John Arts Abundant Living www.johnarts.co.nz

One of the more common problems I deal with is lower leg circulation problems. Typically the area around the ankles becomes swollen especially towards the end of the day. Long distance travel can make them worse. If you have swollen ankles you should see your GP as there are many potential causes.

The good news is there is a lot we can do through diet and supplements. Our blood vessels are living tissue and are affected by accumulated free-radical damage. In the absence of a specific medical cause the problem is usually a combination of poor vein, capillary or lymphatic function.

Slow age-related changes can cause capillaries to fail. Some are so tiny that red blood cells roll single file to bring oxygen and nutrients to individual cells. It is normal for fluid to leak out of blood vessels into surrounding tissue. We have special ‘clean up' lymph vessels that collect this fluid and return it to our blood for general circulation.

I have been helping someone with worsening fluid retention in her lower legs and needed fluid control (diuretic) medication. We made some changes to diet but really attacked this by adding potent supplements that help micro-circulation.

She had a base multi-supplement and fish oil to which we added one of my circulation formulas. This combines some of nature's most potent pro-circulatory nutrients including the antioxidants in grapes (polyphenols and resveratrol), acai extract, ginkgo, goji and others.

The results have been remarkable. Her ankle swelling has almost disappeared and she is now working with her GP to come off diuretic medication. As a bonus, the anti-inflammatory diet and supplements have significantly improved her arthritic knees. Give me a call if you need more information. Join my full weekly newsletter at www.abundant.co.nz

John Arts is a qualified nutritional medicine practitioner and founder of Abundant Health. Contact John on 0800 423 559. To read more go to www.sunlive.co.nz