What’s an EMF anyway?
Think of all the modern electronic conveniences you use throughout the course of your day. The list is practically endless: your dishwasher, oven, washer and dryer, heater, air conditioner, television, computer, and let’s not forget your cell phone. All these devices are powered by an invisible mix of both electric and magnetic energy. In the past few decades, these devices have transformed life as we know it, providing incredible conveniences. But at what cost?
There are many different types of EMFs. Each has its own frequency, which is the number of waves that will pass through a fixed point per second. EMFs come from both natural sources, such as lightning and sunlight, and man-made sources, such as cell phones, Wi-Fi routers, electrical wiring, and microwaves. They exist in a spectrum, from extremely low frequency (3 Hz to 300 Hz) all the way up to gamma rays, which have a frequency greater than 1022 Hz.
The two major kinds: Ionizing and nonionizing.
EMFs are typically classified into two major groups: ionizing and nonionizing radiation.
- Ionizing means that that particular EMF has enough energy to disrupt the structure of an atom by knocking off one or more of its tightly bound electrons, transforming that previously neutral atom into an ion with a positive charge.
- Nonionizing radiation does not have enough energy to create ions, and thus it has been generally regarded as safe and biologically “harmless” for decades. But we are now learning that there are other mechanisms by which nonionizing radiation can cause damage to living cells.
Top 6 sources of EMF in your home
The following devices emit the vast majority of the EMFs you are exposed to in your home. You’ll later learn how to reduce, eliminate, distance or shield yourself against these EMFs.
- Cell phones, laptops, and tablets
- Wi-Fi routers
- Cordless DECT phones (digital enhanced cordless technology)
- Microwave ovens
- Bluetooth devices, such as headphones, AirPods, fitness trackers, keyboards, wireless mice, printers, baby monitors, hearing aids, speakers, gaming consoles and controllers, Amazon Echo and Alexa-enabled devices, any “smart” device including virtually any new TV
- Smart electric, gas, and water meters
EMFs and unwanted health effects
RINGING IN YOUR EARS (TINNITUS): Tinnitus is the perception of sound described as ringing in the ears, with the absence of any source. While this is certainly not a life-threatening problem, it is a common ailment, affecting an estimated 1 in 10 adults. Interestingly, humming or ringing in the ears is one of the most common symptoms of those who are impaired by or suffer with EMF hypersensitivity.
CATARACTS: Cataracts aren’t discussed much as side effects of EMF exposure because they are not life threatening and there are relatively easy and inexpensive surgical solutions available. Nevertheless, they are some of the most well-documented ailments linked to EMF exposure.
DISRUPTION TO YOUR BLOOD-BRAIN BARRIER: Your blood-brain barrier (BBB) forms a protective shield around your brain. The increased oxidative stress triggered by EMFs and peroxynitrite production can cause an increased permeability in your BBB.
IMPAIRED SLEEP AND REDUCED MELATONIN: One of the most common symptoms reported by people who are experiencing a new EMF exposure is insomnia. Extremely low frequency EMFs (such as those emitted by power plants and electric wiring) and radio-frequency EMFs such as those emitted by cell phones have been shown to impair sleep.
EMFs ALSO DISRUPT YOUR INTESTINAL BARRIER: Similar to how EMFs degrade your BBB, they also weaken the integrity of another important barrier, your intestine. EMFs weaken the tight junctions between the cells that line your intestinal tract, creating a condition known as leaky gut.
INCREASED TOXIN ABSORPTION: When EMFs increase the permeability of your BBB, toxins are allowed easy access to your brain. This results in an increased toxic load in your brain.
CANCER: While the wireless industry and its captured federal regulatory agencies would have you believe there is no relationship between cancer and EMFs, this is simply not true. There are a large number of peer-reviewed studies documenting an association.
HEART DISEASE: Your heart has one of the highest densities of voltage-gated calcium channels (VGCCs) and as a result is highly sensitive to EMFs, especially the pacemaker cells of your heart. This may be why EMFs tend to trigger the following heart conditions.
NEUROPSYCHIATRIC ILLNESSES: Exposure to electromagnetic fields can affect your brain in other ways that are far more common—including mental health challenges, which have become pervasive and epidemic, such as anxiety, depression, hostility, and difficulty concentrating.
ACCELERATES AGING: EMF exposure and the secondary cellular stress it creates can increase the number of senescent cells in your body. Senescent cells are merely aged and senile cells that have stopped reproducing.
ELECTROMAGNETIC HYPERSENSITIVITY SYNDROME: Electromagnetic hypersensitivity syndrome (EHS) is an umbrella term used to describe a variety of symptoms reported by patients that seem to have no other identifiable cause.
INFERTILITY: Exposure to wireless radiation reduces sperm motility, total sperm count, viability, and quality as well as increasing oxidative stress leading to infertility. In fact, at least six meta-analyses that evaluated more than 200 separate studies have determined that cell phone radiation is indeed significantly harmful to sperm. Women’s fertility is also susceptible to EMF exposure, in part because EMFs disrupt the delicate balance of a woman’s reproductive hormones.
Can you repair EMF-related damage?
The short answer is yes.
Although there is no way your ancestral biology could have predicted the enormous exposure you would have to MHz and GHz radiation from the wireless industry, you do indeed have a built-in repair system that can at least partially remediate the damage. It is called the poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) family of enzymes.
PARP requires fuel to work, and that fuel is one of the most important coenzymes in your body: nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, or NAD+ for short. NAD+ is a coenzyme, part of the NAD family of coenzymes, which also includes NADH, NADP+, and NADPH.
NADPH, the battery of your cell
NADPH provides a reservoir of electrons and can thus be thought of as a stable form of storage of electronic-reducing potential. In simpler terms, NADPH is your cell’s battery.
NADPH is what recharges your antioxidants to their active forms. Without NADPH, antioxidants aren’t all that helpful. It makes far more sense to increase your NADPH levels than to swallow antioxidants that will simply stop working after they donate their initial supply of electrons.
Increasing your NAPDH levels
When it comes to boosting your available NADPH, you have several possibilities available to you.
Avoid Eating at Least 3–4 Hours Before You Go to Sleep: The largest consumers of NADPH are the enzymes used for converting excess calories you eat to store them as fat. If you eat a large meal close to your bedtime there is simply no way for your body to burn those calories as energy, so it must store the calories by creating fat.
Increase NAD+ Levels Directly: When you increase your NAD+ levels with NAD+ precursors you can help to restore your body’s ability to repair the damage from EMF exposure by fueling the PARP enzymes. Scientists have reported that NAD+ can also greatly reduce X-ray-induced radiation damage in tissues exposed to ionizing gamma radiation, and that NAD+ deficiency is a key factor in ionizing radiation–induced tissue injury.
Keeping your NAD+ levels high
If you are between 30 and 40 years old, or even younger, you need to do very little other than to make sure you are implementing the NAD+ basics that nearly everyone needs.
Doing regular bouts of high-intensity exercise increases NAMPT and secondarily NAD+: Aerobic and resistance exercise training reverses the age-dependent decline in NAD+, as both forms of exercise increase NAMPT. The most exciting exercise development is the use of Blood Flow Restriction Training that allows the use of low weights and high repetitions to produce incredible metabolic benefits, including NAMPT activation.
Implementing time-restricted eating also increases NAD+: having your last food at least three to four hours before you go to sleep. If you eat closer to the time you sleep, you will likely store most of the energy from that food as fat, a conversion process that requires NADPH.
Niacin therapy: One of the most straightforward strategies for increasing your NAD+ balance is supplementing with its precursors. Oral NAD precursors have been shown to restore NAD levels in aged tissues and show beneficial effects against aging and aging-related diseases.
Five Best Ways to Increase Your NAD+:
- Reduce your EMF exposure and sleep in a low-EMF bedroom
- Practice daily time-restricted eating where you only eat food in a 6- to 8-hour window or even less
- Engage in some type of daily exercise and seriously consider blood flow restriction training
- Supplement with molecular hydrogen
- Make sure you are getting about 25 mg of niacin a day and have regular magnesium supplementation to reach at least your RDA of 400 mg of elemental magnesium
Continue reading: How to Reduce Your EMF Exposure