I moved to San Francisco from the suburbs of Sacramento, CA. Where I previously enjoyed plenty of sunshine and outdoor activities. I swam, played softball, and savored days at the lake and river. San Francisco is a different world. It’s cold. And so fast paced. I found myself inside all the time, sitting, commuting and working. Now are the days of artificial lighting, little movement, and quick, easy food. This was a recipe for disaster for me. It started with headaches. All the time. I was also always dehydrated, fatigued yet sleepless. Then came weight loss, hair loss and more. These experiences inevitably lead me down a path of education about what the heck was happening to me, how my body works, what it needs, and what environment I find myself in. I am ultimately grateful for this necessity of physical self discovery. Not just because it’s something that is needed in my own life, but because the subtle and not so subtle changes in our environment, diet, pharmacopeia, and behavior, have extensive effects on our health, happiness and even personality. So below are some of the things I’ve implemented in my life, to be healthy in a place like San Francisco.

It’s not all in your head: (my philosophical evolution)

“Health starts from a state of mind”, is an idea I’ve heard a lot. But I’d like to argue for the opposite. I first discovered this for myself through my unexpected reduction of anxiety and impulsivity after adopting a keto diet [R, R], and taking magnesium [R, R].

The book Deep Nutrition mentions that when you look at a gazelle, or zebra, or giraffe, they’re all beautiful. You don’t find obese or balding giraffes in the wild. According to the author, Dr. Shanihan,

“Beauty in any species, including humanity, is not a genetic lottery you have to be lucky to win. Beauty is mathematical adherence to the perfection of eons of evolution.“

It’s not supposed to be rare. So when the rise in industrialized fats like veggie oil and margarine started causing cellular protein malfunctioning [R], or the rise in electromagnetic radiation caused all kinds of physical [R] and mental [R] issues, or our cultures lack of sun exposure’s effect on neurodegenerative diseases [R, R, R], its essential for us to upgrade our mental framework on what healthy is, and where to look when health fails.

We, as social and cerebral animals, tend to fall back on the idea that when we feel bad, it must be because of a problem with a personal relationship, or a way of thinking. It reminds me of a zen story. A man was searching under a street lamp on a dark street for his keys. Someone walks up to him and asks “what are you doing?”. “I’m looking for my keys” says the man. “Oh okay, let me help you, where did you drop them?”. The man points to dark alley down the street and says “over there”. “Why are you looking over here then?”, “because this is where the light is”.

The unseen things that silently sustain our health don’t require thought or even understanding. So it’s reasonable to assume our minds ignore them, focusing on more expedient endeavors. But because those silent props, like the abundance of magnesium in food, water and salt are gone, we require a reorientation of what is expedient. Not just for our health, as magnesium is essential for over 300 biological processes in the human body, but for the health of our ecosystem that once silently supported us. Magnesium is unavailable because of mono farming, soil depletion and our changing modern diets. It is a problem for you who needs magnesium and isn’t getting it, and it’s a problem for life as we know it, who’s rapidly changing environment is undermining the health of us all.

Have depression or anxiety? There may be physical roots there as well.

Interestingly, depressed patients with increased inflammatory biomarkers have been found to be more likely to exhibit treatment resistance, and in several studies, antidepressant therapy has been associated with decreased inflammatory responses. Finally, preliminary data from patients with inflammatory disorders, as well as medically healthy depressed patients, suggest that inhibiting proinflammatory cytokines or their signaling pathways may improve depressed mood and increase treatment response to conventional antidepressant medication.
— Inflammation and Its Discontents: The Role of Cytokines in the Pathophysiology of Major Depression

In a study of sleep-deprived versus well-rested individuals, researchers found that the brains of those lacking sufficient sleep exhibited heightened activity in areas that deal with perceived human threats and a shutdown of areas that encourage social interaction. People shown videos of sleep-deprived individuals felt more alienated, suggesting that antisocial feelings are contagious. This is the first study to show a two-way relationship between sleep loss and becoming socially isolated.
— A study by University of California Berkeley

Health effects of Electromagnetic Radiation (EMFs):

If you’re like I was when I started this journey, the term EMF may be new to you. Or you may know what it is, but doubt that EMF radiation like cell phone signals, or home electrical or magnetic fields have any effect. They do. So this section is dedicated to a scientific studies dump, attesting to that. Feel free to peruse.

The EMFs found in homes, cell phones and wifi devices can damage DNA [R, R, R].
Is implicated in causing autism [R, R].
Infertility and lowered sperm count [R, R, R, R, R].
They can open the blood brain barrier [R, R].
Cause the big C (cancer) [R, R].
Sleep disturbance/insomnia [R, R, R, R, R].
Headaches [R, R, R].
Depression/depressive symptoms, fatigue/tiredness, dysesthesia, concentration/attention
dysfunction, memory changes, dizziness, irritability, loss of appetite/body weight, restlessness/anxiety,
Nausea, chronic pain [R, R, R, R].
Skin burning/tingling/dermographism and EEG changes.
You can read about the upcoming 5G, and its potential dangers here.

The graph above shows EMF effects from scientific studies, and how they compare to the power density limiting guidelines of various governing bodies.

Not all EMF’s are created equal. And their effects are as varied as they are. It’s generally accepted that pulsed EMF’s like the ones from laptops, routers, and cell phones which send packets of information, and dirty home wiring have more negative biological effects than slow wave or continuous fields like those in the atmosphere. Dirty electricity occurs when home wiring is not properly grounded, shielded or routed. Signals in the air and plugged in electronics can also combine high frequency waves with the normal 60hz in homes and have well documented negative effects [R, R, R, R].

All studies referenced in the chart can be found in the link above. This and this are also good references. If you’re skeptical or curious, and you feel you could use a health boost, do some experimentation. Get a Fitbit or Oura ring, turn the power off in your room, put your phone in airplane mode and turn off the router while you sleep and see if it improves your sleep. You may be surprised. You can try an EMF meter to visualize your environment as well. They are illuminating (plus you can hunt ghosts ;) ). Check out more here.

EMF Mechanisms of Action: (Voltage Gated Calcium Channels)

EMFs are only recently recognized by the WHO as a class B possible carcinogen, in the same category as Lead and other heavy metals. The reason for the contradictory beliefs around EMFs is because of the previous understanding of their mechanisms of action. EMFs are currently split into two categories. Ionizing and non-ionizing radiation. This just means, does the E/M particle have enough energy to knock electrons out of their orbit, and heat your tissue, like X-rays do. Most common forms of EMF exposure (home, wifi, cell phones, laptops) are non-ionizing, and so have been previously thought to be safe. Although its now been discovered that the mechanisms that causes the most damage in ionized radiation are the same as those in non-ionizing radiation. You can read more here.

Recently Martin Pall, a researcher and professor in biochemistry medical science at Washington State University, made great headway in charting the bio-effects of some non-ionizing radiation through voltage gated calcium channel (VGCC) activation. [R]. VGCCs are channels that modulate the flow of calcium in and out of the cell. When calcium enters the cell, various physiological responses are triggered. This mechanism plays obligatory roles in hormone secretion, muscle contractions, synaptic plasticity, gene transcription, neurotransmitter release, neurite outgrowth, and the activation of calcium-dependent enzymes [R, R, R].

VGCCs are activated by voltage across the cell membrane, like in the picture above. It is usually created by Na+ channels [R, R], but other voltage sources will do. This causes hundreds of calcium ions to flow into the the cell and stimulates elevation of nitric oxide (NO) and super oxide (O2+) which react to create perioxinitrite (ONOO), a highly damaging oxidant. Hydroxil radical is created by this mechanism as well. This is called the NO/ONOO pathway. And it’s known to damage mitochondria, nuclear and mitochondrial DNA, inducing rapid aging [R, R, R], chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), fibromyalgia (FM), multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) [R, R, R] and much more. See my mitochondria article. This is just one of many mechanisms with which EMFs interact with biology. You can read my full mechanisms article here.

Are you affected?

Let’s review biological effects. Maybe you feel them already and don’t realize. I had headaches for 3 years before discovering the reason… And after my discovery, exploration, and experimentation, if I get a headache, I can quickly relieve it by mitigating its source. The result is going from 3 years of constant headaches, to no, or very brief headaches. And the only cost of that was awareness. In fact, I’ve gained a lot of my vitality back since minding my EMF’s. I sleep through the night, have gained muscle, cleared up my brain fog, and have way more energy to enjoy friends, and challenge myself at work.

Here is a list of some symptoms of EMF sensitivity: