need to identify the first step. 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.