Health & Fitness

New research has revealed a key neural mechanism underlying the feeling of being unable to stop eating, the most salient aspect of binge episodes in eating disorders like bulimia nervosa.

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Studying mice, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have discovered that roseolovirus can trigger autoimmunity in a previously unknown way: by disrupting the process by which immune cells learn to avoid targeting their own body's cells and tissues.

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Researchers have developed and tested a new imaging approach they say will accelerate imaging-based research in the lab by allowing investigators to capture images of blood vessels at different spatial scales.

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Heart disease is the No. 1 cause of death for men and women in the U.S. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,¹ one person dies every 36 seconds from cardiovascular disease. One identified risk factor is high triglyceride levels, which are a type of necessary fat. However, in excess, it can increase your risk for heart disease.²

Research published in January 2022³ analyzed data from two randomized clinical trials and found that omega-3 fatty acids derived from krill oil could reduce triglyceride levels effectively and are safe and well-tolerated by the participants.

Having elevated triglycerides is just one factor that increases your risk for heart disease.⁴ However, cholesterol levels in general have long been at the center of an ongoing disagreement as to whether they actually influence heart disease. Mounting evidence shows that high cholesterol levels such as LDLs do not influence cardiovascular disease in most people.⁵

For example, a national study⁶ from the University of California Los Angeles demonstrated that 72.1% of people who had a heart attack did not have low-density cholesterol levels which would have indicated they were at risk for cardiovascular disease.⁷

In fact, their LDL cholesterol was within national guidelines and nearly half were within their optimal levels. More than half the patients hospitalized with a heart attack had high-density lipoproteins (HDL) in the poor range, based on a comparison to national guidelines.

Other commonly identified risk factors for heart disease include high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes, obesity, tobacco use, excessive alcohol use and not getting enough physical activity,⁸ yet, some scientists and doctors continue to recommend lowering fat consumption and using medications to lower cholesterol levels. As I discuss below, though, omega-3 fatty acids may have greater predictive value than cholesterol.

Krill Oil Lowers Triglyceride Levels

The study published in JAMA⁹ pooled the results of two randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled trials that had enrolled participants at 71 U.S. centers and the second from 93 centers in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. To be eligible in the two studies, participants had to have a fasting triglyceride level between 500 to 1500 mg per deciliter (mg/dL).¹⁰

The normal range for triglycerides levels is less than 150 mg/dL.¹¹ In total, over 26 weeks, 520 participants took a daily dose of 4 grams of naturally sourced krill oil that contained eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) as phospholipid esters and free fatty acids.¹² The control group were given a placebo-containing cornstarch.¹³

The analysis of the two studies is the largest clinical investigation using an omega-3 formulation in a patient group with high triglycerides. Both studies used a krill oil supplement produced by Aker BioMarine,¹⁴ which is based in Oslo, Norway.

Katina Handeland, from Aker BioMarine, commented in a press release,¹⁵ “This groundbreaking study gives proof that krill oil is part of the solution to alleviate the burden cardiovascular disease has on society. This can potentially have a significant impact on improving the health condition of millions of people and reduce healthcare costs.”

The results of the analysis after 12 weeks showed that participants who consumed krill oil had a 26% reduction in their triglyceride levels as compared to their baseline measurement. Those in the placebo group had a 15.1% reduction.¹⁶

This rose even higher at 26 weeks to 33.5% in those taking krill oil versus 20.8% in those taking the placebo. When the data were further analyzed, the researchers discovered that those taking krill oil treatment lowered their triglycerides even further when they were also taking medication for hypertriglyceridemia. Handeland commented:

“When analyzing only those patients receiving medications for their hypertriglyceridemia at study start, the authors observed even stronger reductions in the krill oil group and less reductions in the placebo group. This is interesting as these patients may represent an even more ‘true’ hypertriglyceridemia patient population.”

Also interesting is the high placebo effect using cornstarch. Past animal research using high amylose corn starch has demonstrated it can lower plasma total cholesterol concentrations.¹⁷ Amylose is a polysaccharide commonly found in cornstarch.

The ratio of amylose to amylopectin determines whether the starch is high amylose. Common cornstarch has 25% amylose, while high amylose cornstarch has 55% to 70%.¹⁸ The type of cornstarch used by the researchers as a placebo was not identified in the study.

Benefits of Healthy Omega-3 Choices

Krill oil contains less EPA and DHA per gram of supplement than fish oil does. However, krill oil may be more bioavailable as the EPA and DHA are bound in a phospholipid form. William S. Harris, Ph.D., from the Fatty Acid Research Institute, is a noted omega-3 researcher and believes this study demonstrates the greater bioavailability of krill oil over fish oil.

He spoke to NutraIngredients-USA, saying:¹⁹ "It's certainly not news that omega-3s lower triglycerides, but what may be the news here is that a fairly low dose in this form can have this effect."

Omega-3 fatty acids are naturally found in fatty fish. It's important to note that not all fish contain omega-3 fats; it’s only those found in cold water, such as wild-caught Alaskan salmon, anchovies, sardines, mackerel and herring. It is best to steer clear of farmed salmon due to the exaggerated potential for contamination.^20,21

They are also fed genetically engineered corn and soy, which is an unnatural diet and loaded with hazardous omega-6 fat. From a nutritional perspective, farmed salmon have the drawbacks of containing only half the omega-3 of wild salmon^22,23,24 and one-fourth the vitamin D,²⁵ while having more than 5.5 times the amount of omega-6.^26,27 Farmed salmon are also routinely exposed to antibiotics and pesticides.

DHA found in omega-3 fats is crucial for brain health. When omega-3 intake is inadequate your nervous system is more prone to inflammation, which affects neurotransmission. Low DHA levels are linked to memory loss and Alzheimer's disease.

Some have suggested degenerative brain diseases may potentially be reversible with sufficient DHA.^28,29 EPA is also beneficial in the treatment of depression.³⁰ There are other health benefits to consuming healthy omega-3 choices, including:

Reduce inflammation31,32,33	Protect vision34,35
Optimize muscle building36 and bone strength37	Improve metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance38,39
Improve mental health and behavior40,41	Reduce the risk of kidney disease42 and colon cancer43

Omega-3 Index Predictive of All-Cause Mortality

A deficiency in omega-3 fatty acids leaves you vulnerable to chronic disease and lifelong challenges. Optimizing your levels is a foundational strategy that helps you attain and maintain good health. The best way to determine if you're getting enough food with omega-3 is to get tested.

Research⁴⁴ supported by the National Institutes of Health⁴⁵ suggest that an omega-3 test is a good predictor of overall health and all-cause mortality.^46,47 Your omega-3 index is a measure of the amount of EPA and DHA in the membranes of your red blood cells (RBC). This index is expressed as a percent of your total RBC fatty acids.⁴⁸

The index has been validated as a stable, long-term marker of your omega-3 status and it reflects your tissue levels of EPA and DHA. An omega-3 index greater than 8% is associated with the lowest risk of death from heart disease while an index below 4% places you at the highest risk of heart disease-related mortality.⁴⁹

I firmly believe the index is one of the most important annual health screens that everyone needs. If your test results are low, consider using a krill oil supplement. Krill are wild-caught and sustainable, more potent than fish oil and less prone to oxidation.

In addition to the benefits listed above, one study⁵⁰ published in January 2021 evaluated 100 individuals' omega-3 index and compared that against their COVID-19 outcomes. The primary outcome measurement in the study was death; risk was analyzed as a measure of quartiles.

As expected, the researchers found that older individuals and those admitted with a “do not resuscitate” order had a higher likelihood of dying. After separating samples from the highest to the lowest quartile they found only one death in the group whose omega-3 index measured 5.7% or greater. This was a 66-year-old man with a do not resuscitate order. In the other three quartiles, a total of 13 out of 75 of the patients died.

When compared against older age, the researchers found the risk of death from COVID-19 in individuals who had lower levels of omega-3 fatty acids was at least as predictive as being 10 years older.

The researchers also confirm past data that demonstrated the average person in the U.S. has an omega-3 index near 4%, as their data showed the average index was 5.09% and the median — half the number of people had a higher index, and half the number of people had a lower index — was 4.75%.

Statins Do More Harm Than Good

While krill oil and omega-3 fatty acids appear to have a protective effect against COVID-19, statins are linked to a higher risk of COVID death⁵¹ and double the risk of dementia.⁵² Statins are cholesterol-lowering medications that are among the most widely used drugs in the world. Roughly 50% of us adults over 75 years⁵³ take a statin medication in the misguided hope of preventing heart disease, heart attacks and stroke.

Among patients with Type 2 diabetes who are admitted to the hospital for COVID-19, researchers found that those taking statins had a significantly higher mortality rate within seven days and 28 days compared to those who did not take the drugs.⁵⁴

Additionally, a connection is already known between statins and diabetes.⁵⁵ People who take the drugs are more than twice as likely to be diagnosed with diabetes than those who do not, and those who take the drugs for longer than two years had the highest risk.

Statins also influence cognitive performance since lowering the levels of LDL cholesterol are linked to a higher risk of dementia. One study⁵⁶ engaged people with mild cognitive impairment and looked at the effects of two types of statins: hydrophilic and lipophilic.

Hydrophilic statins, which include pravastatin (Pravachol) and rosuvastatin (Crestor), dissolve more readily in water, while lipophilic statins, such as atorvastatin (Lipitor), simvastatin (Zocor), Fluvastatin (Lescol), and lovastatin (Altoprev), dissolve more readily in fats.⁵⁷ Lipophilic statins can easily enter cells⁵⁸ and be distributed throughout your body, whereas hydrophilic statins focus on the liver.⁵⁹

The data showed those individuals with early mild cognitive impairment and low to moderate cholesterol levels and who used lipophilic statins had more than double the risk of dementia compared to those who did not use statins.⁶⁰

Even as saturated fats and cholesterol have been vilified, and statin drugs have become among the most widely prescribed medications worldwide, heart disease remains a top killer.⁶¹

Despite statins being prescribed for sizable groups, and “target” cholesterol levels being achieved, a systematic review of 35 randomized, controlled trials found that no additional benefits were gained.⁶²

Statins are effective at lowering cholesterol, but whether this is the panacea for helping you avoid heart disease and extend your lifespan is a topic of heated debate. And, as mentioned earlier, one 2018 scientific review presented substantial evidence that high LDL and total cholesterol are not an indication of heart disease risk, and that statin treatment is of doubtful benefit as a form of primary prevention for this reason.⁶³

In short, these drugs have done nothing to derail the rising trend of heart disease, while putting users at increased risk of health conditions like diabetes, dementia and others, such as:

• Cancer⁶⁴
• Cataracts⁶⁵
• Triple the risk of coronary artery and aortic artery calcification⁶⁶
• Musculoskeletal disorders, including myalgia, muscle weakness, muscle cramps, rhabdomyolysis and autoimmune muscle disease⁶⁷
• Depression⁶⁸

In the event you’re taking statins, be aware that they deplete your body of coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) and inhibit the synthesis of vitamin K2. The risks of CoQ10 depletion can be somewhat offset by taking a Coenzyme Q10 supplement, or if you're over 40, its reduced form ubiquinol. But ultimately, if you’re looking to protect both your brain and heart health, avoiding statin drugs and instead optimizing your diet and omega-3 index may be the answer.

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This article was previously published January 1, 2019, and has been updated with new information.

Vitamin D deficiency is incredibly common around the world, but many mistakenly believe they aren't at risk because they consume vitamin D-fortified foods, such as milk. However, few foods have therapeutic levels of vitamin D naturally, and even fortified foods do not contain enough vitamin D to support your health needs.

Despite its name, vitamin D is actually a steroid hormone that you obtain primarily through sun exposure, not via your diet. Since most dermatologists and other doctors recommend avoiding the sun and using sunscreen before venturing outdoors, vitamin D deficiency has reached truly epidemic proportions around the world.

Unfortunately, while the justification for sun avoidance is that it may reduce your risk of skin cancer, by avoiding sun exposure you risk vitamin D deficiency, which in turn raises your risk for many cancers — not only internal ones but also skin cancer, as well as a whole host of chronic diseases.

Considering the importance of vitamin D for disease prevention, strict sun avoidance is likely doing far more harm than good. The major problem with sun exposure is burning, not overall exposure. And, the easily treatable forms of skin cancer — squamous and basal cell carcinomas — are the ones most likely to form.

Definition of Vitamin D Deficiency

According to research¹ published in June 2018, an estimated 40% of Americans are profoundly vitamin D deficient, defined as having a serum (blood) level of vitamin D below 20 ng/mL (50 nmol/L). Sufficiency is defined as having a level of 20 ng/mL or higher.

Calling someone with a vitamin D level of less than 20 ng/ml vitamin D deficient is like calling someone over 400 pounds simply overweight — in both cases a grossly serious understatement.

Seventy-five percent of American adults and teens are deficient in vitamin D when a sufficiency level of 30 ng/mL is used.² If the sufficiency cutoff were to be moved to 40 to 60 ng/mL, sufficiency rates in the U.S. would likely be in the high 90% bracket.

It's important to realize that 20 ng/mL has repeatedly been shown to be grossly insufficient for good health and disease prevention and, really, anything below 40 ng/mL (100 nmol/L) should be suspect. For example, research has shown that once you reach a minimum serum vitamin D level of 40 ng/mL, your risk for cancer diminishes by 67%, compared to having a level of 20 ng/mL or less.³

Most cancers occur in people with a vitamin D blood level between 10 and 40 ng/mL (25 to 100 nmol/L), and the optimal level for cancer protection now appears to be between 60 and 80 ng/mL (150 to 200 nmol/L).

Several studies also show that these higher vitamin D levels are protective against breast cancer specifically. Importantly, a 2005 study⁴ showed women with vitamin D levels above 60 ng/mL have an 83% lower risk of breast cancer than those below 20 ng/mL! I cannot think of any other strategy that can offer that kind of risk reduction.

More recently, a pooled analysis⁵ published in June 2018 of two randomized trials and a prospective cohort study came to a near-identical conclusion. The objective was to assess whether there are any benefits to having a vitamin D level above 40 ng/mL, as most studies do not venture into these higher levels.

Indeed, mirroring the 2005 findings, women with vitamin D levels at or above 60 ng/mL had an 82% lower incidence rate of breast cancer than those with levels of 20 ng/mL or less. Published research by GrassrootsHealth reveal as much as 80% of all breast cancer incidence could be prevented simply by optimizing vitamin D and nothing else.

>>>>> Click Here <<<<<

Top 5 Signs of Vitamin D Deficiency

The only way to definitively identify vitamin D deficiency is via blood testing. However, there are some general signs and symptoms to be aware of as well. If any of the following apply to you, you should get your vitamin D levels tested sooner than later, and take proactive steps to boost your level into the 60 to 80 ng/mL range:

Top 5 Risk Factors for Vitamin D Deficiency

Several factors will influence your risk for vitamin D deficiency, including the following:

• Rarely spending time outdoors and/or always wearing sunscreen — Researchers have noted that vitamin D deficiency is prevalent in adults of all ages who always wear sun protection (which blocks vitamin D production) or limit their outdoor activities.¹⁶ The ideal time for sun exposure is between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., when the UVB rays are present.
• Darker skin — Your skin pigment acts as a natural sunscreen, so the more pigment you have, the more time you'll need to spend in the sun to make adequate amounts of vitamin D. If you have dark skin, you may need as much as 10 times more sun exposure to produce the same amount of vitamin D as a person with pale skin.
• Being 50 or older — As you get older, your skin doesn't make as much vitamin D in response to sun exposure. At the same time, your kidneys become less efficient at converting vitamin D into its active form. Older adults also tend to spend more time indoors (i.e., getting even less sun exposure and therefore vitamin D).
• Obesity — Because vitamin D is fat-soluble, body fat acts as a "sink" by collecting it. If you're overweight or obese, you're therefore likely going to need more vitamin D than a slimmer person. In one recent study,¹⁷ vitamin D deficiency was three times more prevalent in obese individuals.
• Gastrointestinal problems — Since vitamin D is fat-soluble, which means if you have a gastrointestinal condition that affects your ability to absorb fat, you may have lower absorption of fat-soluble vitamins like vitamin D as well. This includes gut conditions like Crohn's, celiac and nonceliac gluten sensitivity and inflammatory bowel disease.

Health Benefits of Vitamin D Optimization

Optimizing your vitamin D levels has been shown to have a powerful effect on health, helping protect against a wide variety of diseases. Among them:

Dry eye syndromes18,19

Macular degeneration,20,21 which is the No. 1 cause of blindness in the elderly.

Autoimmune diseases — Vitamin D is a potent immune modulator, making it very important for the prevention of autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis, inflammatory bowel disease and psoriasis, just to name a few.

Gastrointestinal diseases22 — Dysbiosis of your gut microbiome, inflammatory bowel disease and colitis are all disorders connected to vitamin D deficiency.

Infectious diseases, including influenza and HIV23,24

Inflammatory rheumatic diseases25 such as rheumatoid arthritis — A 2020 study showed that "vitamin D supplementation seemed to be an effective intervention for patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Different doses of vitamin D and durations of intervention produce different effects."

Osteoporosis and hip fractures

Cardiovascular disease — Vitamin D is very important for reducing hypertension, atherosclerotic heart disease, heart attack and stroke, as it plays a vital role in protecting and repairing damage to your endothelium.26 It also helps trigger production of nitric oxide — which improves blood flow and prevents blood clot formation — and significantly reduces oxidative stress in your vascular system, all of which are important to help prevent the development and/or progression of cardiovascular disease. According to Holick, vitamin D deficiency increases your risk of heart attack by 50%, and if you have a heart attack and you're vitamin D deficient, your risk of dying from that heart attack is virtually guaranteed. Indeed, a Norwegian study27 published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism found "a normal intake of vitamin D" significantly reduces your risk of death if you have cardiovascular disease.

Neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's disease28,29 and epilepsy — In one study,30 epileptics given a one-time megadose of vitamin D3, ranging from 40,000 IUs all the way up to 200,000 IUs, followed by a daily dose of 2,000 to 2,600 IUs a day for three months to bring each individual's vitamin D status to at least 30 ng/mL, resulted in significant improvements. Ten out of 13 had a decrease in the number of seizures, five of whom experienced more than a 50% reduction. Overall, the group had a 40% reduction in the number of seizures.

Lupus — According to researchers in Cairo,31 most patients with systemic lupus erythematosus have some level of vitamin D deficiency, defined as a level of 10 ng/mL or less, or insufficiency, a level between 10 and 30 ng/mL.

Obstructive sleep apnea — In one study, 98% of patients with sleep apnea had vitamin D deficiency, and the more severe the sleep apnea, the more severe the deficiency.32

Bone health, falls and fractures — A 2006 review33 looking at vitamin D intakes and health outcomes such as bone mineral density, dental health, risk of falls, fractures and colorectal cancer, found "the most advantageous serum concentrations of 25(OH)D begin at 30 ng/mL, and the best are between 36 to 40 ng/mL."

Obesity and diabetes — Research34 has shown vitamin D supplementation (4,000 IUs/day) combined with resistance training helps decrease your waist-to-hip ratio, a measurement that is far better at determining your risk for Type 2 diabetes and heart disease than body mass index.

Type 1 diabetes — Data from GrassrootsHealth's D*Action project to prevent Type 1 diabetes35 suggests maintaining a vitamin D level between 40 and 60 ng/mL (100 to 150 nmol/L) may prevent Type 1 diabetes, and stop the progression of the disease, which is a growing problem.

Neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and multiple sclerosis (MS)36 — Research shows MS patients with higher levels of vitamin D tend to experience less disabling symptoms.37 Vitamin D deficiency is also common among patients with Parkinson's38 and seniors with severe vitamin D deficiency may raise their risk for dementia by 125%.39

DNA repair and metabolic processes — One of Holick's studies showed healthy volunteers taking 2,000 IUs of vitamin D per day for a few months upregulated 291 different genes that control up to 80 different metabolic processes, including DNA repair and autoxidation (oxidation that occurs in the presence of oxygen and/or UV radiation, which has implications for aging and cancer).

Preterm birth — A level of 40 ng/mL has also been shown to offer powerful protection against preterm birth if you're pregnant.40 Women with a vitamin D level of at least 40 ng/mL may lower their risk of preterm birth by as much as 62%, compared to having a level of just 20 ng/mL. Women with a history of preterm birth gain even greater protection — an 80% reduction — when raising their vitamin D level above 40 ng/mL.

Pregnancy complications — Having a vitamin D level above 40 ng/mL also protects the mother by reducing her risk of preeclampsia, gestational diabetes and prenatal infections by approximately 50%.41

All-cause mortality — Studies have also linked higher vitamin D levels with lowered mortality from all causes.42,43,44

Vitamin D Levels Can Affect COVID Risk

Evidence showing vitamin D lowers your risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection, hospitalization, severe complications and death continues to mount, with study after study showing that your vitamin D status before you become infected can greatly affect not only your risk of getting COVID, but how well you recover (or don't) from it.

Included in those studies is a scientific review⁴⁵ in the journal Nutrients, which I co-wrote with William Grant, Ph.D., and Dr. Carol Wagner, both of whom are part of the GrassrootsHealth expert vitamin D panel. We found that at least 14 observational studies offer evidence that serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations are inversely correlated with the incidence or severity of COVID-19.

The evidence to date generally satisfies Hill's criteria for causality in a biological system, namely, strength of association, consistency, temporality, biological gradient, plausibility (e.g., mechanisms), and coherence, although experimental verification is lacking. Thus, the evidence seems strong enough that people and physicians can use or recommend vitamin D supplements to prevent or treat COVID-19 in light of their safety and wide therapeutic window.

As of October 31, 2021, our paper, "Evidence Regarding Vitamin D and Risk of COVID-19 and Its Severity" — which you can download and read for free — was the second most downloaded study from this journal in the previous 12 months. It was also No. 2 in citations and No. 4 for views.

Other studies have also confirmed that higher vitamin D levels lower your risk of complications and death from COVID-19. Among them is an August 2020 study^46,47 published in the journal Nutrients, which found patients who had a vitamin D level below 12 ng/mL (30 nmol/L) had a 6.12 times higher risk of severe disease requiring invasive mechanical ventilation, and a 14.7 times higher risk of death compared to those with a vitamin D level above 12 ng/mL.

Other Conditions Affected by Vitamin D Levels

In January 2022 Mayo Clinic research on vitamin D was featured by WEAU 13 News in Wisconsin. The clinic's list of conditions affected by vitamin D include:⁴⁸

Cognitive health — Research shows that low levels of vitamin D in the blood are associated with cognitive decline.

Inherited bone disorders — Vitamin D supplements can be used to help treat inherited disorders resulting from an inability to absorb or process vitamin D, such as familial hypophosphatemia.

Multiple sclerosis — Research suggests that long-term vitamin D supplementation reduces the risk of multiple sclerosis.

Osteomalacia — Vitamin D supplements are used to treat adults with severe vitamin D deficiency, resulting in loss of bone mineral content, bone pain, muscle weakness and soft bones (osteomalacia).

Osteoporosis — Studies suggest that people who get enough vitamin D and calcium in their diets can slow bone mineral loss, help prevent osteoporosis and reduce bone fractures. Ask your doctor if you need a calcium and vitamin D supplement to prevent or treat osteoporosis.

Psoriasis — Applying vitamin D or a topical preparation that contains a vitamin D compound called calcipotriene to the skin can treat plaque-type psoriasis in some people.

Rickets — This rare condition develops in children with vitamin D deficiency.

Check Your Vitamin D Level Twice a Year

Regular, sensible sun exposure is the best way to optimize your vitamin D status, but many will need to take an oral vitamin D3 supplement, especially during winter months.

The only way to gauge whether you might need to supplement, and how much, is to get your level tested, ideally twice a year, in the early spring, after the winter, and early fall when you level is at its peak and low point. This is particularly important if you're pregnant or planning a pregnancy, or if you have cancer.

Again, the level you're aiming for is between 60 and 80 ng/mL, with 40 ng/mL being the low cutoff point for sufficiency to prevent a wide range of diseases, including cancer.

GrassrootsHealth makes testing easy by offering an inexpensive vitamin D testing kit as part of its consumer-sponsored research. By signing up, you are helping further vital health research that can help millions in coming years. (All revenues from these kits go directly to GrassrootsHealth. I make no profit from these kits and only provide them as a service of convenience to my readers.)

All women are also encouraged to enroll in the Breast Cancer Prevention project,⁴⁹ to track your vitamin D level and help prevent an initial cancer occurrence, or, if you've already had it, to help prevent a recurrence. In addition, anyone affected by Type 1 Diabetes is invited to enroll in the Type 1 Diabetes Prevention Project.

Required Dosage Is Highly Individual

Research⁵⁰ suggests it would require 9,600 IUs of vitamin D per day to get 97% of the population to reach 40 ng/mL, but individual requirements can vary widely, and you need to take whatever dosage required to get you into the optimal range.

In 2018 I interviewed Carole Baggerly, director and founder of GrassrootsHealth, a nonprofit public health research organization dedicated to moving public health messages regarding vitamin D from research into practice, and she said:

"Our first paper, published in 2011, showed the dose response relationship. You can easily see that two people taking the same dose (e.g., 4,000 IU/day) could have very different results. That's why testing … is so important."

If you've been taking a certain amount of vitamin D3 for a number of months and retesting reveals you're still not within the recommended range, then you know you need to increase your dosage.

Over time, with continued testing, you'll find your individual sweet spot and have a good idea of how much you need to take to maintain an ideal level year-round. GrassrootsHealth also has an online vitamin D calculator you can use to estimate your vitamin D3 dosage once you know your current serum level.

Additional Guidelines When Using Oral Vitamin D3

Aside from determining your ideal dose of vitamin D3, you also need to make sure you're getting enough vitamin K2 (to avoid complications associated with excessive calcification in your arteries), calcium and magnesium.

Research^51,52 has shown that if you're taking high doses of vitamin D while having an insufficient magnesium level, your body cannot properly utilize the vitamin D you're taking. The reason for this is because magnesium is required for the actual activation of vitamin D. If your magnesium level is too low, the vitamin D may simply get stored in its inactive form.

This may actually help explain why many need rather high doses of vitamin D to optimize their levels. According to this scientific review, as many as 50% of Americans taking vitamin D supplements may not get significant benefit due to insufficient magnesium levels.

On the other hand, when you have an optimal magnesium level, your vitamin D level will rise even if you're taking a much lower dose.⁵³ In fact, previous research⁵⁴ has indicated that higher magnesium intake helps reduce your risk of vitamin D deficiency — likely by activating more of it.

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February 21, 2022, the Canadian Parliament approved Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s motion to invoke the Emergencies Act, with 185 votes for and 151 against, in response to the peaceful trucker protest against vaccine mandates.¹ While Trudeau in a February 14, 2022, press conference (above) promised the Act would be limited in time, geographical location and scope, he’s already reneging on that promise.

Financial Surveillance Powers Will Be Permanently Expanded

The act was invoked to allow the government to physically disperse the trucker convoy without actually listening to their complaint, and to punish anyone who has supported the protest.

Under the act, banks are empowered to seize the personal bank accounts of anyone suspected of participating in the protest, or supporting it with as little as a $25 donation. Disturbingly, the surveillance powers over financial transactions granted by the act are actually intended to become permanent. As reported by National Review:²

“In a February 14 news conference, Canadian finance minister Chrystia Freeland said that the government was using the Emergencies Act to broaden ‘the scope of Canada’s anti-money-laundering and terrorist financing rules so that they cover crowdfunding platforms and the payment service providers they use.’

That broadened power requires all forms of digital transactions, including cryptocurrencies, to be reported to the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Center of Canada. (I.e., ‘Fintrac’).

‘As of today, all crowdfunding platforms and the payment service providers they use must register with Fintrac, and they must report large and suspicious transactions to Fintrac,’ Freeland said.

She justified the move as a way to ‘mitigate the risk’ of ‘illicit funds’ and ‘increase the quality and quantity of intelligence received by Fintrac and make more information available to support investigations by law enforcement’ ...

Freeland said the trucker convoy, which had assembled to protest coronavirus restrictions, had ‘highlighted the fact’ that digital assets and funding mechanisms ‘weren’t captured’ by the Canadian government’s pre-existing surveillance powers.

As a result, she said, ‘the government will also bring forward legislation to provide these authorities to FinTrac on a permanent basis.’”

As noted by the National Review, we can already tell what the Canadian government will do with those expanded surveillance powers. We’re seeing their intentions in action. By invoking the Act, Trudeau has given himself the unilateral power to destroy the lives of Canadians who happen to disagree with him, regardless of the issue at hand.

Without court order or due process, the government can now freeze bank accounts, cancel insurance policies and revoke drivers’ licenses, and the victims have no recourse or remedy.

“All this, of course, flies in the face of Trudeau’s promise that the Emergencies Act powers would be temporary,” National Review notes, adding:³

“When he announced his invocation of the order, he promised the Canadian people that his expanded authorities would ‘be time-limited, geographically targeted, as well as reasonable and proportionate to the threats they are meant to address.’ Not a single part of that sentence has proved to be true.”

Government Wants to Decide How You Spend Your Money

What’s happening in Canada should be a sobering wakeup call for the whole world. They’re showing us exactly what’s in store for all of us. Governments will basically control dissent through financial tyranny and blackmail.

The next step in that direction is the implementation of programmable digital currencies, worldwide. As reported by The Telegraph in June 2021, the Bank of England has already started moving on a programmable central bank digital currency (CBDC), and there’s no doubt that this is the plan of all central banks worldwide.⁴

Executive board member of the European Central Bank, Fabio Panetta, mentioned it in his December 10, 2021, lecture on the future of digital money in Rome, Italy.⁵

What’s meant by a “programmable” currency? As explained by The Telegraph,⁶ “Digital cash could be programmed to ensure it is only spent on essentials, or goods which an employer or government deems to be sensible.” In other words, the issuer of the money would have complete control over how you, the recipient, spend it.

“Tom Mutton, a director at the Bank of England, said during a conference ... that programming could become a key feature of any future central bank digital currency ...” The Telegraph reported.⁷

“He said ... what happens if one of the participants in a transaction puts a restriction on [future use of the money]? There could be some socially beneficial outcomes from that, preventing activity which is seen to be socially harmful in some way. But at the same time it could be a restriction on people’s freedoms.’”

Absolute Control Through Financial Slavery

That programmable currency might restrict freedom is probably the understatement of the century. It’s an absolute given. Imagine your employer, your government and the central bank itself having the privilege to dictate how you spend your own money!

Imagine a third party deciding how much you’re allowed to spend on rent, what kind of food or clothing you’re allowed to buy, or what hobbies you’re allowed to spend money on and when. That’s the power they intend to obtain, and current events in Canada prove it.

The “socially beneficial outcomes” Mutton is hinting at are basically that an unelected cabal will have the ability to micromanage your personal finances, and hence dictate your behavior in every area of your life. As noted by British activist and radio presenter Maajid Nawaz in the Joe Rogan clip above, with a programmable CBDC, the British government would have complete control over anyone who disagrees with their policies or activities.

For example, with other surveillance, they could determine that he was planning to appear on Rogan’s show and simply reprogram his CBDCs with the click of a button, such that he would not be allowed to purchase a plane ticket. So much for that plan then.

Of course, CBDCs will exist by themselves. They’re designed to be used together with digital ID and a social credit score, like that in China. The COVID vaccine passports are one type of platform that could be used for this, but even if a state or country rejects vaccine passports, don’t for a moment think you’re out of the woods, not by a long-shot. Chances are, they’ll introduce a digital ID system instead, which will serve the exact same function.

Global Leadership Has Been Infiltrated

In the full Rogan interview, Nawaz goes on to discuss how governments around the world have been infiltrated by World Economic Forum (WEF) members whose agenda it is to implement global authoritarianism. As reported by Life Site News:⁸

“... the WEF has installed its members in national leadership roles around the world to further the organization’s sprawling authoritarian agenda. Explaining that government leaders worldwide have begun lifting COVID-19 mandates and restrictions while leaving in place an apparatus of digital tracking and identification that forms the embryonic stages of a digital social credit score.

Nawaz said the WEF under Schwab has worked on ‘embedding people in government who are subscribed to’ the Great Reset agenda. ‘That’s what they say themselves,’ Nawaz said, pointing out that the so-called Great Reset, whose advocates have famously asserted that by 2030 people will ‘own nothing and be happy,’ is explained in detail on the WEF’s website.⁹

In a 2020 book entitled ‘COVID-19: The Great Reset,’ Schwab openly argued that the COVID-19 response should be used to ‘revamp all aspects of our societies and economies, from education to social contracts and working conditions’ ...

The WEF has clearly articulated¹⁰ its interest in pursuing a global digital ID system. ‘So this is going to be this never-ending process to slowly move the goal posts,’ Rogan surmised. ‘Towards more and more authoritarianism,’ Nawaz added. ‘Checkpoint society. It’s all there. They’ve told us this.’”

How exactly has the WEF infiltrated governments and leadership roles around the world? In part by getting members of its Young Global Leaders group elected or installed in key positions. Would it surprise you to learn that Trudeau went through Schwab’s Young Global Leaders program?

Other members whose dictatorial mindset cannot be disguised any longer are New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and French President Emmanuel Macron. Bill Gates and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg have also gone through the program, and both are clearly supporting and promoting The Great Reset agenda through their respective business ventures.

Globalists Plan to Seize Control of Health Systems Worldwide

Your money isn’t the only thing the globalist cabal wants to control, however. In a February 18, 2022, article, Dr. Peter Breggin, author of “COVID-19 and the Global Predators: We Are the Prey,”¹¹ warns that the next move in the globalists’ war on humanity is to seize control over the health care systems of the entire world:¹²

“We have discovered the next move of the global predators — already in progress — in their escalating assaults against individual and political freedom. The next big assault on human freedom involves a legalized takeover of national healthcare systems by the World Health Organization (WHO).

This stealth attack — with its initial plans already backed by many nations — will begin full implementation in 2024 if it is not quickly recognized and fought! ... The Chinese Communist influence over WHO has been solid for more than a decade, and the party was able to install Tedros without any competition.

He became the first and only Director-General who is not a physician and instead is a communist politician. Now the Director-General of WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus — known simply as Tedros — has unveiled plans to take charge of all global health.

While addressing the WHO Executive Committee on January 24, 2022, Director-General Tedros spelled out his global health plan, including his final priority for his enormous scheme: ‘The fifth priority is to urgently strengthen WHO as the leading and directing authority on global health, at the center of the global health architecture.’

Tedros’s closing words to his report to the executive committee are chilling in their grandiosity and echo Marxist exhortations to cheering mobs by a Stalin, Mao, or Xi Jinping: ‘We are one world, we have one health, we are one WHO.’ Tedros seeks to become super-Fauci for the world, and, like Fauci, he will do it on behalf of the global predators.”

Health Fascism

As explained by Breggin, the global health care takeover really began with Gates’ Decade of Vaccines, announced in 2010 at the WEF’s annual meeting in Davos. At that time, Gates installed Dr. Anthony Fauci on his vaccine advisory board, thereby guaranteeing his plans would receive support from the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), which Fauci is the head of. Breggin continues:¹³

“A theme for the Decade of Vaccines was ‘Public-Private Partnerships Drive Progress in Vaccine Development, Delivery’ — essentially the precursor to the Great Reset establishing a world governance of public and private health united in the spirit of fascism.

By 2012, Gates achieved official UN approval for his scheme, establishing a broad network of global predators aimed at exploiting and dominating humanity through public health. Communist China would play a prominent role through its control over the UN and WHO and through its close relationships with global predators like Bill Gates, Klaus Schwab, Mike Bloomberg, Big Tech executives, and many other billionaires and world leaders.

A decade and more later, during COVID-19, WHO has proven its usefulness to the predators in orchestrating science, medicine, and public health in the suppression of human freedom and the generation of wealth and power for the globalists.”

Under the guise of a global pandemic, the WHO, the WEF and all of its installed leaders in government and private business, were able to roll out a plan that has been decades in the making. The pandemic was a perfect cover. In the name of keeping everyone “safe” from infection, the globalists have justified unprecedented attacks on democracy, civil liberties and personal freedoms, including the right to choose your own medical treatment.

Now, the WHO is gearing up to make its pandemic leadership permanent, and to extend it into the health care systems of every nation. “The idea is ‘the principle of health for all’ — universal health care organized by WHO as part of the Great Reset,” Breggin explains.

Pandemic Treaty Is Being Established

May 24, 2021, the European Council announced it supported the establishment of an international Pandemic Treaty, under which the WHO would have the power to replace the constitutions of individual nations with its own constitution under the banner of “pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.”¹⁴

“The world has already seen how any pandemic emergency, real or concocted, now or in the future, could then justify WHO taking over the entirety of government operations of sovereign nations, robbing all individuals of their freedoms, and fully crushing the democratic republics of the world,” Breggin warns.¹⁵

“The spirit of Communism can be felt throughout the document. We are told that the ‘purpose’ of the new strategy will be ‘guided by a spirit of solidarity, anchored in the principles of fairness, inclusion, and transparency.’ Notice, as in all pronouncements by global predators; there is no mention of individual rights, political liberty, or national sovereignty.

The great engine of human progress, human freedom, will be replaced by the great destroyer of humanity, collectivism, under the rule of the elite. Tucked into the report were the real goals ... Here are three main purposes or goals of the proposed treaty:

The report adds, ‘More specifically, such an instrument can enhance international cooperation in a number of priority areas, such as surveillance, alerts, and response, but also in general trust in the international health system.’ Clearly, they were building support for Tedros’s January 24, 2022 announcement that WHO would take over the international health care system.”

Even Your Food Will Be Under Their Control

In addition to your finances and your health care, the global cabal also intend to control the food supply and dictate what you can and cannot eat, in the name of combating climate change and saving the planet. The Great Reset¹⁶ is indeed the reset of life and society as we know it. Not a single area will be left untouched.

Sustainable development, Agenda 21, the 2030 Agenda, the New Urban Agenda, the Fourth Industrial Revolution,¹⁷ “Build Back Better,”¹⁸ green economy, the Green New Deal, the Paris Climate Agreement and the global warming movement in general all refer to and are part of The Great Reset agenda and its resource-based economics.

The common goal of all these movements and agendas is to capture all of the resources of the world — the ownership of them — for a small global cabal that has the know-how to program the computer systems that will ultimately dictate the lives of everyone.

When they talk about “wealth redistribution,” what they’re really referring to is the redistribution of resources from us to them. The goal is for you to own nothing. Everything you need, from the shirt on your back to a roof over your head, you’ll have to rent from the globalist owners.

Even the food you put into your mouth is planned to be under their complete control. To this end, the WEF has partnered with the EAT Forum, which will set the political agenda for global food production. The EAT Forum was cofounded by the Wellcome Trust, which in turn was established with the financial help of GlaxoSmithKline.

EAT collaborates with nearly 40 city governments across Africa, Europe, Asia, North and South America and Australia, and maintains close relationships with imitation meat companies such as Impossible Foods, which was cofunded by Google, Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates.¹⁹ Gates has also been gobbling up farmland, becoming one of the largest private land owners in the U.S.²⁰

EAT has developed a “Planetary Health Diet” that is designed to be applied to the global population and entails cutting meat and dairy intake by up to 90%, replacing it largely with foods made in laboratories, along with cereals and oil.²¹

Not surprisingly, Gates is on record urging Western nations to stop eating real meat altogether,²² and articles have been published in the past three years insisting people need to get used to eating bugs and drinking reclaimed sewage,²³ all in the name of sustainability and saving the planet.

Being able to see the globalists’ plan as clearly as we can see it now, we have an obligation to future generations to resist, denounce and refuse any and all implementations of the technocratic agenda. We can win, for the simple fact that there are more of us than there are of them, but we have to be vocal about it — we need to join forces and present a united front, resisting peacefully, like the Canadian truckers.

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This article was previously published February 21, 2018, and has been updated with new information.

Mounting evidence suggests electromagnetic field (EMF) radiation from cellphones can trigger abnormal cell growth and cancer^1,2 As early as 2011, the evidence was strong enough for the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the cancer research arm of the World Health Organization, to declare cellphones a Group 2B "possible carcinogen."³ Two government-funded studies⁴ bring renewed attention to this link.^5,6,7,8

The $25 million research conducted by the National Toxicology Program (NTP) — an interagency research program started by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in 1978 and now housed at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) — included two separate studies: one on mice and one on rats.

The studies, in which 3,000 animals were exposed to the type of radiation emitted by 2G and 3G cellphones, were said to be the most extensive to date.

Cellphone Radiation Linked to Brain and Heart Tumors

The researchers found male rats were more likely to develop heart tumors, while female rats and newborns exposed to high levels of radiation during pregnancy and lactation were more likely to have low body weight. DNA damage and damage to heart tissue were also observed in both male and female rats, but not mice.

Other types of tumors did occur in both types of animals, though, including brain, prostate, liver and pancreatic tumors. According to the researchers, if these results could be confirmed, then cellphone radiation may indeed be a "weak" carcinogen.

The animals in these studies were exposed to cellphone radiation for nine hours a day for two years (basically the full life span of a rat). According to the researchers, this level of exposure is far greater than what humans are exposed to, making it difficult to extrapolate the impact cellphone radiation might have on humans.

Personally, I disagree with this view, as many people, especially the younger generation, have their cellphones turned on and near their body 24/7. Many are literally sleeping with their phone beneath their pillow. Unless your phone is in a faraday bag, airplane mode or turned off completely, it is still emitting radiation, so you're still exposing yourself to microwave radiation even when you're not talking on the phone. I believe the fact that this reality is completely ignored is a serious oversight.

As noted by The New York Times,⁹ the heart tumors (malignant schwannomas) found in the study’s male rats are "similar to acoustic neuromas, a benign tumor in people involving the nerve that connects the ear to the brain, which some studies have linked to cellphone use." The scientists also expressed surprise at the finding of DNA damage, as the conventional belief is that nonionizing radiofrequency radiation cannot harm DNA.

"We don't feel like we understand enough about the results to be able to place a huge degree of confidence in the findings," John Bucher, Ph.D.,¹⁰ senior scientist at the National Toxicology Program told reporters at the time. Bucher also noted that "[the] patterns of damage to brain tissues in these animals are not particularly consistent with tumor outcomes."

To me, this statement offers no comfort whatsoever. Brain damage is brain damage, even if it doesn't specifically lead to cancer!

Brain Tumors Are Not the Most Pressing Concern

In fact, the primary hazard of cellphone radiation is not brain cancer per se but rather systemic cellular and mitochondrial damage, which is harmful to health in general and can contribute to any number of health problems and chronic diseases. In 2018, an estimated 80,000 U.S. men, women and children were being diagnosed with a brain tumor each year.¹¹

In 2022, experts anticipate that 88,970 will be diagnosed with a brain tumor.¹² Meanwhile, 659,000 people die each year from heart disease,¹³ so the relative rarity of brain cancer may lead you to believe that your cellphone is safe.

After all, when 91 percent of the adult population of the U.S. carried a cellphone in 2018¹⁴ and less than 0.02 percent¹⁵ developed a brain tumor, it may appear that using a cellphone is benign. The evidence shows it's not.

Even these NIH studies revealed DNA and cellular damage, even though the researchers insisted there's no explanation as to why. This, despite the fact that a number of other scientists and EMF specialists have presented evidence for a number of different mechanisms of harm.

For example, research¹⁶ by Allan Frey, Office of Naval Research, revealed that cellphone radiation weakens cell membranes and your blood-brain barrier. Some of his experiments showed that dye injected into animals was able to penetrate into the brain when exposed to pulsed digital signals from microwaves. This research was done in the 1960s, before the introduction of cellphones. At the time, radar and microwaves were the main focus.

Today, these findings are particularly notable since cellphones are held close to the brain. The take-home message is that radiation from your cellphone weakens your blood-brain barrier, allowing toxins in your blood to enter your brain, and into the cells of your entire body. But that's not all. Following, I will summarize evidence produced by a number of other experts in the field, who claim to have identified one or more mechanisms of harm.

Same Data, Different Interpretations

Before I get into the mechanisms, it's worth noting that when partial results from the NTP's animal studies were initially released, the findings were followed by a public health warning. In fact, the preliminary findings were released early because the researchers deemed it too important to wait.

Christopher Portier, Ph.D., retired head of the NTP who was involved in the launch of the study, insisted the findings showed clear causation. "I would call it a causative study, absolutely," he told Scientific American.¹⁷ "They controlled everything in the study. It's [the cancer] because of the exposure."

In November 2016, David McCormick, Ph.D., director of the Illinois Institute of Technology Research Institute where the study was conducted, was equally clear, telling reporters,¹⁸ "What we are saying here is that based on the animal studies, there is a possible risk cellphone RF [radio frequency] is potentially carcinogenic in humans.

These are uncommon lesions in rodents, so it is our conclusion that they are exposure related." Although he admitted he wasn’t giving up his own cellphone, he added that it might take decades to “to see any and all damage done” by RF because of the relative newness of cellphones.

As noted by Microwave News,¹⁹ while some of the pathology data was updated after the initial release in 2016, the changes were minor. The interpretation, however, has changed rather dramatically. But, even though the findings didn't changed, the NTP insisted it wasn’t "not a high-risk situation" and that the risk to human health is negligible.

Microwave News listed a number of possible political reasons for the sudden turnaround, including different NTP leadership, the current White House administration's disdain for science that threatens big business, and the fact that the major telecommunications players today are Apple, Google and Microsoft — all major Wall Street darlings.

Whatever the reason, with 5G being rolled out in 2021 and 2022, it's clear the NTP is downplaying findings that only a handful of years ago,were considered of significant importance for public health. Not only that, but 5G supporters in 2022 are now being boosted by mainstream media like USA Today, which “debunks” claims that 5G could be harmful.²⁰

EMFs Produce Potent Oxidant Stressors

Martin Pall, Ph.D., has identified and published research describing the likely molecular mechanisms of how EMFs from cellphones and wireless technologies damage plants, animals and humans.^21,22,23,24 The process begins when low-frequency microwave radiation activates voltage-gated calcium channels (VGCCs)²⁵ — channels in the outer membrane of your cells. Once activated, the VGCCs open up, allowing an abnormal influx of calcium ions into the cell.

This increased intracellular calcium and the accompanying increase in calcium signaling appears to be responsible for a majority of the damage that occurs.

The excess calcium activates nitric oxide, and while nitric oxide has many health benefits, massively excessive nitric oxide reacts with superoxide, producing peroxynitrites, extremely potent oxidant stressors believed to be a root cause for many of today's chronic diseases.²⁶ Nitric oxide is the only molecule in your body produced at high enough concentrations to outcompete other molecules for superoxide and is a precursor for peroxynitrite.²⁷

Inside your body, peroxynitrites modify tyrosine molecules in proteins to create a new substance, nitrotyrosine and nitration of structural protein.²⁸ Changes from nitration are visible in human biopsy of atherosclerosis, myocardial ischemia, inflammatory bowel disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and septic lung disease.²⁹

Significant oxidative stress from peroxynitrites may also result in single-strand breaks of DNA.³⁰ This pathway of oxidative destruction — triggered by low-frequency radiation emitted from mobile devices — may partially explain the unprecedented growth rate of chronic disease since 1990,³¹ and is a far greater concern than brain tumors.

Neurological, Heart, Fertility Problems More Likely With EMFs

According to Pall's theory, the physical locations where VGCCs are the densest are indicative of the diseases you might expect from chronic excessive exposure to EMFs. As it turns out, the highest density of VGCCs are found in your nervous system, the pacemaker in your heart and in male testes. As a result, EMFs are likely to contribute to neurological and neuropsychiatric problems, heart and reproductive problems.

Indeed, studies dating back to the 1950s and '60s show the nervous system is the organ most sensitive to EMFs. Some of these studies show massive changes in the structure of neurons, including cell death and synaptic dysfunction. When the VGCCs are activated in the brain they release neurotransmitters and neuroendocrine hormones.

In animals exposed to EMFs there are massive, cumulative effects in the brain. Genetic polymorphism studies also show that elevated VGCC activity in certain parts of the brain produces a variety of neuropsychiatric effects.

Hence, consequences of chronic EMF exposure to the brain include anxiety, depression, autism and Alzheimer's disease, which Pall detailed in a 2016 paper.³² Research also suggests excessive EMF exposure is contributing to reproductive problems in both sexes.

In 2017, researchers showed prenatal exposure to power-frequency fields can nearly triple a pregnant woman's risk of miscarriage.³³

According to lead author and senior research scientist at Kaiser Permanente's research division, Dr. De-Kun Li,³⁴ "This study provides fresh evidence, directly from a human population, that magnetic field exposure in daily life could have adverse health impacts," adding his findings "should bring attention to this potentially important environmental hazard to pregnant women."

According to Li, at the time there were at least six other studies, in addition to two of his own, showing this link^{35,36,37,38,39} In February 2022, a systematic review published in the journal Heliyon⁴⁰ found that “unmanaged, the absorption of EMF radiation by the maternal abdomen during pregnancy is associated with serious birth and infant outcomes.” Study authors urged further research to validate their findings, while concluding:

The current review found EMF radiation exposure to be linked to hormonal, thermal, and cardiovascular changes in adults. EMF radiation exposure has also been linked with miscarriages and alternations in fetal temperature, HRV, and infant anthropometric measurements.

EMF exposure may also play a significant role in testicular cancer and male infertility. Studies have linked low-level electromagnetic radiation exposure from cellphones to an 8% reduction in sperm motility and a 9% reduction in sperm viability^41,42 Wi-Fi-equipped laptop computers have also been linked to decreased sperm motility and an increase in sperm DNA fragmentation after just four hours of use.⁴³

Excessive Charges Alter Cellular Function

Alasdair Philips, founder of Powerwatch⁴⁴ — a British organization committed to uncovering EMFs' effects on health — believes there's even more to it than what Pall has discovered. He references Gerald Pollack's work on the fourth phase of water, so-called exclusion zone (EZ) water, which is the kind of water you have in your body.

"It's a completely different model of how the cell functions," Philips says. "The cell functions as a gel, if you like, held together by electric charge. The calcium-gated channel is part of that, but actually, it isn't a membrane with a few things sticking through it.

It's actually … electric charges on molecules. Yes, Pall's [hypothesis] is very important and it's probably one of the key mechanisms, but there's a whole lot of things … [T]he cell is just malfunctioning because it's got so much charge… [I]t's an enormous incoming stream of electrons, and that changes completely what the cells are doing."

EMFs Impair Proton Flow and ATP Production

Several years ago, Paul Héroux, Ph.D., professor of toxicology and health effects of electromagnetism at the faculty of medicine at McGill University in Montreal, also stressed the impact EMFs have on the water in your body. The mechanism of action proposed by Héroux involves the enzyme ATP synthase, which passes currents of protons through a water channel (similar to current passing through a wire).

The protons have to go through about 20 molecules of water to get through this channel. ATP synthase is extremely ancient and common to all living systems. It basically generates energy in the form ATP from ADP, using this flow of protons.

Magnetic fields can change the transparency of the water channel to protons, thereby reducing the current. As a result, you get less ATP, which can have system wide consequences, from promoting chronic disease and infertility to lowering intelligence. Héroux explained:

"When you impair the flow of protons to ATP synthase, you increase mitochondrial membrane polarization … If you increase the polarization of the mitochondria by 14 percent, you will have a 70 percent increase in the reactive oxygen species coming out of complex one, which is the leading edge of the oxidative phosphorylation chain.

Essentially, my explanation is that by physical action on water, you can change the transparency of the most critical enzyme in the human body, modulate the amount of ATP, increase the escape of electrons from complex one; thereby explaining practically all of the observations related to EMF.

Of course, the moment ATP is perturbed in a cell, there are calcium signals being emitted all over the place, because calcium is possibly the most critical intracellular messenger."

While Pall's work focuses on EMFs' effects on calcium ions, Héroux focuses on its impact on electrons and protons, which are far more sensitive to magnetic fields. But although the mechanisms of action are slightly different, the end result is more or less identical and hinges on the fact that EMFs increase oxidative stress and decrease ATP.

In a nutshell, what we're talking about here is the creation of excess oxidative stress, which in turn can damage cell membranes and proteins, and break DNA bonds. Interviews with Philips and Héroux should be released shortly, so keep your eyes open for them to learn more.

France Banned Cellphones in Schools

As you can see, a number of different mechanisms of harm have already been proposed, so the claim that there's "no evidence" of harm, and that scientists have "no idea" of how harmful effects such as those found by the NIH and other research might occur, simply isn't true.

There's even evidence suggesting that since EMF radiation affects your skin microbiome, it may also affect your gut microbiome,^45,46 turning what might otherwise be beneficial microbes pathogenic. This too can have far-ranging health effects, since we now know your microbiome plays an important role in health.

In 2018, France banned cellphone use by students during school hours.^47,48 The ban, which affects primary and secondary schools. Students are not permitted to use their phones even at breaks, lunch or between classes. The year before, in 2017, California also issued consumer guidance on how to lower cellphone radiation exposure (after initially trying to cover up the hazards)^49,50

What About 5G?

There was no doubt in my mind back then that EMF exposure was a significant health hazard that needs to be addressed if you're concerned about your health and now, with 5G towers going up all over, I haven’t changed my mind. I’m not alone in my concerns: In a follow-up study in October 2019,^51,52 the NTP found that:

RFR exposure was associated with an increase in DNA damage. Specifically, they found RFR exposure was linked with significant increases in DNA damage in:

Two years later, in August 2021, The BMJ⁵³ published a commentary asking for a stop to the 5G rollout until its safety could be absolutely confirmed:

“It follows that, for the current 5G roll-out, there is a sound basis for invoking ‘the precautionary principle’. This is the environmental and occupation health principle by which significant doubt about the safety of a new and potentially widespread human exposure should be a reason to call a moratorium on that exposure, pending adequate scientific investigation of its suspected adverse health effects.

In short, one should ‘err on the side of caution’. In the case of 5G transmission systems, there is no compelling public health or safety rationale for their rapid deployment.

The main gains being promised are either economic (for some parties only, not necessarily with widely distributed financial benefits across the population) or related to increased consumer convenience. Until we know more about what we are getting into, from a health and ecological point of view, those putative gains need to wait.”

These are just two examples, but you can see why I’m concerned.

Contact Your Legislators to Express Your Concerns

Remember that you have power and can make a difference. You have done it in the past and can do it again. Let's rise up en masse and express the massive whitewashing that is being catalyzed by the telecommunications industry to suppress the truth and expose you and your family to dangerous levels of EMF so they can increase their profits.

Begin by contacting your local commissioners and zoning departments to tell them you don’t want 5G towers in your neighborhood. Then write or call your state and federal legislators to ask them to take a step back until safety issues have been resolved. I am confident that with your support we can start to make a difference.

Protecting Yourself From Excessive EMF Is Important

In the meantime, here are several suggestions that will help reduce your EMF exposure:

Connect your desktop computer to the internet via a wired Ethernet connection and be sure to put your desktop in airplane mode. Also avoid wireless keyboards, trackballs, mice, game systems, printers and portable house phones. Opt for the wired versions.

If you must use Wi-Fi, shut it off when not in use, especially at night when you are sleeping. Ideally, work toward hard-wiring your house so you can eliminate Wi-Fi altogether. If you have a notebook without any Ethernet ports, a USB Ethernet adapter will allow you to connect to the internet with a wired connection.

Shut off the electricity to your bedroom at night. This typically works to reduce electrical fields from the wires in your wall unless there is an adjoining room next to your bedroom. If that is the case you will need to use a meter to determine if you also need to turn off power in the adjacent room.

Use a battery-powered alarm clock, ideally one without any light. I use a talking clock for the visually impaired.54

If you still use a microwave oven, consider replacing it with a steam convection oven, which will heat your food as quickly and far more safely.

Avoid using "smart" appliances and thermostats that depend on wireless signaling. This would include all new "smart" TVs. They are called smart because they emit a Wi-Fi signal, and unlike your computer, you cannot shut the Wi-Fi signal off. Consider using a large computer monitor as your TV instead, as they don't emit Wi-Fi.

Refuse smart meters as long as you can, or add a shield to an existing smart meter, some of which have been shown to reduce radiation by 98 to 99%.55

Consider moving your baby's bed into your room instead of using a wireless baby monitor. Alternatively, use a hard-wired monitor.

Replace CFL bulbs with incandescent bulbs. Ideally remove all fluorescent lights from your house. Not only do they emit unhealthy light, but more importantly, they will actually transfer current to your body just being close to the bulbs.

Avoid carrying your cellphone on your body unless in airplane mode and never sleep with it in your bedroom unless it is in airplane mode. Even in airplane mode it can emit signals, which is why I put my phone in a Faraday bag.56

When using your cellphone, use the speaker phone and hold the phone at least 3 feet away from you. Seek to radically decrease your time on the cellphone. I typically use my cellphone less than 30 minutes a month, and mostly when traveling. Instead, use VoIP software phones that you can use while connected to the internet via a wired connection.

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