Health-Essentials.info > Science > Health Issues > Magnets for Health
Posted February 13, 2007
The Importance of Magnetics and Grounding for your Health
Protecting your body from electro-magnetic fields (EMFs)
An important environmental problem — a type of pollution that is pretty much universal in the modern world — is electro-magnetic poisoning. Although most of what you hear about it is the effects of high-tension power lines on children — causing a higher-than-average incidence of leukemia — EMFs can have a profound effect on your health, in other ways.
The ancient Chinese, who developed tai chi and related arts, understood this. One of the primary principles of tai chi is grounding — establishing a firm, magnetic connection to the earth. It is nearly impossible to move a tai chi master off his feet; but, the important aspect of this for your health is the re-connection with the magnetic "pull" of the earth.
The importance of magnetics to your health
The reason that magnetic fields are so important an issue for your health is, simply, that your body runs on electricity — specifically, a very orderly DC current that creates an electro-magnetic environment in the body.
However, the electrico-magnetic fields in our homes and power lines are a chaotic AC current, and since they are several times more powerful than the flow of energy within the body, our bodies are easily poisoned by this chaotic energy. It can disrupt brain waves, impedes the flow of materials through the cell membranes and many other things that contribute to ill health.
Restoring electro-magnetic balance in the body
There are a number of things that you can do to restore electro-magnetic balance to your body and environment.
An example of the effects of EMFs on the body
For many years now, I've worn either a therapeutic bio-magnet or diode to protect myself from the effects of EMFs in my environment. Because of effects of EMFs are generally subtle, it can be hard to know for certain if they are a factor in the way you feel, or if the things you do — like wearing magnets or diodes — really helps. The follow anecdote should help to convince you.
A few years ago, I had to interrupt a busy day to go to my chiropractor. I had been feeling quite well, and was being productive; no particular complaints, except for the need to tweak my spinal alignment. Before I left for my appointment, I quickly changed into more suitable clothing.
On my drive over to my chiropractor's office (about 10 minutes, as the traffic jams), I started noticing arthritic-like pain in my hands. Shortly after this, my head got really fuzzy (as in brain-fog). By the time I got to my chiropractor's office, I really wasn't safe to drive. As I waited in his office, the pain in my hands extended to my shoulders and neck, I developed a serious headache and my stomach started to go sour.
I was really perplexed by this (not really alarmed, because with Fibromyalgia, all of this was quite familiar) because I had felt so good such a short time before. As we discussed the possibilites, I noticed that I didn't have my diode on. In my rush to get my clothes changed and over to his office, I had left it in my other pants. So, we did a quick adjustment and I drove carefully home.
Once at home again, I immediately replaced the diode, and within 10 minutes, I was feeling fine again.
One of the simplest things you can do to protect yourself from this environment pollution is to wear either a bio-magnet or diode. These should be worn on the left side of the body; and are best if worn over the spleen meridian end point, between the seventh and eighth ribs on the side of the body. Either can be worn by a woman inside her bra; I have special pockets sewn into my pants to hold them.
Diodes can also be placed on things like microwave ovens and computers to block the emission of EMFs into your environment. But, the most effective way to use them is simply to wear them. They create a sort of passive buffer between you and EMFs, so that your delicate electro-magnetic balance is not disrupted.
Bio-magnets, on the other hand, are a more active sort of protection. Worn on the body, they create a kind of force-field effect around you, shielding you from electro-magnetic pollution in your environment. Not only do they offer excellent protection while being worn, their effects will last for some time after the magnet is withdrawn.
A very important word about bio-magnets
There are several companies out there marketing magnet products. One of the most popular is Nikken. But, you need to understand something that is very important to your health about Nikken and others of these magnets: They can be very dangerous to your health.
Except in very special situations, following very specific protocols, you should always have the negative pole toward you when using a magnet. Negative polarity is very supportive of the body, while inhibiting the proliferation of viruses, anaerobic bacteria and fungi in the body. This is a good thing.
Unfortunately, Nikken (and many other bio-magnet manufacturers) use a dual-polarity pattern with their magnets: you get both positive and negative poles on each side of the magnet. This configuration feels great, and seems to offer you the best benefits from your magnets. However, such an arrangement of polarity creates an aggregate positive charge. This creates a very favorable environment for unfriendly bacteria and fungi, viruses — and, some say, cancers. Not a good thing.
There are experts — generally employed by these companies — who argue that the dual-polarity model is the best; or, at least, will not hurt you. I beg to differ with them — most strenuously. Here's why:
1) I was experiencing some problems with my low back and asked my chiropractor if he thought using a magnet belt would be of benefit. He said it sounded promising, and suggested I give it a try. Before I got started, he did some muscle testing and found that my polarity had switched; I could not use the magnets as intended.
Without giving the matter adequate thought, we decided to try the magnet belt the wrong side out. At first, it seemed to offer me considerable relief, and we were happy with the results. However, over a matter of a couple of weeks, I developed a really serious yeast overgrowth in my gut. It got so bad, I was actually bleeding.
After the initial V-8 moment (a thunk on the forehead and a moanful, "We should have thought about this … "), we switched the belt around to the negative side, added some probiotics to eliminate the yeast build-up, and within a month or so, I was back to normal.
2) My wife's job has her on her feet most of the day. By the end of the day, her feet can sometimes by quite tired and sore. To help with this, someone at work suggested she try some Nikken insoles.
Her initial response to them seemed very good. She seemed to have more energy, and her feet felt better at the end of the day. However, a few weeks later, she started coming home from work with an upset stomach. This got progressively worse, until she started coming home and vomiting. Every night. Over a period of a week, the nausea and vomiting became more constant and more wretching, so she went to her doctor to see if she had some sort of liver problem. He ran some tests, but couldn't find anything wrong.
By this time, Linda was sick all the time. Really awful. We went to our chiropractor, and he immediately diagnosed her as having a yeast overgrowth in the gut — and the light turned on. We threw out the Nikken insoles, got her on some added probiotics, as well as a homeopathic remedy to knock out the yeast, and before the end of the day, she was feeling much better.
I realize these stories are nothing more than anecdotal, but I find the experience compelling. While supporting your body with bio-magnets can be a wonderful thing, you need to stay away from Nikken and other toxic magnet products. To learn how to use magnets safely and effectively, check out Biomagnetic Handbook by William Philpott and Sharon Taplin
Other ways to protect your body's electro-magnetic field
Some of the most amazing devices I've found for EMF protection come from a company called EarthCalm. I've been using their EarthCalm Scalar Home Protection System and EarthCalm Scalar Resonator since September 2008, and I'm amazed at the difference they have made. I sleep much more deeply and have a calmer feeling throughout the day.
Another effective way to protect yourself from electro-magnetic pollution is with the Q-Link pendant
My wife has the pendant, and she really notices the benefits.
Earthing to re-establish a healthy connection to the earth
One other thing I've heard about that could be of immense benefit is earthing. The basic idea here is to give your body a solid connection with the earth's magnetic force during sleep. It is helpful in relieving pain and chronic inflammation, relieving stress and muscle tension, helping you to sleep more deeply — which is important for recovery — and for the restoration of normal biological rhythms. You can learn more about this at Barefoot Connections.
And, of course, it never hurts to go back to the ancient master. Making tai chi a part of your daily routine will do wonders to balance your energies, boost your immunity and reconnect you to the earth.
