EMFs: Our Invisible Killer

When people first jump onto the ‘health hacking’ bandwagon, they are aware of the prime things to avoid in their lives to improve their overall health such as processed foods, stress and environmental pollutants and toxins. These are all fairly simple to avoid, or at least reduce, in our lives. If you don’t want to eat junk, don’t. If you’re sensitive to stress, meditate every day. Fix your moldy bathroom and quit smoking to limit environmental toxins. Easy Peasy Japaneasy. But what about the dangers to our health that lurk around us 24 hours a day, seven days a week that we don’t even consider to be impacting us until perhaps it’s too late? And the reason we don’t pay them much attention is because they’re invisible to the naked eye…out of sight, out of mind right?

In this Wi-Fi driven, technology obsessed world, we are literally surrounded by Electromagnetic Fields, or EMFs. Twenty-four-seven. People are attached to their ‘smart’ phones like they are fifth limb, we’re surrounded by Wi-Fi so we can log onto the internet, anywhere and anytime because we just have to be kept up to speed with everyone’s most recent Facebook status. We get in to our cars, where we can’t use our phones so we connect to Bluetooth, just in case we get any form of phone call that can’t wait the journey home. We spend days in offices surrounded by computers and scanners and fax machines (actually, does anyone still fax?). When we are at home, our comfort spot, we have Wi-Fi connections, Plasma TVs, laptops, iPad’s, iPod’s and iPhone’s and anything else with an ‘i’ in front of it. And, one of the worst ones of all, when we put our fresh, new, beautifully wonderful babies to bed at night, we turn on baby monitors and one is usually kept right by the bed head.

EMFs are a silent, but deadly health hazard.

What are EMFs?

EMFs, are quite simply the electronic vibration from all electrically charged devices. They exist where ever electric currents flow, the electric fields arise from electric charges that are emitted and the magnetic fields arise from the motion of the electric charges [1]. EMFs are not shielded by most common materials, such as brick walls and human flesh, they pass easily through them. EMFs are strongest closest to the source in which they are emitted from and diminish with distance [1].

So the only hope to really avoid them is to escape them, or at least minimise exposure as much as possible. However, without running away to the mountains and never downloading another Podcast again (shudder!), the reality of completely escaping EMFs is slim to none so supporting our body to cope with them and controlling them where we can is a much more realistic option.

How do EMFs affect our health?

Just like electronic devices, we emit our own vibrational frequency, we are after all, electrically charged beings. Our cells, just like a laptop plugged into a charging device, communicate to one another using electrical currents that consist of photons, electrons and atoms. Our cells replicate using electrical charges, we create our DNA using electrical charges, our cellular energy is dependent on electrical charges and our heart beats thanks to electrical charges. We are basically one, big, walking talking power line- thankfully we don’t get billed for our cellular electricity requirements!

Electronic vibration is electronic vibration. A photon emitted from your mobile phone travelling through the biosphere can react and collide with an atom or an electron that was produced within your cell for cellular replication. This colliding mobile phone photon has then disrupted the electrical connection that was happening within your cells that was helping them to divide and stay healthy, this collision of electrical currents can alter the cells electrical charge biochemically due a change in the electrical ions that are present leading to a whole range of conditions.

Our cells are vulnerable to this electrical beating twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. From the moment we are born to the moment we die. That is every single cell within our body and every electrical charge that occurs within our body can be victimised by EMFs and, it is this constant bashing from photons that can cause dis-ease within us.

There is quite substantial research [2,3] available discussing the affect that EMFs have on specific health conditions such as cancer specifically leukemia and brain tumours, neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s Disease, infertility, immune dysfunction, insomnia and child hood health and behaviour conditions . As well as disrupting cellular replication and interfering with our DNA, EMFs can suppress the pineal glands’ secretion of melatonin, our sleepy hormone. Depressed melatonin can be associated with insomnia, chronic fatigue syndrome, depression, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and psychiatric disorders; it is a vital scavenger of free radicals and it also increases the efficacy of a specific White Blood Cell (WBC) the T-cells and the Natural Killer Cells, these WBCs, specifically, are good at fighting cancer cells and viral infections [4].

Some individuals are believed to be EMF hypersensitive (EHS), displaying a cluster of symptoms including headaches, insomnia, fatigue, nausea, heart arrhythmia and anxiety when exposed to ‘guideline appropriate’ EMFs [5].Medical literature is referring to this as idiopathic environmental intolerance attributed to electromagnetic fields [5]. However, even with documented adverse health effects, EMF exposure at ‘guideline appropriate levels’ is not considered to be the cause in Australia [5]. In fact, Austria is the only country with a written suggestion to guidelines on the diagnosis and treatment of EMF-related health problems [6]. Apart from this, EHS, and anything else that could possibly be caused by EMF exposure, is not recognized as a specific diagnosis in the rest of the world, and no established treatment exists [7].

So, as with most things health related, we need to take control into our own hands and do what we can to limit our exposure and support our bodies to handle EMF exposure all whilst living in the year 2017 and being heavily dependent on technology.

What can we do to protect our exposure?

The easiest and most sensible way to protect our EMF exposure is to limit it. Turn off your Wi-Fi modem when it’s not in use and always, always turn it off at night. Turn all TV’s, computers and laptops off at the switch when not in use, don’t keep them plugged in on standby- they are still emitting EMFs.

Keep all Wi-Fi modems and internet/NBN connection modems out of bedrooms. Put them the furthest away from the house (especially the sleeping rooms) you can and always turn off at night. Do the same with any new Smart Meter box that needs to be installed. Don’t get it located on the outside wall of any bedroom.

Get rid of your microwave! We don’t need them, yes they are convenient but that’s it. They provide no other health benefits. It can take a little while to adjust not having your ‘zapper’ at the ready, but adjustment comes quickly. Heat food in the oven or on the stove top, warm wheat bags in a steamer or invest in a hot water bottle.

Decrease the use of baby monitors as much as you can by keeping baby/sleeping children in earshot. If you do need one, EMF friendly ones are available on the market so do some research before buying.

Try to limit how often your mobile phone is in your hand/pocket. If you are home, place your phone in a room where you can hear it if it goes off but doesn't require it near you. At work, keep it in a drawer or your bag. If your phone shares the bedroom with you at night, always put it on flight mode, however, try investing in a battery operated alarm clock and keep the phone charging in the lounge room overnight!

When using laptops (or phones) don’t use them while they are plugged in and charging, try and have them fully charged before you use them. Never sit with a laptop directly on your lap (especially men!) and pregnant ladies should avoid this too, as well as the always done…resting your hands on your baby-full tummy while you’re scrolling your phone.

Grounding, or earthing, is a great way to rebalance the body’s natural electrical current with that of nature. It doesn’t cost a thing and all it involves is walking barefoot outside, preferably on wet grass, rock or in the ocean. When you first wake up in the morning, before anything else, rug up (minus shoes) and take a stroll through your backyard, connect with nature before a busy day of EMF beating.

If you are limited by implementing any of the above, or you live near a mobile phone tower or in an apartment complex… the one thing you can do is support your body with the best nutritional and antioxidant support to counteract constant EMF exposure. Vitamins A, D, C, E as well as micronutrients calcium, zinc, magnesium and antioxidants glutathione and superoxide dismutase have all shown to be depleted by EMF exposure [8, 9, 10]. Selenium, N-acetyl cysteine, L-carnitine, Coenzyme Q 10 and glutathione have all shown to support the cellular response to EMF exposure; EGCG is another antioxidant which has been shown to be beneficial- this is found in Green Tea [12, 13].

So support your body, from the inside, to minimise the effects that EMFs can have on your health. Limit your exposure, from the outside, the best you can by reducing unnecessary EMF emissions where possible and always reconnect with nature, every day!

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EMFs: Our Invisible Killer