Sleep, Immunity, and Electrosmog
This month I want to have a brief discussion about aspects of immunity. At this time of year, we start hearing the advertising for needing to do things to boost immunity including taking supplements, such as zinc, vitamin D, and herbs like echinacea. It could be stocking up on cold and flu tablets, or getting immunized by the doctor against the seasonal flu variant. While all of these may be helpful, I want to take you in a different direction and think about some pervasive but not often considered causes that impact immunity leading to the need for solutions.
The Importance of Quality Sleep
My working hypothesis is that the most important thing affecting health is the need to focus on quality sleep. Sleep quality means different things to different people, but in general, I recommend 7-8 hours of sleep a night for the average adult with ¼ of that deep sleep and another ¼ of REM (rapid eye movement sleep). Teenagers and children need significantly more sleep than adults, and no one should ever want to sleep like a baby as commonly will wake every sleep cycle. For more information on the stages of sleep and their importance, see our detailed blogs on the Different Stages of Sleep and their impact on health.
The Role of REM Sleep
REM Sleep is especially important for the brain, but also the body. The body becomes paralyzed and detoxes the mind of emotional issues by way of dream sequences. Further, REM sleep paralysis takes tension off the muscles and joints, increasing synovial fluid movement, and creating an environment for joint healing. Thus, if there is an issue getting into REM sleep then healing all over the body will be compromised.
Vitamin D and Sleep
To make matters worse, vitamin D is essential to activate the vitamin D receptor that allows the person to move into REM stages of sleep. Vitamin D is made in the skin from cholesterol, in response to full-spectrum UV light from the sun. This means we are the real solar panel; low sunlight exposure equates to low energy production, poor sleep, and poor healing.
Sun Exposure and Melatonin Production
This raises the importance of getting sun exposure on your skin and setting a circadian sun cycle to improve melatonin production. Melatonin is a powerful antioxidant essential for mitochondria to work properly and helps protect against cancer cell formation. What melatonin isn’t is a sleep chemical as is assumed, it does however help relax the brain which allows the brain to initiate sleep. The brain is full of melatonin receptors, especially via the eye, thus the importance of not having LED light exposure after sunset, as this has no red light in it and high levels of blue light that inhibits mitochondrial function and creates oxidative stress.
Electrosmog and Its Impact on Immunity
The vitamin D receptor is highly sensitive to electrosmog, which is coming from the significant amounts of electrical devices that emit radiation fields especially in the 2.4 GHz range. These include garage door remotes, WIFI devices, and cell phones. Novelly enough, experiments with a cap made with silver thread block 90% of the electrical smog hitting the brain, giving a whole lot of credence to the concept of tin foil hat-wearing people.
Research on Electrosmog
Experiments by Lushnikov on mice found that low-level non-ionizing electromagnetic radiation suppressed the immune response in mice, while Marshall and Heil found that the VDR exhibited structural resonances at frequencies typically found in modern Electrosmog. This means that the field of 2.4 GHz and just under 6 GHz alters the ionic structure of the VDR protein stopping the binding of the ligand namely vitamin D, and inhibiting the switch allowing REM sleep activation.
Electrosmog Levels and Health Implications
Bise reported in 1978 that human EEG was changed by wave amplitudes as low as -100 dBm, with -60 dBm giving multiple subjects immediate frontal headaches. By 2016 the level of Electrosmog background in our cities rarely fell below -50 dBm (100,000 times stronger than the -100 dBm signals used by Bise), indicating a possible mechanism for the low-grade ill health we are experiencing today. Poor sleep and lowered immunity could be the cause of many issues including brain fog, chronic fatigue, poor healing, and susceptibility to illness.
Personal Strategies for Better Sleep and Immunity
To try to resolve this, I get up before the sun and try to get it in my eyes, I sit in the sun often shirtless if time and environment permit, and I try to see the sunset. I use low-level laser therapy (LLLT) and red light therapy on my skin, and I perform grounding or earthing by getting my bare feet onto the ground in the evenings for 5 minutes before bed. Walking on the beach barefoot is also a great way but not so easy for me. I also use an earthing mat to soak up EMF from my computers at work and sleep on an earthing sheet. This is a fitted sheet made with a mesh of silver threads through it that is connected to the house earth wire, to offload the charge collected from living in the modern environment while I sleep. For more information on the earthing sheet, visit the Optimal Sleep Airway Health Shop Page.
Reducing Electrosmog Exposure
I also try to turn my WIFI off at night and have my phone, laptop, and iPad in a Faraday bag I bought (no affiliation). Keeping light low in the house is really important in the evening and trying to have incandescent bulbs, not the high-emitting low-power LED. I also use blue-blocking glasses to decrease my exposure in the afternoon or evening to improve my sleep and thus my immunity.
To summarize, it’s important to protect your sleep, get enough sunlight exposure, ground yourself, and reduce exposure to electrosmog and EMF as all have been shown to affect immunity. If you’d like further information or any of the papers I used to prepare this blog please go to Opti Human Project or contact me at contact@optimalsleepairwayhealth.com.