Posted by EarthCalm Staff- Updated on 11/17/2021 to
If you’re having trouble sleeping, you’re certainly not alone. An alarming number of people in today’s world are finding difficulty in falling or staying asleep.
In March of 2011, the National Sleep Foundation published statistics of a survey revealing that 43% of people between the ages of 13-64 reported that they either rarely or never got enough restful sleep, especially during the week. People in the US were only sleeping an average of 6.7 hours, as opposed to the 7-8 hours that had been reported in the past. Worse yet, an increasing number of people were sleeping less than 6 hours a night.
Health Effects of Sleep Loss
Sleep loss is considered an important problem by health professionals, as it’s been correlated with diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. Other serious consequences of sleep deprivation can be:
• Poor work performance
• Driving accidents
• Relationship problems
• Mood disturbances such as irritability or depression
Sleep Loss May Be Linked to EMF Exposure
Although there are many reasons people have trouble sleeping, one reason many are not aware of is exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMFs). EMFs emanate from cell phones, computers, cell towers, WiFi, and all wireless devices. They’re even generated by the electrical grid in your home and all your household appliances. If you’re like most people today, your home is flooded with electrosmog.
Sleeping next to radiation-emitting devices can be a major reason you’re having trouble sleeping.
Phones: If you’re like many other people, you may be sleeping with your cell phone right next to your bed (or maybe even under your pillow). Cell phones are constantly throwing out signals to try and connect with a cell tower or WiFi. It’s best to turn your phone off while sleeping or keep it outside of the bedroom entirely. Cordless phones emit high level of EMFs as well. Keep both the handheld device and the base out of all sleeping areas.
WiFi: If you have WiFi in your home, your body is dealing with serious electromagnetic radiation, 24/7. Even when you’re not using it, WiFi continues to run throughout your home, continuously zapping your body with electromagnetic radiation.
Laptops, Wireless Gadgets, & Appliances: Anything that is WiFi compatible or that plugs into your homes electrical grid, including (but not limited to) laptops, tablets, alarm clocks, smart watches, and televisions emits EMFs and should be kept out of sleeping areas entirely.
Pre-Bedtime Activities: If you spend the hour or so before bedtime on your computer, cell phone, or on any other EMF-producing device, it can contribute to sleep issues. For the best sleep, put away all devices at least an hour before bedtime.
How Do EMFs Affect Your Sleep?
EMFs affect your ability to fall (and stay) asleep in two ways.
1) Rate of Oscillation
EMFs from man-made devices have a higher rate of oscillation—they vibrate at a higher number of cycles—than the natural electromagnetic fields of your body at rest. The electrical current in your home is generally between 50-60 Hz. In contrast, the ideal frequency in your brain in sleep drops to as low as 2 Hz.
This discrepancy can prevent you from falling asleep and pull you out of deep sleep, if you do manage to get there. This is because your brain tends to entrain itself to the frequency of the surrounding man-made electricity and keeps oscillating at the higher rate of the electricity, preventing sleep.
Your wireless devices are even more powerful in their ability to affect your sleep. They emit a truly hazardous kind of EMF called microwave radiation, which oscillates at a much higher frequency than household electricity.
2) Melatonin Suppression
Melatonin, a hormone produced by your pineal gland, regulates your circadian rhythm and helps you sleep. It is also responsible for killing free radicals and for supporting the immune system. EMFs suppress the production of melatonin in your body.
Researchers have found that EMFs hinder the production of melatonin and also impact our cells so that they can’t take in the melatonin that is produced. This allows cell proliferation of malignant cells and disrupts cell-signaling systems, which determines how a cell responds to its environment.
Melatonin also plays a significant role in breast cancer prevention and longevity. It’s been found that breast cancer cells resume growth when melatonin levels are reduced and the cells are exposed to man-made electromagnetic fields.
Continual cell phone use can decrease the pineal gland's production of melatonin. Studies have further shown a direct link between the suppression of melatonin and occupations with high magnetic field exposure.
How to Prevent Sleep Loss
It’s highly important to keep all electrical appliances and wireless devices away from your bedroom. Since the EMFs emitted by these devices can penetrate through walls, it’s also important to unplug electronics and appliances that are plugged into outlets on the other side of shared walls. Always unplug your router at night, no matter where it is in your home.
EMF Protection
In addition to taking the above-mentioned steps, EarthCalm offers products that will help defend you from EMFs in and around your home. Visit our Where Do I Start? page to help you get started on your path to better sleep, and to less EMF exposure in general. www.shop.earthcalm.com
Resources:
Annual Sleep in America Poll Exploring Connections with Communications Technology Use and Sleep National Sleep Foundation (2011) VIEW
The Importance of Avoiding Nighttime EMF EMFacts Consultancy (2017) VIEW
Occupational Electromagnetic Field Exposures Associated with Sleep Quality: A Cross-Sectional Study Liu (2014) VIEW
The statements herein have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. The technology and products within are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any physical/mental/medical conditions or diseases. If you have a physical/mental/medical condition or disease, please consult a professional health care provider.