No sitting on the sideline dad podcast is a podcast about self-improvement, journey of discovery, mental health, overcoming challenges and challenges in being a parent. This show has been created to get people talking about what matters most to them. We are all struggling with something but we can learn from each other’s experiences. If you’re looking for real talk on topics that matter then this is the place for you! In this episode of the no sitting on the sideline, dad, I will talk with R Blank, CEO of SHIELD YOUR BODY. He will explain how EMF or electromagnetic frequencies from our cellphones, microwaves, wireless speakers, and more impact our health without us even realizing it.
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Joe Foley 0:00
Today on the nose sitting on the sideline, Dan Podcast, episode 123 123. I have a question. Do you think what we’re using on a daily basis could be harmful to us something that we use every day, we come in contact and only think twice about using, especially in today’s society. In this episode of no city on the sunlight, Dan, I’m gonna talk with R blank, the CEO of shield your body. He’s unexplained how EMF or electronic magnetic frequencies from our cell phones. I mean, I got one, we all have one nowadays, it’s kind of common. Microwave. The microwave today is not the same as microwave in the past, but we’ll explain a little bit later. And wireless speakers and more impacting our health. Well, even us realizing it. Like some stuff we use every day, base for that next R blank on the podcast. Let’s do this.
Unknown Speaker 0:56
Welcome to the no sitting on the sideline dad podcast, a podcast about a journey of discovery and conversations about not sitting on the sidelines of life. Let’s get involved. Here’s host Joe Foley.
Joe Foley 1:13
Hey, my name is Joe Foy. I want to thank you for being here. Hey, you’re crazy good. Don’t like me, or parent. Thank you for taking time. And listen, this is a first time welcome. Welcome to the podcast. This podcast is about a journey of trying to figure everything else out. Turning to discovery. I mean, being a dad, parent, and stuff like that. I really appreciate you being here. Hey, I have a tech if you have a second, you want to find out. I have a YouTube channel. And you want to check it out is no sitting on the sideline, Dad YouTube channel. There are some interesting interviews that not posted in the podcast, read some video interviews and stuff like that. If you’d like these interviews here, I know you definitely like enjoy those interviews too. It’s video long form. But just as informative is these podcast interviews themselves. Next up, I’ll be talking with R blank, CEO of shield your body uncom that helps people become aware of one of the most important topics that people don’t think twice about EMF radiation exposure. EMF is electronic magnetic frequencies. Some of them we experience every day and pose risks for our mental and physical well being. It’s interesting too, because we don’t think twice about it. We have earbuds, Bluetooth, microwaves. We all have a cell phone. This is an interesting topic. I found it fascinating because we really don’t know what the long term effects are gonna be joy, the convenience of today, but we don’t understand the long term effects. That’s why I kind of want to have R blank on today. He’s going to walk through and we’ll talk some of the science behind emf in do tell us what some how tips to protect us from everyday in everyday life. Because it’s this is a very interesting topic R blank. She has some great information. So let’s jump right in. Welcome to the podcast R blank.
R Blank 3:10
Thank you so much, Joe. It’s
Cut Your Exposure to Harmful EMF – Right Now
Grab your copy of my free guide with 5 ways to start.
Joe Foley 3:12
so wonderful to be here. When I was kind of curious about and I’m not what what is EMF? I’m kind of curious about that.
R Blank 3:20
Sure. So EMF, it stands for electromagnetic fields. And it’s a form of energy that’s made up from electricity and magnetism, like the name suggests. And and in terms of our daily lives, the the sun is actually visible light is a form of EMF, it’s a form of EMF, we all know all the time, it’s the form of EMF that’s been around for all of human evolution is visible light. Now there’s forms of EMF with a lot more energy than visible light. Those are things like X rays, and gamma rays. And those are they have so much energy that everyone knows those are super harmful, even in tiny, tiny doses. So that’s why when you get a dental X ray, they cover you in lead and the technician hoofs it out of the room, because you want as little of that stuff as possible. Now there’s other forms of EMF with less energy than visible light. And those are called things like radio waves and microwaves. And it was long thought that because they had less energy that they were safe, they were benign, they didn’t impact our health. But science in recent decades has shown that that assumption is incorrect. These forms of EMF come from all modern technology. So anything that runs on power, so that includes obviously power lines, but it includes your refrigerator, your light bulbs, anything that runs on power is a source of this type of EMF. And anything that communicates wirelessly is also a source so that includes cell phones and Wi Fi. It also includes older technology like radio and television.
Joe Foley 4:55
What’s interesting too, is how do you get involved in this because it’s an interesting I didn’t realize Help me look it up in credit repair for this interview, I didn’t realize how much it, I’m using our daily life. How did you get involved in this?
R Blank 5:07
Sure. So well, as you mentioned in the intro, my father was Dr. Martin Blanc. And he was one of the world’s leading EMF scientists, he got into this field back in the 1980s. And back in around 2012, he was commissioned or contracted to write a book about the health effects of EMF radiation. And, but this book, unlike everything he had written in his entire career, this book was for normal human beings to read. And so he asked, he asked me for some help, because I had some experience writing, I’ve done a lot of teaching, I was on the faculty of University of Southern California. And so I hopped in and wrote the book with him. Now, obviously, I was aware of his work my whole life. But I didn’t really get deep into it until, until the experience of writing overpowered with him. And it really boils down the reason I decided to, because I’ve been in software previously, the reason I decided to give up software and go and do sci fi, boils down to a few key factors. One is that the science that shows that this stuff is harmful to human health, it is very, very strong. You know, when you hear it covered in the media, sometimes you’ll hear, Oh, there’s a debate our cell phones harmful is Wi Fi harm. And there’s really no the debate about whether this stuff has a negative impact on human health, the science is really strong. But the stuff that admits this stuff, it’s the basis of modern society, it is literally the entire basis of modern society. So you can’t get rid of it. Right. So this stuff, the science is strong that it’s harmful, but you can’t get rid of it. It’s not like cigarette smoking, where you could get rid of it, and society keeps functioning. To get rid of this stuff, you’d have to go back to life in the 1850s before light bulbs before, refrigerators much less before cellphones and Wi Fi. So I realized there had to be safer ways to use this technology. And that’s that’s how I got into this.
Joe Foley 7:14
Well, it’s interesting to help effects too. I mean, I just recently had myself an MRI. And that’s one big magnet. So that must must generate a lot of EMF radiation.
R Blank 7:24
Yes, it does. And less than less than an x ray to my understanding, but, and, and lower frequencies. But look, I mean, some is some exposure. I mean, I get x rays, too, I get them as infrequently as possible. But I get them because you know, it’s important to keep your teeth healthy. If the goal isn’t to get rid. Well, as I was indicating earlier, just just a minute ago, the goal isn’t to get rid of this stuff. Because if we were to get rid of this stuff, you know, it means going back to a life that none of us want to go back to almost none of us want to go back to. So the, you know, if you need an MRI, get an MRI. But also keep in mind that this stuff does have these, each additional exposure that you get does impact your overall health risk. And so you want to be conservative with how you approach these things. It needs to be a factor in your decision making.
Joe Foley 8:17
Well, interesting new technology and advanced the technology. I remember my brothers were old enough to realize, but back I remember the microwave microwave oven. I remember the first one came out that would like Drain the neighborhood power supply. And don’t stand in front of the microwave don’t stand in front of the microwave. Yeah, and every lunch from I know myself on three minutes and three minutes seems a longest time in the world. But three minutes in real life doesn’t go goes by like that. But sitting on a microwave takes forever. But I didn’t realize the danger of sitting in front of the microwave, or like my cell phone, too. I mean, I was, like I said preparing for this interview. I almost I put my cell phone across the room after I looked at some of the stuff.
R Blank 8:56
Yeah, well, you just got to one of the one of the two key things that you can do to reduce your exposure and improve your health risk. And you gave two examples with the microwave and the cell phone. And the answer is, is distance. And that’s because the power of EMF radiation diminishes exponentially with distance, it gets a lot weaker very quickly as you increase the distance. So the further you stand away from the microwave, hopefully maybe you can even make it into the next room while it’s on. The less your exposure is going to be from the microwave oven. Carrying your phone in your pocket is actually one of the strongest exposures that a lot of people have. Because the cell phones they’re actually quite powerful. They’re designed to send signals miles, right. So they’re emitting Sega power levels that are strong enough to communicate for miles. And when you’re holding it in your pocket, you’re getting the full dose of this stuff and people tend to keep it in their pocket. They don’t just have it in their pocket for a minute. They have it in there for hours every single day. So not carrying your phone in your pocket. is one of the best changes that people can make in terms of reducing their exposure to this stuff.
Joe Foley 10:05
Well, interesting to keep it in your pocket, can it can heat up in your pocket from the signals from EMF like, like, really warm?
R Blank 10:13
Yeah. Well, I mean, so that’s getting a little more into the engineering side. The fact is, yes, I mean, we’ve all felt our phones heat up. They’re not supposed to the regulations that exist, are such that they’re supposed to prevent your phone from getting hot enough to actually heat your tissue. But we’ve all been on calls where you start feeling your ears like, wow, that is that is a warm here. That is a sign of damage. And it’s a really bad sign. But the answer your question is it shouldn’t happen. But yes, it does. What are
Joe Foley 10:45
some of the negative side effects in your help from EMF radiation?
R Blank 10:49
So yeah, that’s so the science on this, like I said, it’s it’s strong, there’s 1000s and 1000s. Of studies. What it shows is that exposure to EMF radiation can impact almost every system in our bodies. And there’s a few reasons for that, which, you know, some of which we can go into if you’d like. But the upshot is, you see, you know, at the low, maybe what we call the lower end of severity, you have increased anxiety, increased depression, increased disruption to sleep, you move up the scale, and then you can get into a more serious conditions like, like infertility and sub fertility, damage to sperm go up the scale even further than you can have birth defects miscarriage multiple types of of tumors. And and so you really see that the effects of EMF radiation can manifest in multiple different biological systems in multiple different ways. I
Joe Foley 11:51
was interested to I was watching a video about EMF radiation and changing the DNA. Is that possible?
R Blank 11:57
Yes. So this and this was shown first in what may have been done earlier than this. But the most famous early work on this was done in the 90s by doctors lie and sing. And they showed that exposure to at the time it was a cordless phone, because it was the 90s. So they were selling a cordless phone, but it’s equivalent to a cell phone, even short duration exposures to self up sorry, cordless phone radiation lead to these things called strand breaks. And what a straight you know, DNA is made up of strands. And if the strand breaks, you’ve broken the DNA. When one you know, its DNA is made up of two strands. When one strand breaks, there should be enough information on the other strand to repair it. But that’s when there’s one strand break. If you have both strands break, called a double strand break, then that cell enters a process called apoptosis, it dies because when both strands are broken, there’s not information there to repair it. What lie and seeing found is that exposure to cordless phone radiation led to increases in both single strand and double strand breaks in the cells. They also found that that process of damage continued for hours after the exposure. Yes, so the answer to your question is yes, it has shown and that that study is both peer reviewed and replicated. It has shown that this type of radiation can harm DNA and kill your cells.
Joe Foley 13:29
Well, so to kick across cancer and stuff like that.
R Blank 13:32
Yes, yes. That’s a short answer. Question. Yes, it can. In fact, I mean, there’s a lot of science into this. But one thing that some people might find interesting is it’s now actually legal precedent in Italy, that cell phones cause brain tumors, and that that precedent was upheld twice by by appellate judge panels, and that that was involving a disability claim from a mobile phone company worker. And it is now legal precedent in Italy, that cell phones cause brain tumors,
Joe Foley 14:04
what else was really something to his earbuds, I have a pair of earbuds sometimes I use the talk on the phone, so holding the phone to my end, but I didn’t realize the radiation coming from the ear buds to
R Blank 14:14
Yes, so that’s Bluetooth, which is very similar, but obviously in some ways different from cellphone radio and white cell phone radiation, Wi Fi radiation, it’s very similar frequencies. So very similar energy levels. The different there a couple of differences with Bluetooth. One is it tends to Bluetooth devices tend to be lower powered than cell phone or Wi Fi right? Cell phones need to be able to communicate miles Wi Fi needs to be able to communicate hundreds of feet, Bluetooth, depending on which type you have, but you know, 1020 30 feet, so because it’s a much narrower range product, it has less power. Conversely, people tend to wear these things for extended duration. So the power level is less but the exposure duration is longer. And when you’re talking about things like air pods, it’s right in your ears, which is, as hopefully most of your listeners know, really close to your brain. And not only that, it’s actually a part of your head that has no skull to provide natural shielding, right? There’s a straight shot from your ear canal, to your brain, but also to your auditory and visual nerves. And so this stuff. It’s also a good example of how tech companies released this stuff without any long term testing. So I can’t sit here and tell you what using air pods for 10 years is going to do to you. Because they haven’t existed for 10 years, those studies haven’t happened, they will happen. And in 10, or 15 or 20 years, I will be able to answer that for you. But we don’t know that yet. We do know what exposure equivalent exposures to equivalent technologies like cell phones, what the science is telling us now. But that is how they release these products. They release it before the testing, we are the test. We are the guinea pigs.
Joe Foley 16:05
And that’s interesting, too. And guinea pigs about that, too. Is some of the new cell phones coming out the 5g system. And it’s a real controversy about 5g. I wonder if you can come on? Can I want to understand it? Can you if you want to know more about why it’s such a controversy?
R Blank 16:21
Sure. Well, so it’s a pretty big leap in technology. There’s there’s several aspects to it, we don’t need to get into all of them. One is the frequency I keep saying the word frequency is it’s interchangeable with energy. The frequency is I mean, people you know, I don’t know if kids these days still know it. But people our age, right, the radio when you turn into 89.9, that’s megahertz or that megahertz is is a unit of energy, it’s a unit of frequency, that was the frequency that the that radio station communicated on. Similarly, cell phones are allowed to communicate over certain frequencies, Wi Fi networks are allowed to communicate over certain frequencies where 5g does not quite yet. But what it is legally allowed to do. And what it will do when the infrastructure fully rolls out is it will communicate over much, much greater frequencies. So whereas current cell phones don’t really go, generally they don’t go over six gigahertz, 5g technology will be allowed to go up to 300 gigahertz. And so that’s a lot more energy. This stuff has never before been used in consumer applications, these these energy levels. And so just like I was saying with Bluetooth, because of that there is no testing, there is no testing into long term human health, from what exposure to these frequencies will do. So that alone is is concerning. But beyond that, and this is something I try to say and reinforce when I talk about 5g 5g, people think of 5g as a cell phone technology like you just did in your questions if you’re thinking of getting a 5g cell phone, and it is right, it is the next generation of cell network. But 5g was engineered from the ground up to support an order of magnitude growth in the number of devices. So 5g isn’t just for cellphones, 5g is for smart cars, and smart homes and smart meters and all of these devices that need to communicate wirelessly as as our homes convert to become more and more, you know, digital, wireless. And so what that means is regardless of 5g technology, it’s paving the way for more and more and more of the objects in our lives to become sources of EMF, which means an order of magnitude, probably multiple order of magnitude growth in our personal exposures. Because once once your fridge goes smart, and your thermostat goes smart, and your speaker is smart, and your TV is smart, right? All of these are new exposures that you weren’t exposed to before. So what 5g is paving the way for is for massive growth in the number of devices that become sources of new exposures of this type of radiation in our lives.
Joe Foley 19:18
It’s interesting to how much we sacrifice for convenience. That’s what we want. We want all these new technologies, Smart Car smart, frigerator smart everything in the house. And but we sacrifice our health. It’s not like we sacrifice our health for the convenience.
R Blank 19:31
Yes, yeah. And the real problem is is I mean, in my opinion, it’s not that people are willing to sacrifice health for convenience, it’s that they don’t realize they’re doing it. And at least give people the information that this stuff is bioactive, this stuff is harmful. So if you really want this new smart device, if it really adds enough value to your life to justify the cost of your health, well at least make that decision. On an informed basis, but don’t just go out and buy that new smart fridge because it looks cool or because your neighbor has it or because it runs Netflix or whatever stupid reason there is to buy a star fridge, I really can’t think of one. But, um, and it’s, you know, the big appliances get a lot of attention. But there’s a lot of these things out there, there’s smart kitty litter boxes, or smart hair brushes, there is literally a smart tampon Oh, that is on the market, right? And so you don’t need I am a big advocate for appreciating the value that technology brings to our lives. It is it is it’s you I was in a software development for 20 years, I grew up, you know, in at the start of the tech revolution, and I saw everything that was I, I went from not having internet to having internet and what a difference that made. But you don’t just need to go out and buy the new smart thing because it’s available, you really need to think mindfully about whether this thing actually adds value.
Joe Foley 21:02
Well willing to EMF safety for children, because it’s important. I mean, there’s an adult too, I mean, as a parent too, but what kind of tips you can give her safety for children?
R Blank 21:11
Sure, well, the tips for safety for children are very similar to adults, so comes down, I understand it might be harder if you’re a parent trying to take care of a child to implement these. But everything comes down to two rules. So we already mentioned one, which is maximizing distance, whenever there is EMF tech in use, you want to create as much distance between the body and that tech as possible. So we mentioned not carrying your phone in your pocket. That’s one example not not holding your phone up on your head is another example. You should always use speakerphone or headsets, not using laptops or tablets in your lap is another example. Keeping the Wi Fi router as far away from where you and your children spend time as possible. That’s another example. There’s all these different ways to create that distance. So that’s maximizing distance, the other is minimizing use. So I already mentioned some, like maybe not buying that smart tampon, or you know, the smart fridge, right? The less of this stuff in your life, the less exposure there is. But even if you get that tech, there’s ways of minimizing use. So if you or your kid is playing a game on their iPad, does that game need wireless connectivity, if not put the iPad into airplane mode. And they can still enjoy the game or listen to this podcast that they’ve downloaded and want to learn from or you know, whatever offline activity that they have. If they’re engaging in an offline activity, put it into airplane mode. And then you’ve really slashed the another is putting your tech into airplane mode when you go to sleep when you’re not even using it. Right. So there are all these ways to do those two key rules, right maximizing distance in minimizing use. Without, you know, sometimes I feel the need to be really clear, like I am not a Luddite. And there are lots of ways that you can engage with tech more safely without even barely impacting your enjoyment of this tech. It just takes a more mindful approach to how we use it, how we behave with it. And those are everything comes down to maximizing distance and minimizing use.
Joe Foley 23:27
We’re also too I’m kind of interested in, you have a podcast a healthier tech podcast. Can you tell me a little about that?
R Blank 23:34
Sure. Thanks. Thank you for bringing that up. So yeah, we’re we’re just now in season one. So it’s pretty exciting. The ideas, so through shields your body, you know, I spent a lot of time talking about EMF radiation, EMF safety. And it’s all a way of talking about engaging with technology in a more healthy way. But it really is all focused on EMF radiation. I wanted a forum where I could have discussions that talked more broadly about ways of engaging with tech in a more healthy way. So in our first interview, we interviewed the UK is leading addiction hypnotherapist talking about technology addiction, which is a huge and growing problem especially but not exclusively among children. In the most recent episode that just came out, I interview a building biologist, and that is a discipline a lot of people aren’t aware of that is all focused on ways that we can make our homes a healthier space and it literally to boost our health by doing things as simple as not putting carpeting in the bedroom and and we get into detail on that. So the podcast is all about ways to engage, engage in a healthier lifestyle with our interaction with modern technology.
Joe Foley 24:57
Well, it’s funny that you say that about the first episode was the interview that psychology about technology addiction. And I find myself and I don’t know why, but tick tock videos 32nd videos, I can I can stop scrolling and next thing no 15 minutes has gone by. And I’m like what happened? So?
R Blank 25:16
Yeah, so we talked about the mechanisms that are involved in I mean, that was designed that they designed that experience to get you to do that. And yeah, and they succeed because they’re very good at it. They hire people just like him to come in house and actually design these experiences this way.
Joe Foley 25:35
Very interest verse, I’m gonna tuck the podcasts out to make sure I will link to the podcast be in the episode, we’re wrapping up. Final Thoughts anyone leave about EMS safety for children, or even parents too. And then they might want to leave with?
R Blank 25:48
Sure. Well, I said it before, but I say it again. Because it’s the most important message I have to share. The science on this is really strong. Don’t be fooled by by fake debates in the media. If you don’t believe me, go do the research. The science on this stuff is really strong, it is harmful. And it is also easy to take control over your exposures and your kids exposures and thus, reduce their health risks and improve their health outlooks. And it all comes down to those two key rules, minimize use and maximize distance. There are literally endless ways to implement those two rules in your life. And you will find ways of doing it again, that will not negatively impact your enjoyment of technology, I guarantee it.
Joe Foley 26:33
Also where they they want to connect you to reach out and find more about you or any questions about EMF.
R Blank 26:38
Sure. Thank you. Yeah. My website is shields, your body.com that shield your body all one word. And we have tons of free information up there. articles, ebooks, videos, webinars, now a podcast, there is a ton of information up there about the science of EMF and health and of course, ways that you can live healthier in alongside modern technology.
Joe Foley 27:02
Well, thank you r blank everything links will be in the show notes for this episode. I really do appreciate your time, sir. Thank you very much for being on the podcast that
R Blank 27:09
I thank you Joe. I really had a good time. Thank you so much for allowing me on.
Joe Foley 27:13
Thank you. Wrapping up this episode, I want to thank R blank for being a guest on the podcast. You can find more about him over at steel gurbani.com if not all links to the show notes for this episode. No Sandy on the sideline.com/ 123 Hey, please reach out to a comment or any questions you have about this episode. Because it’s kind of an interesting episode. Maybe Maybe controversial. But leave a comment in the show notes. I’m only here wait to say about it. You find all my contact me should know Cindy on the sideline.com/contact Hey, final thoughts. I didn’t give a final end of the year, kind of podcast interview or podcast show or like that, but it’s the beginning of the new year. I think this probably good way to end this episode. I want to thank you for listening to this podcast the year on the years you’ve been listening. You may have this far means you actually really liked the show. And I appreciate you. I’m looking forward to sharing some more of these interviews I have not released yet which I will get to them. I just been left behind and stuff like that. But I want to personally know I appreciate you. Until next time, take care give you kids hug. You know what, in this time the New Year, call somebody this pandemic and stuff like that call somebody. You know, start like once a week, call somebody I mean talk for a while and see how they’re doing. This is important because sometimes people are alone, especially being disconnected rather than going on there alone. Until next time, take your kids go hug. I really appreciate you. God bless. Take care
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