I while ago I signed up to wellnessmama free newsletter, and hasn’t regret it once yet! I receive weekly news on health and wellbeing, there are also some nice promotional offers. Wellnessmama blog has initially inspired me to look more into health and wellbeing, and question some things that I took for granted – that’s why I am forever grateful to its creator Katie.

One of the things that I have always taken for granted was the EMF (Electromagnetic fields) safety… until I came across Katie’s post on her blog.

“An electromagnetic field (also EM field) is a physical field produced by electrically charged objects” (read more here).  Many, possibly, unexpected objects produce EMF, including humans and Sun.

There are two types of radiation produced by EMF – low frequency EMF radiation, emitted by things like microwaves, cell phones, computers, WiFi, Bluetooth, and smart metres; and high frequency EMF radiation  produced by X-Rays, UV light, and others.

There are documented dangers of prolonged exposure to low frequency EMF. Some of the symptoms include:

• “Insomnia

• Anxiety

• Depression

• Brain fog

• Dizziness and vertigo

• Frequent illnesses

• HPA axis dysfunction (also known as adrenal fatigue)

• Hormone imbalances

• Cancer or increased in cancer risk”

You can read more about the symptoms and corresponding studies in Katie’s article here.

There are a few factors which contribute to the gravity of the negative effects:

• “Frequency: The higher frequency an EMF is, the more energy it carries and the more likely it is to be dangerous.

• Power density: The average energy of the electromagnetic waves in a given area or volume.

• Strength: of the electric and magnetic fields that are present

• Duration of exposure: prolonged duration is usually worse than acute duration for the same levels of EMF” (read more here)

WiFi is such a common thing for many people that we rarely tend to think about the health hazards of this useful invention. However, even though it might be difficult for some adults to sense the effects of WiFi, children seem to be more susceptible. In Ontario, many parents started noticing their children falling ill after the introduction of WiFi in schools (read more here).

Another problem is posed by smart metres, which digitally send gas and electricity readings to your provider. “While the companies claim that smart meters are safe, numerous people started to experience neurological problems and, in some cases, worsened inflammatory symptoms as soon as the smart meters were installed (source)”. Scarily, some sources state that “Every home in Britain will have a smart meter installed by 2020″ (source).

Even though it is possible to decrease your exposure to EMF radiation, it is nearly impossible to completely eliminate it  – you will have to get rid of electricity in your home and live in electricity-free environment, which is close to impossible for most of us.

However, Katie has lots of options on how you can limit your exposure to EMF radiation – you can read all of them here.

Below I will list the options that I found the easiest/cheapest:

• take a break from using your computer, cell phone, any electronics. Maybe, go out in nature once in a while for a few hours or a whole day to “detox” from your devices (you can read more about how Katie “detoxes” here)
• switch off WiFi at home/office/school when it is not used, or better switch to hard wired internet connections
• switch off your phone/put it on an airplane mode and keep it and any electrical devices out of your bedroom when you go to sleep
• ground (you can read more about the benefits of grounding and how to do it here)
• keep electronic devices away from your body – for example, you can use headphones when talking on the phone rather than keeping it close to your ear
• eating a diet high in antioxidants might be helpful
• try to spend more time near negative ions – waterfalls, flowing water. You can also buy Himalayan salt lamps, or get a negative ion generator – we use this one.

I highly recommend reading Katie’s article on EMF exposure – there are lots of useful tips and scientific information which can help you learn more and raise awareness about EMF radiation.

Do you use any techniques to decrease your EMF exposure? We would love to hear from you!