Addressing electromagnetic fields (EMFs) has profoundly improved my health and made me rethink the root cause of mast-cell activation.
Simplistically, EMFs are the electrical or magnetic charge that is associated with the use of wi-fi, technology, and electrical current. I’ll explain more as we go.
It took me a long time to understand that EMFs could be taking their toll on my health.
I first heard Dr. Dietrich Klinghardt give a lecture on it about two years ago. I heard him lecture on it again recently and finally realized the paramount importance of this topic.
Speaking personally, resistance and denial were my justification for not moving this issue further up my to-do list.
Firstly, EMFs are difficult to relate to. How can something you cannot see cause health issues? That made it easy for me to think that it was not happening to me. But it was.
Secondly, the unknown seemed overwhelming. Having just mold remediated my house, the idea of EMF remediating my house was overwhelming. But I hired a meter and measured the sources of the EMFs in my house, found out they were only a few things and resolved them one at a time.
Thirdly, there’s the issue of convenience. I’m all for convenience, but if someone had told me that if I made a few simple changes (not many – and yes, I still have an iPhone), I’d have more energy, a good night’s sleep, and my brain would feel less ‘wired,’ it would have been my priority.
Fourthly, dopamine addiction is real. The hits of dopamine we get from the endless texts, alerts, posts, and games are addictive. By putting my iPhone into aeroplane mode, and not hearing the constant alerts, I’m spending more time on the things that make me happy.
Regardless of the importance of this matter to you, I hope to give you a simple overview so that you can make an informed decision on how you use technology. Simple safety strategies, like putting a seatbelt on when in a moving car, can enable you to use technology safely.
Homeostasis
The foundation of good health is homeostasis.
Health happens on a spectrum.
At one end of the spectrum, the body can maintain homeostasis. It attends to any housekeeping (mostly at night) effortlessly, and as a result, there are few symptoms. If the body meets a stressor, it has an inbuilt process to restore homeostasis.
At the other end of the spectrum, the body cannot maintain homeostasis on its own, as cells have stopped functioning, and a disease process is underway. This is where medicine and surgery excel.
The middle of these two extremes is where histamine intolerance, mast cell activation, depression, and many other “syndromes” belong. Many symptoms are the body’s attempt to restore homeostasis. A root cause (or stressor) can be far removed from the symptom.
It’s also where many people get themselves in a muddle. A good example is depression, which in functional terms, is a symptom of a loss of homeostasis or an imbalance. It is not a disease; medicine often does more harm than good. And yes, it is an imbalance not of the brain and neurotransmitters but a cause often far removed from the brain (think diet, microbiome, brain detoxification, and especially EMFs!).
I like the analogy of a sailing boat rocking under strong winds (stressors) and rough seas (environmental factors). The boat’s rocking (including releasing histamine) is the boat trying to restore homeostasis so it can sail upright. The same can be said for the body that is not healthy and not diseased, just not well.
And EMFs play a fundamental role in homeostasis.
EMFs & Homeostasis
We are all electromagnetic beings. The DNA in every cell of our body generates EMFs.
This is not new information or even controversial. Cardiographs, for example, is used by doctors to measure the heart’s EMFs.
The issue, therefore, is not whether the body is exposed to EMFs but whether these EMFs are congruent or incongruent with our own.
Some frequencies are congruent and help in healing. Others are incongruent and cause a loss of homeostasis.
Ever wonder why health professionals increasingly recommend people with depression put down their iPhones and go for a walk in nature? Well, that is because the earth carries an electrical current, which is normally congruent with our own. iPhones, if unshielded, are not.
Dr. Magda Havas is one of the leading academics on EMFs.
She has done work on frequencies that help the body to heal and restore homeostasis, including PEMF devices, light therapy, and grounding (walking in nature – due to the earth carrying healing electrical current).
More recently, I have been working with LifeWave patches with exceptional results. The LifeWave X39 and X49 patches, in particular, form a faraday cage protecting the body and have had profound benefits for me personally.
At the same time, some frequencies are incongruent with our body’s frequencies and cause disruption or a loss of homeostasis.
Damaging EMFs are not a new concept. Ever wonder why technicians wear shielding when taking X-rays? Well, that’s because the radiation frequency is incongruent with our bodies.
What is new is that since 2010, the amount of EMFs we are exposed to has increased exponentially with each successive generation of new technologies. Many of these EMFs are causing a loss of homeostasis and are increasingly linked in the research to health problems.
EMFs, Mast Cell Activation, and Chronic Fatigue
Within the human cell, electricity and magnetism generate the power to perform the essential functions of that cell.
Over 23 studies show that EMFs:
- Target the cell membrane
- Affect the calcium channel (which regulates the internal cell activities)
- Causes cells to release nitric oxide
- Depletes melatonin and glutathione (essential antioxidants needed for detoxification)
- Resulting in oxidative stress, inflammation, and DNA damage.
All this occurs when external EMFs interfere with the cell’s EMFs causing a loss of homeostasis.
Through this effect on cells, studies show that EMFs can suppress immunity, damage the gut/brain barrier, provoke the growth of pathogens, and inhibit the detoxification of heavy metals.
Prolonged exposure, leading to DNA damage, it may increase the risk of progressing toward a disease process. In the scientific evidence, EMFs have been linked to brain tumors, leukemia, cancer, autism, and neurogenerative diseases.
Symptoms of EMFs
A 2001 study identified the symptoms of EMF sensitivity and that distance is essential (a tip that has allowed me to keep some smart devices in my world).
Hallmark symptoms are fatigue and sleep disturbances.
The differences in my sleep are so notable that I could not deny that EMFs affected me. In time my brain is also less “wired,” which is how I would describe the “feeling of discomfort.”
Other symptoms are headaches, discomfort, difficulty concentrating, depression, memory loss, visual disruptions, irritability, hearing disruptions, skin problems, cardiovascular, dizziness, loss of appetite, movement difficulties, and nausea.
It’s unnecessary to have all of these symptoms, and you may not have any of them depending on whether you are far enough away from the signal.
Laboratory Testing
Studies show that EMF sensitivity can show up as:
- Low melatonin*
- Low glutathione*
- High cortisol*
- Oxidative stress*
- Chronic Inflammation*
- Low sperm count/testosterone in men*
- Low progesterone in women*
- Depression, insomnia, fatigue, hyperactivity, brain fog, and addiction issues.*
- Depressed immune function (leading to bacteria and viruses)
- Leaky gut and brain barriers.
* Representative markers are all available on a DUTCH Complete Test, which I find an extremely useful assessment tool.
Dr. Klinghardt also reports that the LDL cholesterol (on a lipid blood panel) is protective of EMF exposure, and a high LDL may be a clue to investigating EMFs.
There are a few situations where EMFs should also be prioritized, which include heavy metals (including amalgams, as research shows EMFs cause mercury to leach from the amalgams), retroviruses, and viruses (one study found that a 7-minute phone call on an unshielded iPhone could reactivate Epstein Barr Virus), and where chronic infections do not clear. Autism and Alzheimers are also strongly linked in the research literature.
EMF Remediation
Everyone’s situation is unique.
For that reason, I am going only to address basic principles, to help you develop an action plan.
Night-time exposure is the most important, as the brain (after the heart) is the second highest generator of EMFs, and nighttime is when it runs its housekeeping functions.
EMFs are linked to wi-fi, any appliance that uses wi-fi, and electricity.
The most problematic devices are cell phones, cordless phones, wi-fi routers, baby monitors, Bluetooth devices, iPads/laptops, and smart meters.
The reason is that they send out a pulsing signal every few seconds to locate a cell tower or modem. It’s the pulsating signal that is problematic, not the device.
Also, electricity is an EMF, so emissions will be higher when a device is plugged in.
If you want the top 5 things you can do to improve your situation, you can get a free download of 5 Quick Ways to Reduce EMF Exposure & Boost Your Vitality.
If you want to get into detailed solutions, I suggest you read The Non-Tinfoil Guide to EMFs: How to Fix Our Stupid Use of Technology.
If your situation is particularly complex, hiring a building biologist who can assess you may be necessary. This includes living in high-density housing near a cell tower, solar or wind power, or an electric car station.
Step 1: Identify Exposure Levels
I recommend hiring a meter or buying a meter to measure your exposure.
Not only will this help establish the extent of the problem, but it will also help to identify the key sources and enable informed decisions.
I found this invaluable. Rather than worrying about everything, it rapidly reduced my to-do list to a few key things. It also helped me establish safe distances between me and electric appliances (generally 30 centimeters or one foot), which allowed me to minimize my changes.
For example, my Apple TV emissions were amongst the highest in my house. I chose to keep it but unplug it when not used. I have since had it wired in, so it does not use wi-fi. Using a meter helped me to work that out.
Step 2: Systematically Reduce Your Exposure
The objective is not to have no technology but to use devices in an informed way.
The basic process I followed was to:
- Prioritize my bedroom
- Remove what I did not need
- Increase the distance from me or reduce the time I was exposed to if I needed it
- Shield what I could not eliminate.
Let me walk you through what I did in my bedroom, for example.
One solution is simply to purchase a Swiss Shield bed canopy (often called a Farraday Cage), shut off the power at the mains at night with a kill switch, and be done with it. I have now done this.
However, I managed to reduce EMFs to a safe limit without shielding. I did this by;
- Turning my Wi-fi off at night with a timer
- Removing, unplugging, or switching off electrical appliances (because electricity use dramatically increases the EMFs)
- Switching my iPhone on aeroplane mode, and keeping it in a SafeSleeve (because silence is too noisy for me, so I listen to podcasts when I sleep, or I would have removed it completely),
- I have subsequently purchased a belkin adaptor for my phone and plug it into the router and use it without wif-fi, and
- Removing my bedhead which was metal (and conducts electricity).
I have subsequently gone on to make other alterations, including going wireless but getting yourself into a safe EMF environment at night is not difficult.
Step 3: Removal or Detoxification of Metals
Metal conducts electricity.
Metal springs in your bed, metal bed frames, metal amalgams in your mouth, or heavy metals (mercury, lead, or aluminum) in your body can all conduct EMFs. And ironically, EMFs deplete the nutrients needed to detoxify heavy metals.
I use the Quicksilver Mercury and Tri-Metals Test to evaluate the level of heavy metals. Sometimes alone or in combination with autonomic response testing (and an advanced form of kinesiology).
Mercury amalgams are a major blocking factor. In one study, EMFs triggered the release of mercury from amalgams and constituted a significant cause of hypersensitivity in my client base. They need to be removed by an experienced biological dentist.
Step 4: Treatment Protocols
Attending to exposure is the best defense.
However, failing that, it is also possible to protect internally with propolis and rosemary tinctures and a high dose of ascorbic acid and melatonin.
LifeWave patches (particularly the X39 and X49) can also provide beneficial EMFs to protect the body.
Whether you need this support will depend on your circumstances, and I use a mixture of laboratory testing and autonomic response testing to work that out.
Conclusion
EMFs are real.
Whether you are EMF-sensitivity depends on your circumstances.
If you are EMF-sensitive, this can profoundly influence your health, and simple switches and hacks can resolve them. Many cost no money and leave you at no risk of a histamine attack or mast-cell degranulation.
In this blog post, I have simply provided a top-line summary to help to explain the importance of these issues.
One of the most significant impacts on my health has been resolving EMF exposure, and I sincerely hope it can help you.
Resources
Five Quick Ways to Reduce EMF Exposure & Boost Vitality
The Non-Tinfoil Guide to EMFs: How to Fix Our Stupid Use of Technology
Dr. Dietrich Klingardt (He regularly does webinars on this topic).
Research
Belpomme, D., P. Irigaray, and L. Hardell. “Electromagnetic fields as cancer-causing agents.” Environmental Research2.107 (2008): 289-290.
Nindl, Gabi, et al. “Experiments showing that electromagnetic fields can be used to treat inflammatory diseases.” Biomedical sciences instrumentation 36 (2000): 7-13.
Beckman, Joseph S., et al. “ALS, SOD, and peroxynitrite.” Nature 364.6438 (1993): 584.
Carlo, George Louis, and Martin Schram. Cell Phones: Invisible Hazards in the Wireless Age: An Insider’s Alarming Discoveries about Cancer and Genetic Damage. Carroll & Graf, 2001.
