John Arts Abundant Living www.johnarts.co.nz

As an exercise I did a Google Scholar search for the words ‘arthritis oxidative stress'. I knew there have been many research papers on the subject but I was surprised at the sheer volume. I stopped counting at about 300.

This means there have been over 300 research papers published in peer reviewed journals on the subject.

Oxidative stress is the term for any situation in the body where free radicals are created faster than antioxidant defences can neutralise them. Free radicals are just atoms or molecules with unpaired electrons. This makes them very unstable and can damage cells and tissue causing disease. Antioxidants supply missing electrons making free radicals stable.

Free radicals are completely normal and we could not live without them. The vast majority are produced in our cell mitochondria where most of our energy is made. Just like there are exhaust gases after your engine has burnt petrol, so free radicals are by-products of our cells making energy from food.

If left unchecked by antioxidants they can destroy the molecules that make up tissue, and if left to continue they can destroy tissue leading to disease. In arthritis they destroy cells that support cartilage. In heart arteries they change cholesterol to its dangerous form. They can damage blood vessels and cause hypertension.

All our antioxidant systems are dependent on antioxidants in our diet. The average Kiwi diet is low in antioxidants. Our soils are deficient in selenium and other trace minerals, and modern food storage systems reduce food antioxidant levels.

I recommend an antioxidant dense diet and a well formulated multi antioxidant, mineral and vitamin formula to ensure your critical defence systems are protecting you from disease. Call me for more information on improving your antioxidant defence systems. 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