John Arts Abundant Living www.johnarts.co.nz

Our diets are at close to deficiency levels in a number of nutrients and low levels of these essential nutrients greatly contribute to the poor health of our nation.

New Zealand's medical waiting rooms are full of people who are suffering chronic disease largely brought about by very low levels of critical disease-fighting nutrients.

Our bodies work best when we have optimal levels of antioxidants, minerals (major and trace), and vitamins. If levels fall significantly from the optimum levels, it puts pressure on delicate body systems and if this situation is maintained over a period of time, disease symptoms start to appear.

Vitamin D levels are dangerously low in New Zealand. Nature designed our bodies to fill the internal vitamin D reservoirs in summer so these could be released during winter. While the primary role of vitamin D is to build bones, it is the secondary roles that are now receiving so much research attention. Vitamin D is essential for immune function and is critically important for our cancer defences. Research by the University of Otago (Skeaff et al 2008), showed 32 per cent of European and a staggering 60 per cent of Pacific Island children had low Vitamin D levels.

My view is that the rapid increase in asthma and autoimmune diseases is to some extent linked to low Vitamin D. I also wonder if the prevalence of winter flu is as much about weakened immunity from low Vitamin D levels as other factors.

I recommend almost everyone supplements with Vitamin D3. I take 1000IU each day in my multi-nutritional and in winter take 1000-2000IU extra, dependent on my sun exposure. As a side note, I have been helping someone with Seasonal Affective Disorder who suffered from significant winter blues. I put her on several supplements and told her to get high strength Vitamin D from her doctor. The problem has greatly reduced.

Vitamin D recommendations now form an important part of almost all nutritional programmes I create. This is especially true for people with immune system diseases, for those with general low immunity, those who suffer from depression or who have had a brush with cancer.

John Arts is the founder of Abundant Health. For product information visit www.abundant.co.nz If you have questions or would like a free health plan you can contact John at john@johnarts.co.nz or phone 07 578
9051 or 0800 423 559. You can join his newsletter at www.johnarts.co.nz