Although this website is mostly about you, here is a little about me.

My name is Michael Eekhof and I want to:

- Help as many people as possible with their health, lifestyle and performance.
- Free the World from plastic and other toxic substances that do not belong in the environment.

I am:

• Orthomolecular Therapist (www.natuurlijk.fit)
• Nutrition, lifestyle and supplement specialist
• Lecturer in medical biochemistry
• Laboratory interpretation specialist (Laboratorium Biovis GmbH)
• Founder and owner of this webshop and of the plastic-free supplement brand Natuurlijk.fit
• Co-founder of the Ehlers Danlos Syndrome Foundation

Someone with first-hand experience of:

- Ehlers Danlos syndrome
- Chronic fatigue syndrome
- Hay fever and related allergies
- Intestinal problems.

In the past I worked as a surgical assistant and in other specialisms in the operating theatre department of the hospital in Hoofddorp. I also followed a higher laboratory education programme, and my elective subjects (HAVO/VWO) were always the science subjects (physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics). The medical world and the biomedical sciences have always interested me, and they still do!

Sadly, things do not always go smoothly,

so I had to give up my training and my job as an operating theatre assistant because I have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS: hypermobility type) combined with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

In short, it means that my joints are unstable because of weak ligaments and capsules. The elastic bands that hold the joint together have been stretched too far and no longer shrink back, as it were.

Joint pain, fatigue, muscle pain and a prolonged lack of energy are the result. Unfortunately it is a rare condition and most doctors are not even aware that it exists. This has led to a great deal of misunderstanding, and on top of that there is no prospect of a solution. Because I did want to feel better, and do want to work and take part, I went looking for therapies that could help reduce my complaints. Because of weak resistance (partly through fatigue and constant pain) I also often suffered from bronchitis and sometimes pneumonia, and every year I was laid up for at least a week by flu with a few days of fever.

Medication no longer helped.

Nor did it help for the hay fever attacks in spring and summer. Driving was sometimes no longer possible because of the hay fever attacks. Until I came across vitamin C with bioflavonoids as a possible remedy for hay fever and as a general support for the immune system and connective tissue. I was very sceptical about it, "how can a simple vitamin work better than medication!?" But you have guessed it: after 3 days of vitamin C with bioflavonoids (high dose) my hay fever had subsided. Now and then I still sneeze, but I can simply drive. Nothing wrong at all.

The debilitating fatigue.

Going through life like a zombie. Wanting to get up but really not being able to. Sleeping does not help. And yet you are sleepy. Waking up after a quiet day and night, and still having the feeling in your body and your head that you have done a triathlon. Sleeping early, sleeping late, sleeping long, sleeping short, a strict rhythm, an irregular rhythm. Believe me, I have tried everything. Coffee, no coffee, you name it.

In the end the chronic fatigue has not gone completely, but mainly through Liposomal CoQ10, magnesium and all the B vitamins it has become better. More bearable. The sharpest edges have been taken off it.

And through vitamin D3 and calcium the pain has dropped to a minimum.

And what about that flu and pneumonia?
They have not come back for 5 years. Of course I do feel under the weather sometimes. But the intensity, the duration and the severity of the cold or the flu are far less! In my view because I take a good multivitamin as a basis, plus extra vitamin C, D3 and zinc.

I founded Vitarium to offer good food supplements to more people!

This does not mean, by the way, that it works this way for everyone!

That is why I took 2 training programmes. HBO Medical Basic Knowledge and Orthomolecular Medicine.
I am not against medication or ‘regular’ healthcare. But I do see a lot of resistance to vitamins and other supplements from the pharmaceutical corner.

After all, in my laboratory education I was taught “a shortage of vitamins is not harmful, an excess can be lethal”. My own findings and countless studies on PubMed now show that this is complete nonsense, and rather the other way round. It has to be said, though, that not all vitamin supplements are automatically good for everyone!

There are large differences between the suppliers of food supplements. To tell them apart properly, you need to know what you are talking about.

• Which vitamin and mineral compounds are absorbed best?
• Which requirement is there for which product in which situation?
• Which dose is best for which situation and which target group?
• Which vitamin is better in the natural form or in the synthetic form?
• Is there really that much difference between them?
• What are the commercial interests of a company?

Some brands would like to offer their products through our website. Many are turned down. I want to be independent, and therefore to offer several brands, but I set strict requirements for food supplements.

What makes a brand good? And what do we use as the hallmarks of a good brand?
The better brands use as many natural ingredients of plant origin as possible. The chosen form of, for example, vitamins has the highest bioavailability and the best absorption.
These are also the most important differences between cheap(er) brands and better brands, which unfortunately are often somewhat more expensive. Another important criterion is the choice of fillers and 'cosmetic' excipients to make tablets look nicer.

Cheap excipients can in some cases do more harm than good. The reason some brands are more expensive is that more costly raw materials are used (natural is more costly than synthetic) and more sustainable production processes.

I see it as my task to provide the consumer with nothing but the best. After all, it is your health that is at stake!

On the basis of the ingredient list, and by taking a look at a brand's production process, I determine (together with knowledge and experience of the subject) whether a brand is merely expensive because of the profit motive, or whether the quality is safeguarded by the right price.

I believe that health comes from healthy food. I also trust only the best quality of supplementary products. After all, the supplement is going to become part of your body and your health.

Demand from the community for orthomolecular therapy keeps growing.

Food is essential for keeping our physical and mental health in good order. Unfortunately that food is no longer optimal, because of popular trends such as fast food and quick meals from the supermarket. But also because of over-working of agricultural soil, as a result of which our foods (including the healthy ones!) contain fewer vitamins and minerals than, for example, 40 years ago (back then we could measure vitamin levels as well). Originally our distant ancestors ate products straight from nature. The jungle or the forest. We came into contact with sunlight more often and ate a far more balanced diet than we do today. We ourselves, for instance, can no longer produce vitamin C. By far the majority of animals can! It could be that, because we took in so much vitamin C through food hundreds of years ago, this mechanism was switched off by the body. So that the energy could be used for other processes and mankind underwent a strong evolution. However, once this ability to convert vitamin C from glucose has been switched off, it can never be "switched on" again. So we depend on vitamin C intake through food for ever. Or through supplements, of course.

Kind regards,

Michael R. Eekhof

Add me on WhatsApp: +31623980571 and ask your question.

Or drop by: Kolkweg 20-17 Lelystad