Stop! Check Your Energy Levels

It's invisible. It's everywhere. It's energy. But do you know how it's affecting your health?

Energy is the missing link in our modern lifestyle. Dr Robert Becker, a pioneering researcher in biological electricity and regeneration, eloquently describes how natural electromagnetic messages keep everybody connected internally and externally. The pulse of the earth (geomagnetic field) records the seasons and is a helpful navigational tool for animals. Our melatonin cycle also follows this rhythm. The song of the atmosphere (atmospheric electricity) gives our air the right charge for easy breathing. The whisper of the cosmos (in the radio and microwave frequency range) interacts with our cell membranes.

It becomes obvious that electromagnetism is the universal language of life. Unfortunately, this fact is all too easily taken for granted. To improve the good energy you receive, and to avoid potentially harmful rays, here are some suggestions.

Daily Serving of Light

Have your daily helping of full-spectrum, natural daylight. At least one hour per day of unfiltered broad-spectrum sunlight is essential to optimal health. In our latitudes, half an hour of such unfiltered daylight on bare skin is an effective strategy to ensure sufficient vitamin D.

Change your sunglasses for a wide-brimmed sun hat so that unfiltered, indirect sunlight can enter your eyes a major portal to hormonal health and important for the production of melatonin. Even on cloudy days it is important to go outside, even if it's only at lunchtime. There is much more light "information" coming through a blanket of clouds than out of an ordinary light bulb. For indoors, full-spectrum lighting is the preferred choice, but it is never a substitute for natural daylight. In one study on electromagnetic radiation and melatonin among utility workers, it turned out that office workers, not linemen, showed the lowest melatonin levels due to a lack of natural light exposure.

Eat Electrically Alive Foods

Have fresh, ripe food with each meal. Food should be grown under natural light conditions and processed minimally. The more sunshine a food is able to trap while growing, the better its electrochemical quality. In other words, the higher the electron count of a given food at the time of consumption, the more powerful its antioxidant potential. Our modern lifestyle accounts for an ever-increasing level of free radicals due to chemical, electromagnetic, nutritional and emotional stress, so vegetables and fruit need to be chock full of electron energy. Organically grown food harvested at the peak of ripeness and eaten fresh, ideally the same day it's picked, offers the highest electron count possible. Look for produce with intense colours, which indicates a high content of phytochemicals, and small- to medium-sized produce to ensure high nutrient density.

Promote Natural Sleep

To ensure smooth earth-to-body communication, don't sleep on metal. The metal springs in common mattresses are usually magnetized, which interferes with the earth's magnetic field. In addition, the magnetic field of each single spring tends to point in a different direction. On the other hand, a natural mattress made from natural fibres, such as sheep wool, natural latex or cotton, and supported by wooden slats offers an electromagnetically neutral solution for a restful sleep.

Waterbeds and electric heating blankets are used very close to the body during a time when humans seem most vulnerable to elevated levels of electromagnetic energy at night. Choose alternatives that don't possess disturbing magnetic and electric fields known to lower melatonin levels and immune response.

Choose Your Environment

There is a lot of controversy among scientists studying the health effects caused by synthetic electromagnetic technologies. Back in 1979, Nancy Wertheimer was ridiculed for investigating whether childhood leukemia might be associated with elevated magnetic fields given off by nearby high-tension power lines and pole-mounted transformers. Twenty years later, we still do not know what actually causes childhood leukemia. But last summer an expert working group from the International Agency for Research on Cancer found that a child's risk of developing childhood leukemia doubles with an electromagnetic exposure level exceeding 0.4 microtesla (equal to four milliGauss or mG) in residential settings, which is way below international exposure guidelines. Basically, stay away from high-tension power lines: residential homes and schools should not be closer than 200 to 500 metres (600 to 1,500 feet).

The safety of cell phones is another issue currently under investigation. Health officials in Canada continue to claim that microwave radiation from cellphones is safe. Meanwhile, Switzerland, Russia and Italy have lowered their exposure limits drastically. It's best to err on the side of caution. Cellphones do not belong in the hands of children, and even adults are better off using them for emergencies only.

Distance Yourself

Keep a smart distance from major appliances: one to two metres (three to six feet). Magnetic fields given off by TVs, computer monitors and refrigerators diminish quickly with increasing distance. Sit at least two metres (six feet) back from the TV and keep an arm's length away from the computer screen. Children in particular should not be able to touch the computer monitor. Magnetic fields can permeate almost anything, certainly the walls of your home. Therefore it is important to make sure that no major appliance (main electric panel, pressure tank, TV, computer monitor, refrigerator) is situated on the other side of the wall from where you sleep.

Unplug all electrical devices when not in use: pressing the off button is not enough. As long as a piece of equipment is plugged into an outlet, chances are that it still might be in a standby mode. Moreover, the connecting cord continues to be energized. The resulting electric fields are associated with fatigue and restless sleep. So unplug the bedside lamp before you close your eyes. Appliances that need to stay connected are best located away from sleeping and rest areas.

There are low-cost meters available capable of detecting 60-Hz magnetic fields in residential settings. But there may be more undetectable non-ionizing electromagnetic fields trespassing in your living space that cannot be detected by just one meter. Assess your individual situation thoroughly and reduce your exposure to stressful electromagnetic energy to increase the power of your health.

Bright Light Improves Sleep

Researchers at the University of Glasgow believe that one of the reasons older people have difficulties getting a good night's sleep is that they do not get enough light during the day. Experiments with hamsters showed that their internal clocks deteriorated if they didn't get enough light exposure. This, in turn, caused increasingly disturbed sleep. The researchers suggest that turning up the lights or getting outside more during the day may help older people improve their sleep pattern.

Source: New Scientist, Sept. 8, 2001