John Arts Abundant Living www.johnarts.co.nz

Some people are very hard on themselves and then wonder why their body starts to creak and groan.

A few weeks ago, in the Sydney clinic, I met a young woman who had a shopping list of health problems. She was very unfortunate to have a rare genetic disease that causes degeneration of nerves and associated muscles, especially in her legs.

If that was not enough, she had a terrible diet, showing several nutrient deficiencies and low levels of most other nutrients. Her diet was basically caffeine, sugar and junk carbohydrates. To make it worse, she was a smoker. As a consequence she had poor skin, poor digestion, poor circulation and very low energy. Most of her symptoms were unrelated to the genetic disorder.

The genetic disease causes a steady loss of protective myelin around peripheral nerves. The destruction was driven by massive increases in free radical and inflammatory damage to the tiny cells that maintain nerve myelin, which acts like insulation around nerves. While the disease is incurable, her smoking and dietary pattern were adding a huge burden to her body that contributed to the rate of nerve and muscle damage.

Cigarette smoke overwhelms our cells with toxic chemicals that act as damaging free radicals. The effect is like spraying salt water on an already rusty car. Many smokers show this damage externally as accelerated skin aging but internally it shows as accumulated damage to organs, blood vessels and basically every cell in your body.

We created a completely new nutrient-dense diet based on lower sugar, caffeine and carbohydrates plus adding regular protein and quality anti-inflammatory fats. Of course, we recommended she immediately stop smoking. We also added a range of supplements designed to address the low levels of beneficial gut flora, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. I have no doubt that over the next few months she will notice a major improvement in her health.

I do not know why people are so hard on their bodies. We may get away with it for a while but eventually poor diet and lifestyle choices will show as chronic disease. The good news is that even if we have made poor decisions and have existing health problems, it is never too late to make some real improvements in your health and quality of life. 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.