THE VERY REAL DANGER OF 5G!!!

5G.....ON ITS WAY.....SO IS HEALTH TROUBLES!

by Dr. Mercola

I was recently interviewed by Siim Land about my new book, "EMF*D," described by Siim as "the most comprehensive guide … to everything you need to know about EMF." 

In it, I explain what electromagnetic fields (EMFs) are, the different types of EMFs you're exposed to, the harms associated with exposure, the concerns surrounding 5G and, ultimately, how to protect yourself and limit your exposure. 

As I explain in the interview, the thing that catalyzed me to write "EMF*D" was my deep appreciation of the impact of mitochondrial function in health and disease. Once I realized how EMFs impact mitochondrial function — because it's very clear that EMF causes massive mitochondrial dysfunction — the danger our wireless society poses became very clear to me. 

Just recently, I read a study1 stressing the importance of mitochondrial numbers for improving senescent cells — cells that are, in a manner of speaking, "senile" and have stopped reproducing properly. Instead, senescent cells produce inflammation, contributing to old age and, ultimately, death. 

The fewer mitochondria you have, and the more dysfunctional they are, the faster you'll age and the more prone you'll be to chronic degenerative disease. By inducing mitochondrial dysfunction, our wireless world may well be driving us all into an early grave. 

Cellphone Industry Hides Truth by Manufacturing Doubt

Considering the research data now available, you'd think everyone would understand and accept the fact that EMF is a serious health danger, yet many are still completely in the dark. With "EMF*D," I hope to help more people understand this biological threat. 

In 2011, the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified radiofrequency EMFs as "possibly carcinogenic to humans."2 Then, in 2018, the U.S. National Toxicology Program published two lifetime exposure studies conclusively showing cellphone exposure causes cancer. 

The NTP's findings were also duplicated by the Italian Ramazzini Institute just a couple of months later. In the wake of these studies, Fiorella Belpoggi, principal investigator and director of the Ramazzini Institute, urged the IARC to upgrade RF-EMF to "probably carcinogenic" or higher.3

Now, just like smoking cigarettes, EMF exposure takes decades before its effects become evident (and even then, the health problem might not be directly linkable to EMF exposure), and this is a significant part of the problem as it allows the telecom industry to — just like the tobacco industry before it — whitewash concerns, manipulate research and prevent proper safety studies from being done. 

There's no doubt cellphone manufacturers are aware that EMFs from cellphones contribute to health problems, though. The evidence has been published for decades, and new research is constantly being added. 

However, by downplaying positive findings and saying that findings of harm are inconclusive — in other words, by creating doubt and controversy — they effectively prevent the public from knowing the truth and demanding safer products.  

Wireless Industry Is Even Worse Than the Tobacco Industry 

Another wireless industry strategy that prevents the problem from becoming public knowledge is the capturing of our federal regulatory agencies, which the tobacco industry wasn't even capable of. 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Surgeon General and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention all warned people about smoking, yet the tobacco industry continued successfully selling cigarettes for another 20 or 30 years. The wireless industry, on the other hand, has captured the federal regulatory agencies, which prevents those warnings from being issued in the first place. 

For example, the chief lobbyist for the wireless industry, Tom Wheeler, was appointed by President Obama to be the head of the Federal Communications Commission, which is a most egregious example of the fox guarding the hen house. Not surprisingly, then, in December 2019 the FCC announced they're going to fund rural 5G deployment to the tune of $9 billion!4

As detailed in my February 1, 2020, article, "The War Against 5G Heats Up," the telecom industry has engaged in a vast and illegal fraud where, for decades, basic telephone rate payers — wire line customers — have funded the deployment of wireless in general, and now 5G in particular, through their phone bills.

This illegal redirection of funds amounts to about $1 trillion over the past 15 years, and without this money, 5G would not have been possible in the first place. Were the wireless industry forced to pay its fair share of infrastructure costs, 5G simply wouldn't be economically feasible as a consumer product. 

What's so Great About 5G?

What exactly is 5G and why do some people want it? In short, it's all about improving speed. Compared to 4G, 5G is 100 times faster. On a side note, you can determine what your bandwidth is by pulling up fast.com on your cellphone's browser. If you're on 4G, your bandwidth is probably not going to exceed 10 megabytes per second (mb/s). If you're on 5G, it's going to be between 500 and 800 mb/s.

So, the primary benefit of 5G is noticeably faster speed. The vast majority of people simply don't need this kind of bandwidth, but it has great applications for commercial uses such as self-driving cars. 

The problem is, 5G may end up making the earth uninhabitable for many who are already struggling with electrosensitivity, and the countless others for whom 5G may prove to be the thing that tips them over the edge into electrohypersensitivity syndrome. 

Elon Musk's Starlink project, which is slated to deploy up to 42,000 satellites into low earth orbit, will blanket the entire planet with 5G internet. You won't be able to escape it, no matter how far into the wilderness you go. 

5G Is a Prescription for Biological Disaster

Then there are the long-term dangers of 5G, which we still do not have a complete picture of. There has not been a single safety study done on 5G. Studies using 2G, 3G and 4G, however, including the NTP and Ramazzini studies, clearly show there's cause for concern. 

5G is more complex, as it uses a variety of frequencies, which makes it a potentially greater threat. The frequency of 4G is typically around 2 to 5 gigahertz (GHz), while 5G will be around 20 to 30 GHz, initially. 

Eventually, it may go as high as 80 GHz, which will cause problems for people trying to remediate exposures because there are currently no inexpensive meters that can measure frequencies that high.

Based on the studies already done on previous generations of wireless, we know it's harmful, and 5G is only going to make matters worse, as it will dramatically increase our exposures. 5G requires what essentially amounts to a mini cellphone tower outside every fifth or sixth house on every block.

We also have studies showing the impact of millimeter waves, which is what 5G is using, on insects, animals and plants, and those hazards are well-documented. So, it doesn't just pose a problem for human health, but for the ecosystem as a whole. 

Martin Pall, Ph.D., wrote an excellent paper explaining how EMFs affect your voltage gated calcium channels (VGCCs) — channels in the outer plasma membrane of your cells. Each VGCC has a voltage sensor, a structure that detects electrical changes across the plasma membrane and opens the channel. EMFs work through the voltage sensor to activate the channel and radically increase intracellular calcium levels into dangerous ranges. 

Similar channels are found in most biological life, including animals, insects, plants and trees. So, flooding the planet with these frequencies will undoubtedly have serious biological consequences across the ecosystem. As such, it's an existential threat to humanity.

One biological consequence is arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat). Other potential consequences include autism and Alzheimer's. Heart and neurological problems top the list because your heart and brain have the greatest density of VGCCs. Men's testes also have a very high density of VGCCs and, indeed, we have evidence showing EMFs increase men's risk of infertility. 

Everything points to these frequencies being a prescription for biological disaster, and between skyrocketing autism, Alzheimer's and infertility rates, how can a society be sustained? It can't. It will be extinguished.

We Don't Need Wireless 5G

In reality, we can still get the bandwidth of 5G without 5G wireless. The alternative would be to deploy fiber optic cable. It's faster, safer and less expensive.

Unfortunately, the money originally set aside to implement nationwide fiber optics was rerouted and illegally used to build the wireless infrastructure instead. This is why a group called The Irregulators5 are now suing the FCC to put a stop to the illegal subsidy to the wireless industry. 

Wireline customers paid for an upgrade to fast and safe fiber optic wiring across the nation, but now we're getting harmful 5G wireless instead. As explained in "The War Against 5G Heats Up" (hyperlinked above), this lawsuit has the potential to alter the telecommunications industry from the ground up, and may be the "weapon" we need to halt to the 5G rollout in the U.S. 

The Importance of EMF Avoidance to Protect Your NAD+ Level

Along with practical remediation strategies, "EMF*D" also covers things you can do to protect yourself on a biochemical level. A perfect storm of DNA and cellular protein and membrane destruction is created when you aren't burning fat for fuel (which creates excess superoxide) and then get exposed to EMFs. 

This causes a radical increase in nitric oxide release that nearly instantaneously combines with superoxide to create enormous levels of peroxynitrate, which triggers a cascade of destructive events to your cellular and mitochondrial DNA, membranes and proteins.

Although all biologic damage is of concern, it is the DNA strand breaks that are most concerning as they will lead to a radical increase in inflammation and virtually all degenerative diseases. 

The good news is your body has the ability to repair this damaged DNA with a family of enzymes called poly ADP ribose polymerase or PARP It is a very effective repair system and works wonderfully to repair the damage as long as it has enough fuel in the form of NAD+. 

The bad news is many of us are running low on this fuel. When excess peroxynitrate activates PARP to repair the DNA damage, it consumes NAD+, and if you run out, you can't repair the damage. This appears to be a central cause for most of the diseases we now see in the modern world.

Optimizing your NAD+ levels may be the single most important strategy for improving your mitochondrial health. The first step is to reduce NAD+ consumption by the correct diet (low in processed foods and net carbohydrates and higher in healthy fats), along with EMF avoidance, as recent research shows NAD+ levels dramatically drop when exposed to EMFs. 

Time restricted eating is also very helpful, as is exercise, both of which are powerful, inexpensive and safe ways to boost your NAD+ level. 

Helpful Strategies to Limit EMF Damage

In "EMF*D" I also cover the Nrf2 pathway and the importance of minerals such as magnesium to limit the biological damage caused by EMFs. As explained in this interview, upregulating your Nrf2 pathway activates genes that have powerful antioxidant effects, thus helping protect against EMF damage, while magnesium — which is a natural calcium channel blocker — helps reduce the effects of EMF on your VGCCs.

On a side note, molecular hydrogen tablets are an excellent source of ionic elemental magnesium. Each tablet provides about 80 milligrams of ionic elemental magnesium. 

Addressing EMF Pollution — A 21st Century Health Imperative 

There's no doubt in my mind that EMF exposure is an important lifestyle component that needs to be addressed if you're concerned about your health, which is why I spent three years writing "EMF*D." 

My aim was to create a comprehensive and informative guide, detailing not only the risks, but also what you can do to mitigate unavoidable exposures. To get you started, see the tips listed in my previous article, "Top 19 Tips to Reduce Your EMF Exposure."

If you know or suspect you might already be developing a sensitivity to EMFs (full-blown hypersensitivity can often strike seemingly overnight), mitigating your exposures will be particularly paramount. Many sufferers become obsessed with finding solutions, as the effects can be severely crippling. My book can be a valuable resource in your quest for relief.

The EMF Experts website6 also lists EMF groups worldwide, to which you can turn with questions, concerns and support, and EMFsafehome.com7 lists a number of publications where you can learn more about the dangers of EMFs. 

Should you need help remediating your home, consider hiring a trained building biologist to get it done right. A listing can be found on the International Institute for Building-Biology & Ecology's website.8

Brian Hoyer, a leading EMF expert9 and a primary consultant for "EMF*D" also has a company called Shielded Healing that can provide a thorough analysis of the EMF exposure in your home, and help you devise a remediation plan. You can listen to our excellent three-hour interview for more information, featured in "Your EMF Questions Answered Part 1" and "Your EMF Questions Answered Part 2." 

PLASTIC---- WHAT YOU CAN DO!

Special Report: A Plastic Tide

Analysis by Dr. Joseph MercolaFact Checked

• February 15, 2020

The catastrophe of plastic pollution is growing worse. Single-use plastic bottles and bags, food packaging, fishing nets and biosolids are turning the world's oceans, seas and beaches into tragic wastelands. Microplastics from artificial clothing fibers and microbeads in personal care products add to the devastation.

Plastic is everywhere. Bottled water, grocery bags, shower curtains, garbage can liners and kitchen utensils are just a few of the ways plastic has made its way into every aspect of our daily lives. Our throwaway mentality, bred and fed by the mass production of plastics, has created a pollution problem that now threatens the very future of humanity.

It threatens fish, birds and water supplies, including still-pristine areas completely free from industrialization. The world now produces 299 million tons of plastics a year, most of which ends up in the oceans.

Biosolids spread on cropland increase the problem as they too contain microplastics. Once called "sewage sludge," biosolids are widely used as “natural fertilizer” in the U.S. and other countries.

In addition to plastics, biosolids contain PCBs, dioxins, pharmaceuticals, hormones, surfactants, heavy metals and disease-causing pathogens. A hard-hitting documentary from Sky News, “A Plastic Tide," showcases the urgent problem of plastic pollution and what some activists are doing about it.

Waterways Are Being Turned Into Synthetic Soup

“The ocean where life on Earth began is being turned into a synthetic soup” — so begins a dramatic Sky News documentary, “A Plastic Tide," narrated by science correspondent Thomas Moore.1 As Moore traverses from Mumbai, India, to Plymouth, London, the Netherlands, Belgium, Indian islands and Scotland, even the most ardent environmentalist will be shocked at the plastic toll.

"We are sleep walking into a catastrophe," says Moore as Afroz Shah, an activist and beach cleaner, escorts him through Mumbai streets to show him the extent of plastic pollution on a local beach. Shah and Moore agree that it is not a beach at all but a dump site, as they wade through the plastic waste and wearing yellow protective gloves. "This isn't litter dropped on the beach; it's come from the sea," says Moore.

Shah, says the documentary started the "world's biggest beach clean" with 4,000 tons of trash cleared. He says he remembers the polluted beach as a pristine swimming area when he was young and is disheartened to see its demise and public indifference. "People think the prime minister of this country should come on the beach and clean," says Shah.2 They do not feel personal responsibility for the shocking amounts of plastic debris.

Especially harmful are single-use plastics such as shopping bags. Shah points out blue bags from the mall scattered across the beach. Citizens unthinkingly accept and discard them, he says, thinking it is not their problem.

Near the beach, Moore interviews some fishermen who confirm that their nets catch only plastic these days, not fish, and so they are idle. "There is no point in fishing here," says an unnamed fisherman. By 2050, the plastic in the sea could weigh more than all the fish, adds Moore.

---

A University of Plymouth Professor Weighs In

After the tour of Mumbai, Moore visits Richard Thompson, a professor and marine biologist at the University of Plymouth in Plymouth, England. Thompson says he recalls a book about the wonders of the new creation, plastics, that sat on his grandfather's bookshelf when he was just a child. 

When plastic first surfaced, he reminds viewers, it was seen as a panacea for many uses, including automobile manufacturing. While he is reminiscing, the documentary plays old TV ads that display how easily plastic products stack and how a dropped plastic plate won't break like resin or ceramic plates.

Plastic in and of itself is not the enemy, says Thompson; the problem is single use plastics, which constitute 40% of the plastics produced. We have been trained to think of plastic as "throwaway and valueless" he says.3

Next the documentary takes viewers to London where, in 2017, crews discovered a 130-ton amalgamation of wet wipes, sanitary products and cooking fat stuck in a sewage pipe, which they called a fatberg.4 The fatberg weighed as much as 11 double-decker buses.

Moore interviews a sewer worker who is working underneath the Thames river, who confirms what viewers probably already know: "The only thing that should go down the toilet is paper," he says. He and Moore examine an article that looks like toilet paper but is actually plastic that has not disintegrated and will take hundreds of years to do so.5 Plastic waste in the Thames River flows into the sea, says a local cleanup volunteer.

Moore then joins Thompson on a boat with an apparatus to collect microplastics — plastics that have broken down into tiny pieces. There are "one or two pieces of plastic in 1 cubic meter (35.1 cubic feet) of seawater" says Thompson, and that becomes a massive amount of plastic in water bodies. Moreover, the microplastics "open up the potential of ingestion" to a wider amount of fish that would not eat larger plastic pieces, the professor warns.

Visits to the Netherlands, Belgium and Scotland

One of the most heartbreaking aspects of plastic waste is its deadly effect on marine life. Turtles suffocate while trapped in plastic, as the documentary shows, because they can't rise to the surface to breathe. Fish starve to death because the plastic they eat gives them a false sense of satiety. Plastic bags can deceptively resemble jelly fish to marine species that eat them.

When Moore visits Texel, a bird-rich island in the Wadden Sea, off the coast of The Netherlands,6 we learn more about plastics’ toll on local wildlife. Moore interviews Jan Van Franeker, a scientist with Wageningen Marine Research, a collaboration between Wageningen University and the Wageningen Research Foundation in Wageningen, Netherlands.7,8

"The wildlife tells us what we are doing wrong," says Franeker seated in front of a long table of dead birds. They are "suffering from our mistakes." The larger birds ingest larger plastic, says Franeker, holding up an entire toothbrush found in the body of an albatross. 

All of the seabirds have "plastic in their stomach,” he says. "It is a disgrace to mankind to find this in animals" he says while examining the dead seabirds, noting that the animals die a slow and agonizing death.

In Belgium, Moore interviews professor Colin Janssen, an ecotoxicologist at Ghent University, about 30 miles from Brussels. Mussels, a mainstay of Belgian cuisine, are showing the effects of marine plastic pollution because of the huge amount of water they filter through their bodies, says Janseen. CT scans reveal the plastic in their tissues.9

The plastic is also in the stomachs of humans, adds Moore, and it crosses from our stomachs into our blood system, a phenomenon that is just beginning to be acknowledged. Janssen concurs with Moore about the seriousness of the plastic scourge and says future generations will say "they left us with a rotten plastic legacy." 

Next, "A Plastic Tide" visits with an owner of a beautiful bed and breakfast located in Arrochar, Scotland. Despite the picturesque lodge, Cristina Sanchez-Navarro says so much plastic has washed up on the shores near her B-and-B, her guests have asked her, "Why do you have a landfill out there?"

Despite cleanup volunteers, the community is overwhelmed by the plastic pollution problem, she says, and even remote and isolated areas are blighted. Underscoring the crisis, a pet dog is seen with volunteers holding a plastic bottle in his mouth.

The Documentary Ends on a Note of Encouragement

After his visit to European locales, Moore returns to Mumbai and revisits Shah, the activist and beach cleaner we met earlier in the documentary. Flanked with fellow beach cleaners, Shah is now on a beach that is almost unrecognizable. The cleanup has worked. "One day we can swim again," says a volunteer after years of wading through plastic debris.

“How have you motivated the volunteers and achieved such effects?” asks Moore. We "set an example" for others and also educate the public, replies Shah. Moreover, "cleaning up rubbish is addictive," he says, because we volunteers love the ocean. "We are cleaning our hearts."

At the beginning of the documentary, during Moore's first visit to Mumbai, Shah says destroying the habitats of fish and marine life and risking their survival is just wrong. "No species has the right to destroy somebody else's house." Clearly his sentiments and those of cleanup volunteers everywhere are making a difference.

What Can You Do About Plastic Pollution?

While cleanup efforts by volunteers are valuable, each and every one of us has a responsibility to share the burden for putting an end to plastic pollution. Below is a sampling of strategies that can help:

Don't use plastic bags. Opt for reusable bags, especially for groceries

Bring your own mug for a coffee drink, and skip the lid and straw

Instead of buying bottled water, bring water from home in glass water bottles

Make sure the items you recycle are recyclable

Store foods in glass containers or Mason jars, not plastic containers or freezer bags

Bring your own leftovers container when eating out

Avoid processed foods, which are typically sold with plastic wrapping or plastic-lined paper boxes. Buy fresh produce and use vegetable bags brought from home

Request no plastic wrap on your newspaper and dry cleaning

Use nondisposable razors, washable feminine hygiene products, cloth diapers and rags in lieu of paper towels. (Old shirts and socks make great cleaning rags)

Avoid disposable utensils and straws and buy foods in bulk when you can

Buy clothes and other items at secondhand stores. Microfibers found in newer clothing can be as destructive as plastic grocery bags

Buy infant toys and even pet toys made of wood or untreated fabric, not plastic

Just as important as our own behavior, we need to demand a reduction in plastics from the companies that make and sell our food. Thanks to plastic bags, plastic food packaging and bottled beverages, grocery stores and food manufacturers are likely the largest contributors to plastic pollution problem.

They wrap every conceivable item in nonbiodegradable plastic from fresh produce to eggs, fish, bread, cheese and packaged foods. We need to vote with our wallet and simply refuse such practices. Our own conscientious behavior and persuading food purveyors to change their plastic use could go a long way toward reducing plastic waste.

IMPORTANCE OF MELATONIN !

The Importance of Melatonin for Optimal Health

Analysis by Dr. Joseph MercolaFact Checked

Sleeping well is an essential strategy to optimize your health, and at the heart of it is your circadian rhythm. This is also known as your body clock. It's a natural, biological timer present in every one of your cells that helps your body recognize sleepiness and wakefulness over a period of 24 hours. 

Your circadian rhythm is largely dictated by your pineal gland, located near the center of your brain, which produces melatonin, a hormone that is crucial for the regulation of your sleep cycle.

If you have had enough exposure to bright light in the daytime, your pineal gland typically starts secreting melatonin around 9 p.m.1 As the amount of melatonin in your brain increases, sleepiness sets in as your body begins to prepare for sleep. 

If you stay awake past dark, artificial light — especially that emitted by electronic devices — will inhibit your body’s melatonin production, so, ideally, you would stop using electronics at least an hour or two before bedtime to help increase melatonin production and maintain a steady circadian rhythm. 

Melatonin Does More Than Control Sleep

While melatonin works as a natural sleep regulator, its biological effects don’t end there.2 It’s also a potent antioxidant3 that plays an important role in cancer prevention.4 It’s also thought to be important for brain, cardiovascular and gastrointestinal health,5 and has been shown to boost your immune function in a variety of ways.

In one study,6 researchers suggested melatonin may even improve the treatment of bacterial diseases such as tuberculosis. In another, melatonin was identified as a potential tool against inflammation and autoimmune diseases, including Type 1 diabetes.7

Melatonin is also an important energy hormone. As noted in the Stanford University course paper “Melatonin and Energy Levels:”8

“… decreasing the melatonin in the blood stream, consistent with the body's natural response to suppress the secretion in the presence of light, causes the body to function at a higher energy level … An increase in the melatonin levels leads to a subsequent decrease in energy levels.

As such, understanding how to control and optimize the secretion and suppression of the melatonin for optimal hours of the day could help improve the treatment of sleep disorders and positively impact the energy levels of individuals.”

In short, if your sleep efficiency is impaired, meaning you’re not sleeping as deeply as you should, for as long as is ideal, then your energy level is going to be adversely affected. 

Conversely, spending most of your daytime hours in poorly lit rooms, especially if you’re also exposed to excessive light after sunset, can impair your melatonin production, causing you to not sleep well.

Melatonin Protects Your Mitochondria 

Importantly, the antioxidant activity of melatonin also helps protect your mitochondria, the tiny organelles inside your cells that generate most of the ATP or energy currency of your body. As noted in a 2007 paper in the Frontiers of Bioscience:9

“Melatonin is an ancient molecule present in unicellular organisms at the very early moment of life … The best-known actions of melatonin, currently supported by experimental and clinical data, include antioxidant and anti-inflammatory abilities, some of them involving genomic regulation of a series of enzymes. 

Besides, melatonin displays anticonvulsant and antiexcitotoxic properties. Most of the beneficial consequences resulting from melatonin administration may depend on its effects on mitochondrial physiology.”

In fact, melatonin appears to be the most powerful antioxidant in this regard, as it has the ability to actually enter into your mitochondria.10 This is an ability that not all antioxidants have. According to this Frontiers of Bioscience paper,11 melatonin helps “prevent mitochondrial impairment, energy failure and apoptosis in oxidatively-damaged mitochondria.” 

One of the things that makes melatonin so powerful is that it doesn’t just act as an antioxidant in and of itself; it also interacts with your body’s innate antioxidant system where it recharges glutathione.12 However, this brings us back to the importance of sleep. 

Since melatonin is only released in response to darkness, and is easily and significantly inhibited by light (such as regular room lighting and electronic screens, after dark), your mitochondrial health will suffer if you do not take steps to optimize your sleep. 

Aside from worsening your sleep quality and decreasing your sleep quantity, low melatonin production also increases oxidative stress, speeds up the aging process and raises your risk of degenerative diseases and chronic fatigue, thanks to its influence over your mitochondria.

Melatonin Works Synergistically With Vitamin D

In my February 2, 2020, article “The Importance of Vitamin D for Optimal Sleep,” which features my interview with neurologist and sleep coach Dr. Stasha Gominak, I review the hidden influence vitamin D has on your sleep. 

A paper13 that will be published in the May 2020 issue of The Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology — which I was able to review early, parts of which I’m sharing with you here — sheds further light on this connection. Not only does melatonin enhance vitamin D signaling, the two molecules act synergistically to optimize your mitochondrial function. 

As noted in this paper,14 “The biosynthetic pathways of vitamin D and melatonin are inversely related relative to sun exposure,” meaning both are dependent on properly timed exposure to the sun. 

A hypothesis presented by the researchers is that vitamin D and melatonin “play an essential role as modulators of mitochondrial function and adaptation to circadian and seasonal variations.” 

Additionally, “both molecules are involved in the homeostatic functioning of the mitochondria,” the authors point out, stressing that the mitochondria are, in fact, “the final common target for melatonin and vitamin D.” Furthermore:

“A deficiency of these molecules has been associated with the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases, including arterial hypertension, neurodegenerative diseases, sleep disorders, kidney diseases, cancer, psychiatric disorders, bone diseases, metabolic syndrome, and diabetes, among others. 

During aging, the intake and cutaneous synthesis of vitamin D, as well as the endogenous synthesis of melatonin are remarkably depleted, therefore, producing a state characterized by an increase of oxidative stress, inflammation, and mitochondrial dysfunction ... 

Mitochondrial dysfunction has been related to the etiologies of many complex diseases where overactivation of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS), vitamin D deficiency and the reduction of melatonin synthesis converge.

In this sense, experimental and clinical evidence indicates that inflammation, oxidative stress, as in mitochondrial dysfunction, are consistent with low levels of melatonin and vitamin D, and also represent risk factors connected with development and maintenance of prevalent acute and chronic pathologies.”

Melatonin-Vitamin D Combo Produces Strong Synergistic Effects

According to the 2020 paper in The Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology,15multiple sclerosis, cancer, neuropsychiatric disorders and high blood pressure are all examples of diseases that appear strongly linked to and affected by your vitamin D and melatonin status. 

Interestingly, a 2012 study16 pointed out melatonin is “an overlooked factor in schizophrenia and in the inhibition of antipsychotic side effects.” Vitamin D deficiency has also been linked to a higher risk of schizophrenia,17,18 especially when levels are low during development.19

When combined in treatment, melatonin and vitamin D produce strong synergistic effects against cancer. Two separate studies20,21 have demonstrated the combination induces apoptosis and inhibits growth and division of breast cancer cells. In one of them, the combination resulted in “an almost complete cell growth arrest at 144 hours.”22

These effects were attributed (at least in part) to enhanced release of transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-β1), a type of cytokine that controls cell growth, proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis. Melatonin in combination with vitamin D has also been shown to protect against apoptotic ischemia-reperfusion injury in the kidney.23

Simple Ways to Optimize Your Melatonin and Vitamin D 

The evidence suggests optimizing your melatonin production by making sure you sleep well at night may be a hidden key to maintaining mitochondrial health, which in turn is paramount for longevity and the prevention of virtually all chronic health problems.

However, while there are likely many benefits to supplementing with vitamin D and melatonin, it makes no sense to do so unless you are seeking to optimize your body’s own production. 

The good news is it’s relatively simple and inexpensive to increase your melatonin and vitamin D levels. To optimize your vitamin D, I recommend getting sensible sun exposure on large portions of your body on a regular basis, ideally daily.

For further guidance, see “The Risks and Benefits of Sun Exposure.” If for whatever reason you cannot get sufficient amounts of sun exposure, consider taking a vitamin D3 supplement (along with a little extra vitamin K2 to maintain a healthy ratio between these two nutrients).

I personally have not taken any oral vitamin D for well over 10 years and my levels are typically over 70 ng/mL, even in the winter, but I have started taking sublingual melatonin as I am now older than 65, and believe there are benefits for such, even though I sleep in pitch dark and get bright sun exposure around 85% of the time during the day.

Optimizing your melatonin production starts with getting plenty of bright sunlight during the day, as this helps “set” your circadian clock. Then, as the evening wears on and the sun sets, you’ll want to avoid bright lighting. 

Blue light from electronic screens and LED light bulbs is particularly problematic and inhibits melatonin the most. If you need lighting, opt for incandescent light bulbs, candles or salt lamps. The blue light from electronic screens can be counteracted by installing blue-blocking software such as Iris,24 or wearing blue-blocking glasses.

Additionally, an interesting paper25 in Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, published in 2017, highlights the usefulness of time-restricted eating to improve your sleep cycle. As noted in this paper:

“The robustness of the circadian clock deteriorates with aging. Two new studies show that aging reprograms the circadian transcriptome in a cell-type-dependent manner and that such rewiring can be reversed by caloric restriction …

Surprisingly, the expression of core clock genes and clock-controlled genes remained unchanged with aging, despite the drastic circadian reprogramming. Thus, the core clock machinery remains largely intact in old age, giving hope for the prospect of reversing aging-associated circadian reprogramming to potentially improve physiological functions. 

Indeed, CR-induced robust reprogramming of the circadian transcriptome partially overlaps with the circadian transcriptome in young mice. Thus, the profound physiological impact of CR may be, in part, mediated by the reprogramming of the circadian clock …

Given that aging-associated accumulation of DNA damage in stem cells originates from exposure to mitochondrial stress and that the mitochondrial protective programs are repressed in aged adult stem cells, it is tempting to speculate that reactivating the mitochondrial protective programs may provide a means to reduce the accumulation of cellular damage and reverse aging-associated circadian reprogramming.”

............................................................

MELATONIN  CAN  TODAY  BE  BOUGHT  IN  TABLET  FORM. 

STRONG HIPS----CALCIUM AND VITAMIN D !!

CALCIUM, vitamin D  Cut  Hip  Breaks,  research  says——

A  FRACTURED  HIP—— ONE  OF  THE  MOST  COMMON  BONE  BREAKS  EXPERIENCED  BY  THE  

ELDERLY - SENDS  MORE  THAN  300,000  PEOPLE  65  AND  OLDER  TO  THE  HOSPITAL  EACH  YEAR,  ACCORDING  TO  THE  U.S.  CENTER  FOR  DISEASE  

AND  PREVENTION.

BUT  NEW  RESEARCH  SUGGESTS  THAT  TAKING  BOTH  CALCIUM  AND  

VITAMIN  D  SUPPLEMENTS  COULD  TRIM  THAT  NUMBER.

ANALYZING  DATA  FROM  17  STUDIES,  INVOLVING  NEARLY  84,000  

PEOPLE,  MOST  IN  THEIR  UPPER  60s  OR  OLDER,  RESEARCHERS  FOUND  THAT  THOSE  TAKING  BOTH  SUPPLEMENTS  WERE  ABOUT  16%  LESS  

LIKELY  TO  BREAK  A  HIP  AND  6%  LESS  LIKELY  TO  BREAK  ANY  BONE.

BY  COMPARISON,  NO  PROTECTION  FROM  BONE  BREAKS  OF  ANY  SORT  WAS  FOUND  FOR  THOSE  WHO  TOOK  ONLY  VITAMIN  D,  ACCORDING  TOTHE  RESEARCH  PUBLISHED  IN  THE  JOURNAL  JAMA  NETWORK  OPEN.  

LONG  BILLED  AS  ESSENTIAL  FOR  HEALTHY  BONES,  CALCIUM  AND  

VITAMIN  D  WORK  TOGETHER.

CALCIUM  IS  A  KEY  NUTRIENT  FOR  BUILDING  STRONG,  DENSE  BONES,  AND  PROTECTING  THEM  FROM  THE  WEAKENING  EFFECTS  OF  

OSTEOPOROSIS.

BUT  THE  BODY  NEEDS  VITAMIN  D  TO  ABSORB  CALCIUM.

GOOD  SOURCES  OF  CALCIUM  INCLUDE  MILK,  CHEESE,  YOGURT,  

BROCCOLI,  CABBAGE,  LEAFY  GREENS,  AND  FOOD  AND  DRINK  FORTIFIED  WITH  CALCIUM,  SUCH  AS  CEREALS,  AND  ORANGE  JUICE.

FOR  MOST  PEOPLE,  SUNLIGHT  IS  THE  MAIN  SOURCE  OF  VITAMIN  D.  IT’S  NATURALLY  PRESENT  IN  ONLY  A  FEW  FOODS -  EGG  YOLKS,  AND  FATTY  FISH,  FOR  INSTANCE,  ASA  WELL  AS  MILK  FORTIFIED  WITH  VITAMIN  D.

The  Washington  Post

………………..

NOW  TO  GIVE  YOU  MY  LIFE  STORY  CONCERNING  THIS. 

I  BECAME  VERY  INTERESTED  IN  HEALTH  AND  STRENGTH  AS  A  YOUNG  TEENAGE.  I  THANK  MY  DAD  FOR  ENCOURAGING  ME  TO  SEND  FOR  

THE  “HEALTH  AND  STRENGTH”  COURSE  BY  THE  THEN  FAMOUS  

STRONG  BODY-BUILT  CHARLES  ALTAS [GO  ON  THE  INTERNET  AND  SEE  

AND  READ  ALL  ABOUT  HIM;  HIS  COURSE  IS  STILL  BEING  PUBLISHED]. ATLAS  WAS  BIG  ON  THE  CORRECT  DIET  EATING;  BIG  ON  ORGANIC  

MILK  AS  RAW  AS  YOU  CAN  GET.  OF  COURSE,  CHEESE,  FISH,  EGGS,  ORGANIC  BEEF,  NUTS  OF  ALL  KINDS,  FRUITS  AND  VEGIES  OF  ALL  KINDS,AND  NATURAL  SWEETS  LIKE  DATES,  PRUNES,  NATURAL  HONEY,  

APRICOTS  ETC.  AND  YES  BACK  IN  THE  1950s  WHEN  I  WAS  A  TEEN,  

LOTS  AND  LOTS  OF  SUNSHINE.

THAT  WAY  OF  LIVING  I  HAVE  LIVED  FROM  A  YOUNG  TEEN  TO  MY  

NOW  77  YEARS  OF  LIFE.

PLENTY  OF  CALCIUM  AND  VITAMIN  D  I  HAVE  HAD  ALL  THOSE  

DECADES.

I  GREW  UP  PLAYING  FOOTBALL  [SOCCER  TO  YOU  IN  NORTH  

AMERICA]  AND  CRICKET.  BOTH  GAMES  WHERE  YOU  ARE  RUNNING  

AND  TUMBLING,  UP  AND  DOWN  FROM  THE  GROUND.  IN  ALL  THOSE  

ACROBATICS  IN  THOSE  TWO  SPORTS,  I  NEVER  BROKE  A  BONE,  

NOT  ONCE.

COMING  NOW  TO  WHEN  I  WAS  63.

I  BOUGHT  MY  DREAM  HORSE  “FINAL  TOUCH”  WHEN  I  WAS  62  AND  

SHE  WAS  5.  I  RENAMED  HER  “GOLDIE” - SHE’S  A  DARK  GOLD  PALOMINO  QUARTER  HORSE.

I  BOUGHT  AN  AUSTRALIAN  SADDLE,  SUPER  COMFORTABLE  TO  RIDE  

IN,  BUT  MADE  ONE  HUGE  MISTAKE—— IT  DID  NOT  FIT  HER.

WE  WERE  OUT  ON  A  DIRT/CLAY  ROAD  ON  THE  RANCH,  IN  THE  

MIDDLE  OF  A  BLAZINGLY  HOT  SUMMER — 90s  F.

THE  SADDLE  SLIPPED—— I  CAME  OFF  AND  LANDED  ON  MY  LEFT  HIP  ONTO  THAT  BONE  HARD  ROAD—— THE  PAIN  WAS  EXCRUCIATING—— I  THOUGHT  I’D  SMASHED  MY  HIP  TO  PEICES  AND  SOMEONE  WOULD  

NEEDS  HAVE  TO  CALL  THE  AMBULANCE—— SURELY  I  THOUGHT  I  HAD  A  BROKEN  HIP!

TO  MY  AMAZEMENT,  AFTER  A  MINUTE  OR  SO,  I  COULD  STAND  AND  

ACTUALLY  WALK.  GETTING  BACK  TO  THE  RANCH  BARN,  THERE  WERE BRUSES--  BLUE  AND  BLACK,  BUT  NO  BROKEN  HIP.  IT  WAS  4  DAYS  OF  

COLD  AND  HOT  CLOTHS  ON  MY  HIP,  AND  I  WAS  JUST  FINE!

I  WAS  63—— AND  I  KNOW  IT  WAS  ALL  THE  DECADES  FROM  AN  EARLY  TEEN  OF  

GETTING  REGULARLY  CALCIUM  AND  VITAMIN  D  IN  MY  DAILY  DIET,  

THAT  PROVED  CALCIUM  AND  VITAMIN  D  DID  INDEED  GIVE  ME  SUPER STRONG  AND  DENSE  BONES,  AS  WELL  AS  THE  INGREDIENT  OF  

REGULAR  EXERCISE.  

SO  I  HAVE  PROVED  IT  IS  ABSOLUTELY  A  FACT  THAT  EVERYTHING  

ELSE  BEING  NORMAL,  CALCIUM  AND  VITAMIN  D  DO  GIVE  YOU  

STRONG  BONES  AND  A  STRONG  PAIR  OF  HIPS.

SO  GO  AT  IT—— MAKE  SURE  YOU  GET  PLANTY  OF  BOTH  CALCIUM  AND  VITAMIN  D.

Keith Hunt