Abundant living with John Arts Abundant Health

Muscle pain can have many causes. It can be anything from injury, genetics, medication side effects and a number of diseases. The most common causes of muscle pain I help with are cramp, restless leg syndrome, Polymyalgia Rheumatica, Fibromyalgia and side effects of cholesterol-lowering medication.

There are a number of effective nutritional medicine strategies we can use to help with muscle function. Our goal is to help relax stressed muscle fibres and improve muscle oxygenation through improved circulation. This is important at night for conditions like cramp and restless legs.

Muscle stiffness and pain can be a side effect of statin cholesterol-lowering drugs. Statins slow the rate of the enzyme responsible for cholesterol production. However, this same enzyme is responsible for producing Co Enzyme Q10. A high quality Co enzyme Q10 like the US-patented CoQsol can really help.

Some diseases cause muscle pain. Two more common problems are the inflammatory condition PMR and FM, a non-inflammatory muscle problem. With PMR we target over-production of inflammatory immune system chemicals cytokines and prostaglandins and help restore immune function. With FM we focus on adding compounds like magnesium and methylsulfonylmethane, more commonly known as MSM or sulphur, to relax and oxygenate muscles.

Once we know the cause of the pain my role is to identify the healing processes damaged or affected by the problem. For example, cramp and restless leg syndrome can be an indication of mineral deficiencies or poor peripheral circulation.

As an example, people with cramp generally respond very well to magnesium therapy. The best magnesium supplements use expensive but better absorbed amino acid chelated forms. While magnesium can be very effective, some people need to be careful with magnesium therapy – especially those with digestive issues or on some medications. For more information, give me a call or email: john@abundant.co.nz You can read my all new newsletters 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