This post is dedicated to a friend of mine, and was born out of my concern for her, as she flies often.
Low-level radiation is like a killer, because we can’t see it, feel I, hear it, taste it, or smell it. I am not talking about just nuclear weapons, but rather the low levels of exposure we are continuously exposed to on an every day basis.
First off, what is radiation? In the broadest definition, it is the process in which the energy in the form of, for instance, light or heat, is sent out through space. The different types of radiation are classified according to the electromagnetic spectrum by their wavelength and frequency. One end of the spectrum is the “low energy” forms of radiation, which include radio and television waves. These forms have long wavelengths and low frequencies. As we go up the spectrum and the wavelengths become shorter and the frequencies higher, the spectrum expands to include microwaves, infrared, visible light, ultra-violet light, x-rays, and gamma rays. When me move towards this high end of the spectrum, the radiation energies have a special power known as ionization. X-rays and gamma rays, when they pass through a cell, can separate electrons from their atoms and endow these runaway electrons with higher amounts of energy. The result may be tissue damage in many different forms- from cancer to genetic and birth defects.
What are sources of radiation in our lives? Nuclear weapons and nuclear waste is one obvious source. Radon is another. But what I want to really talk about today is everyday, low-level forms of radiation, which emanate from such devices as microwaves, high-voltage power lines, radio transmitters, and cell phones. For years, our society has maintains that exposure to low levels of electromagnetic waves are harmless, but evidence is mounting that all this exposure to low-level radiation is indeed much more harmful that previously thought.
What is also a major source of radiation exposure? Flying in an airplane. The higher up the plane goes in the atmosphere the more radiation we are exposed to. In a flight from (only!) Los Angeles to San Fancisco there is said to be a tenfold increase in radiation (as measured by a mini-Geiger counter) that jumps from 12 to 125 radiations per minute when the plan is leveled off at the maximum flight pattern.
What does this really mean? An airplane flying coast to coast will expose the flyer to several hundred milliards (1/1000 of a rad). The average dose for medical X-rays is 300-500 millirads for pelvic X-rays, 100-1000 millirads for a full facial dental X-ray, and 10-500 millirads for chest X-rays. That means that one single flight may expose us to the same or possibly more radiation than a full chest X-ray (!).
This is a big problem because as we know, continual exposure to low-level radiation produces free radicals, a major cause of premature aging and health problems. Free radicals can cause cross-linking among tissue proteins (wrinkles!), inflammation, disrupt and/or deplete the immune system, and can produce mutations. Many researchers in the field of aging agree that free-radical destruction is the basis of aging, or at least always goes along with the aging process.
Dr. Abram Petkau stated (reported from the Radiological Physics Dept. at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine) that the free-radical effect from chronic low radiation exposure to be 1,000 times greater than a single large exposure (!). John Gofman, Ph.D., M.D writes in Radiation and Human Health, “Harm in the form of excess human cancer occurs at all doses of ionizing radiation, down to the lowest conceivable dose and dose rate.” Perhaps the most succinct summary is given by Dr. Karl Z. Morgan, who was the director of the Health Physics Division a the Oak Ridge National Laboratory for 30 years:
“There is no safe level of exposure and there is no dose of radiation so low that the risk of malignancy is zero… the genetic risks, and especially those associated with recessive mutations, may be as harmful and debilitating to the human race as the increases of cancer.”
THERE IS SOMETHING WE CAN DO
Okay, sorry for all the doom and gloom! But I say these things as we should at least be aware of radiation exposure.
And I am happy to say that there are things we can do in our diet to help minimize the effect of radiation. How can food help? First off, if we have enough essential vitamins and minerals in our system, the cells become saturated with minerals and there may be less opportunity for the radioactive minerals to be absorbed into our systems. Second, there are certain specific foods which can actively help draw the radioactive materials to them and pull them out of the body (chelation). Thirdly, if we eat foods very high in antioxidant nutrients and enzymes, it will help squash out the free radicals created by radiation exposure.
Anti-Radiation Foods that Fit into Our Above 4 Criteria
– Swiss chard
– Turnip greens
– Watercress
– Mustard greens
– Kale
– Spinach (no surprise here, all greens!)
– Kelp
– Dulse
– Chlorella
– Nori
– Beets
– Bee pollen
– Garlic
– Apples
– Chaparral
– Siberian ginseng
What else can we do besides loading up on these foods? Don’t smoke! Don’t live near nuclear plants, avoid unnecessary diagnostic X-rays, and use infrared saunas whenever possible. Check out my post on cell phones, and wear that wired (not Bluetooth) headset.
It is critical if you fly often that you eat only the best food while flying on the day. You want to give your body the best to help combat the radiation as much as possible. That IS NOT the time to splurge on the fast food chains found in all airports. Rather, bring healthy snacks and be sure to drink your Green Smoothie before you leave for the airport. For some healthy travel snack ideas, check out my blog called, “Easy Travel Snacks.”
Be aware, and take care.
Love,
Kimberly
hi kimberly,
thank u for the informative posts as always! for the most part i cook most of the vegetabgles i eat. however, i’m wondering if all the vegetables you listed in this post would still be beneficial if they’re cook, and not eaten raw?
thanks for making us all more aware!
naiyana
Hi Ann! Sure vegetables cooked are better than no vegetables at all, but try to cook lightly and don’t fry them. If you are eating cooked vegetables still make the effort to eat salads and Green Smoothie so you are still getting raw plant food in your diet.
Be well! Kimberly
How does infrared saunas help? And what about pilots and other aircrew? It’s been studied that they do not get that much radiation, that it would actually be harmful to them. And they fly all the time!
People also get radiation from the ground and from the computer. It’s impossible to avoid.
Hi Stina, Check out my post on infrared saunas– I actually forgot to link to it. There are lots of studies that say that all the radiation around us doesn’t hurt, but look who is behind the studies. Of course it harms us!! For this and other reasons, we are seeing a rise in cancer, diseases, etc. that prior generations never saw. Pilots and flight attendants are in unions to keep them from flying over a certain amount of times a week, but there are business people that actually travel more than them. And I have read that flight attendants have a high rate of birth defects.
We can’t avoid all radiation- but when we fly we are exposed to a great deal for sure.
I’m a flight attendant and definitely feel how much of a toll being on an airplane so much takes on my health. And while there ARE rules about how much we can fly they are very limited. We can definitely still fly six days a week.
on a less dreary note, I LOVE spirulina, would that make the list too?
Wow, Kim,
This post is so helpful to me because I travel a lot for work. I never really realized how much we are exposed to radiation when we’re flying. While it is scary, it’s so important to be informed about it and make sure we take every precaution we can to keep ourselves safe. So, I am so grateful to you for all of this information. I’m going to keep up with the green smoothie going forward and guess what, I invested in the vitamix blender (Yay!) and I can’t wait till it gets here! In fact, all of your recipes look amazing, I can’t wait to try them all. Oh, and by the way, I’m going to name my blender TAZ! ;-)
On another note, I was wondering if you could tell me the best ways to replenish after a workout? I feel as if water just doesn’t cut it. I especially tend to sweat a lot, and I feel I lose so much water, electrolytes and whatever other things I’m sweating out and I don’t feel I’m hydrating or replenishing properly. I know you can help so I look forward to hearing from you. Thanks again for sharing all of your knowledge about health and beauty, Kim. You now have another avid follower in me. Thanks!
HI Marina,
Yes I say things things b/c I want people to be aware and be sure to eat well on travel days. I am so happy you got the Vitamix! You should have the Green Smoothie before you fly, then eat salads, avocados, good things. Try to avoid all the fast food! Coconut water is great after working out as it has all the electrolytes in it. I like the Vita Coco or the One brand.
Come visit me again soon!
Love, Kimberly
PS: Why Taz?? :)
HI Kim,
Thanks for getting back to me. Ohhhh Coconut milk sounds delicious and I think I just added that to my workout repertoire. So, I’m naming it Taz after the Tazmanian Devil. I thought it made sense. Don’t you think? See you soon!
Hi Kim,
Oh jeez! Something to definitely think about. Thanks for the warning. I’m going to take my next trip by train. It’s also a greener way to travel, and fun.
I wanted to tell you that I’ve been really enjoying your raw truffle recipe. “Cooking” raw is so much more fun because you can taste along the way. And with all the good fresh ingredients, it’s pretty fool-proof.
Last night I made a small batch of the truffles, but I used lemon juice instead of cacao. They turned out so good! Just like those sticky lemon bars you find at church picnics, except they won’t rot every tooth in your head!
Thanks again, lovely!
Thanks for the ideas! My family now drinks a lot of your smoothie recipes daily, even my 2 year old son loves green smoothies! We also do raw 50 percent of the time.
I just watched the movie The Beautiful Truth and it made me think of your blog so I stopped over to check out what was new. I wrote a review of the movie on my blog and referenced yours.
Thanks for the inspiration Kim!
You always give the best advice and information!Thank u,thank u,thank u!!:)
Hi Kim!
thanks for you kind information :)
Glad you enjoyed the blog Naxim. :-)
Hi Kim!
Thanks for the post! I am actually a flight attendant and I was wondering what I can do to help fight againt this before I fly, as well as all the germs in that small space!. Also we have verly limited resource on the plane. (no fridge, one small oven/microwave thing, ice) htats about it. What are the best on-the go meals that I can bring and eat in the air?? We can be gone all day and the only food around is food courts and vending machines!!
What is the impact of UV light on food/water that we ingest? For example, mushrooms grown under UV light and also water filtration systems “purified” by UV light.