Keep Your Phone Away From Your Butt
By: Gb Rogut
Tags: Health, Self Experimentation, Lifestyle, Self Improvement, Emf

It all started because I like to listen to podcasts.

To be more specific, I like to listen to podcasts in topics such as health, self-improvement, psychology, business…

On a certain winter morning, I was giving a chance to Frank Tufano’s podcast, Perfected Health. I became aware of Frank’s work because I had been interested in the carnivore diet and the potential benefits it can bring to people with irritable bowel syndrome (there’ll be more about that in a future article). I had watched a few videos on his YouTube channel, and now I wanted to check out his podcast.

Frank’s style is a bit…unorthodox, and he sure doesn’t get along with vegans, but he does document his work, and it seems to me that, like many of us, he’s trying to find his way.

But I digress.

Anyhow, in this particular episode, Frank and his guest talked about the dangers of electromagnetic fields (EMF).

The World Health Organization (WHO) gives us the following definitions:

“Electric fields are created by differences in voltage: the higher the voltage, the stronger will be the resultant field. Magnetic fields are created when electric current flows: the greater the current, the stronger the magnetic field. An electric field will exist even when there is no current flowing. If current does flow, the strength of the magnetic field will vary with power consumption but the electric field strength will be constant.”

Now, bear in mind there are natural sources of EMF, such as the ones that come from thunderstorms and, of course, Earth’s magnetic field.

However, the great concern comes with human-made sources of electromagnetic fields such as x-ray, microwaves, antennas and, of course, cellphones.

In his podcast, Frank talked about how he noticed that when he slept too close to his wifi router, he would have trouble sleeping and would spend the whole next day having difficulty concentrating. The entire podcast was about providing examples of how EMF can seriously disrupt our bodies’ natural functions.

Besides, it was pointed out, since we tend to carry our cellphones on our bodies, we are seriously setting ourselves up for trouble down the road.

Sure enough, if you conduct a quick Google search, you’ll find there are several people all around the globe reporting different kinds of symptoms due to EMF exposure, whether it is from their cellphones, an antenna nearby, or even their microwaves.

In fact, in 1996 the WHO established the International EMF Project to “ to assess the scientific evidence of possible health effects of EMF in the frequency range from 0 to 300 GHz.”

I was skeptical.

I mean, how bad could it possibly be?

Still, I wondered…what if?

The aha moment

Here’s the thing: in the past few months, I had been having lots of kidney pain. Not only that, I had been getting up in the middle of the night to pee (something that rarely happens to me), and during the day, I would sometimes find myself having to use the toilet almost every hour.

I went to the doctor, who ordered an ultrasound and some blood and urine tests.

The results: no infection, no kidney stones, nothing abnormal.

“Maybe drink less water,” he said.

Ok…

Several weeks went by, and things were not getting better. I should add I had been following a clean keto diet, with lots of fats and green leafy vegetables, as well as a moderate amount of protein. I had heard that, because of this diet, it was likely my body would dump lots of excess fluid. However, I had already been months into this program and had lost several pounds, so I found it strange my body would have waited until now to turn me into a water fountain.

I went to a different doctor, this time within Mexico’s public health system. These doctors tend to have a different approach: whenever possible, they go straight to the treatment, not wanting to waste valuable governmental resources in testing. She gave me some antibiotics saying, “this looks like a urinary tract infection.”

I was desperate, so I took them. As a good patient, I followed her exact instructions and took them for as many days as she prescribed.

Nothing changed…

“Maybe I need to wait a few days, you know, so the effect of the antibiotics will fully kick in,” I told myself.

Nope.

I was sleep-deprived, having to get up to pee a couple of times every night. I even had to excuse myself in the middle of some of my classes, to use the toilet.

It was about this time I listened to that podcast episode.

Then it hit me.

Since I started to change my diet, I would listen to lots of podcasts and audiobooks to keep myself informed.

I would listen to them at home, in the car, and during breaks at school. Many times I would use headphones, so I could get other stuff done.

Guess where I put my phone during those moments?

Yeap…

In my back pockets.

The experiment

So, could that be it?

Really?

Only one way to find out.

That very same day, I started an experiment: I would keep my cellphone away from my body as much as possible. I would put it in the front pocket of my backpack (lots of books and folders in between), or in my lunch bag. I would sometimes carry it in my hand for brief moments, and then place it on a table or a shelf the second I got to my destination.

Also, while sleeping, I would keep my phone quite far away from me. One benefit of this was that, when the alarm went off, I would have to get up to turn it off. This enhanced the effects of the Alarmy app I use as an alarm clock.

I know: this is a crappy experiment. Just one person, no control group, no actual method, so, please, don’t @ me.

This was just me, keeping my cellphone away from my body as much as possible. I was desperate enough to give it a try.

It took a few days..but things did change.

About 4 days later, I only had to get up once during the night. 2 weeks later, I was sleeping as usual.

And during the daytime? Bit by bit, the pain and the urgency went away.

Are you skeptical? Me too, but…I changed nothing else. I kept consuming the same keto diet and regular amounts of water. Also, I maintained my usual work out schedule. And still, the pain went away. Everything went back to normal.

Besides, there was an added benefit. Since I would keep my phone away from me, tucked away somewhere, I wasn’t checking it so often. As a consequence, I started to get more stuff done.

Conclusion

So, are EMF dangerous?

I don’t know. Some people say they are, others say no. Each camp has its arguments.

Should you do your best to stay away from them?

Here’s the thing: we all are in the middle of a huge experiment. In the whole of the history of the human species, human-made EMF sources are relatively new. It seems to me we are still finding out exactly the effect they will have on our bodies in the long term.

What if I lose my phone? Unless I carry it with me all the time, I might end up forgetting it?

You could use the old “keep your car keys next to your phone” trick, so you won’t forget it. Or place it right in front of you. Or set up an alarm by the time you estimate you’ll have to leave the place.

You’ll have to get creative.