7 Feng Shui Secrets to Improve Your Sleep

April 4, 2014
Ann Louise Gittleman, PhD, CNS

Ann Louise Gittleman, PhD, CNS

Award-winning nutritionist and New York Times bestselling author.

improve sleepWhy rearranging your bedroom with electronic “feng shui” may be the answer to insomnia.

I was shocked several years ago when an EMF remediator discovered high levels of electropollution in my home’s master bedroom. He assured me this is not at all unusual—given all the electronics and electrical devices people have today, your bedroom may be keeping you awake at night too!

This is where you should be spending at least eight hours a night sleeping. If (instead) you’re tossing and turning, unnatural voltage in your body—produced by the wiring in your walls, extension cords, electrical appliances, and electronic devices—may be the problem.

This is why it’s so crucial—many cases of chronic insomnia or restless sleep (including intermittent wakeups) have been solved by simply unplugging a wireless router or turning off cell phones at night.  Everyday new cell phone towers are popping up and we absorb hundreds of frequencies through our bodies and into our brains impacting the pineal gland and more.

Because your body restores itself when you sleep—producing between 80 and 90% of its supply of pineal-producing melatonin at night—you can’t be too scrupulous about reducing the sources of electropollution in your bedroom. Here are some of the tips and techniques I offer in my latest book Zapped.
 

7 Guidelines for Electronic “Feng Shui”

1.  Clear the clutter—electronically speaking. Get the cell or cordless phone, computer, PDA, sound system, and —even the clock radio—out of the bedroom if you want to sleep soundly at night. They all emit alternating current (AC) magnetic fields that interfere with your body’s production of the antioxidant hormone melatonin. If you must have a “white noise” sound machine to sleep, keep it at least six feet from your bed.

2.  Unplug your electric blanket before you crawl into bed. It can produce very large AC electric and magnetic fields that have been linked to infertility. A heated waterbed creates similar problems. Be aware that metal—much like water—transmits electric fields, so you’ll want to replace your metal spring mattress or bed frame with something less conductive—like a futon.

3.  Use a battery-powered or windup alarm clock. If you forget to wind it or can’t keep up with battery changing, move your electric clock or clock radio at least six feet from your head. And no matter what—don’t use your smartphone as an alarm clock!

4.  If your bedroom is on the second floor, you probably can’t escape electrical wiring, which is in the floor. Some people turn off the power to the bedroom at night—to guarantee sound sleep. If you can’t do that (or if your smoke detector is hardwired to the circuit, you don’t want to cut the power), position your bed so that your head isn’t near a power outlet.

5.  Make sure no beds back up to the same wall as your refrigerator. The fridge creates one of the largest magnetic fields in your house—and a wall simply won’t block these EMFs. Is there an overhead fan—or fluorescent lighting—in the ceiling below your bed? The AC magnetic fields produced by these fans and lights are actually higher in the rooms above them!

6.  Also keep your baby’s and children’s bedrooms as EMF free as possible. Remove all electronic games, equipment, and monitors. Remember that little ones—with their smaller size and thinner skulls—are far more vulnerable to electromagnetic fields than we are! To learn more about protecting your family in your own home, go to www.areyouzapped.com and www.buildingbiology.net.

7.  Live near a cell tower or have an electrical transformer outside your bedroom? Paint the walls (interior and exterior) with special EMF-shielding paints—made with carbon, copper, nickel, and silver—that can be applied like regular paint and then covered with whatever color latex or water-based paint you prefer. I did this in my master bedroom and home office—and not only do I sleep much better now but I’m also more focused!

 

The Melatonin Connection

While a little feng shui in the bedroom can make a big difference, you’ll get zapped again once you leave this sanctuary. Even minimal EMF exposure has been linked to sleep disturbances and immune-system suppression, so what happens during the day also affects melatonin production and your health.

Besides helping to fight insomnia, melatonin bolsters the immune system by increasing the activity of two other potent antioxidants—glutathione and superoxide dismutase (SOD). Recent research suggests a link between low levels of SOD and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also called Lou Gehrig’s disease. This fatal disorder of the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, which leads to total paralysis, has been traced to occupational EMF exposure, and some researchers suspect the missing link is melatonin.

That’s not all this antioxidant hormone does. People with cancer, AIDS, and other serious diseases have severely depleted levels of glutathione—the other antioxidant that melatonin supports. Like most antioxidants, glutathione gives up an extra electron to free radical molecules, rendering them benign. So you need melatonin to allow glutathione to regain its antioxidant status—helping it live to fight another day.

With less circulating melatonin, the body becomes more vulnerable to free radical damage and a host of related disorders, ranging from cancer (particularly melanoma and malignancies of the breast, ovary, and prostate) and heart disease to neurological conditions like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

Antioxidant melatonin also stimulates TSH, the thyroid hormones that control your metabolism, which may explain why sleep-deprived people tend to be overweight. Radiation—including that from EMFs—zero in on the thyroid gland as though it were painted with a target. Electropollution from cell phones can diminish the body’s production of thyroid hormones, which leads to depression, fatigue, joint pain, and muscle cramps—symptoms of both thyroid dysfunction and electrosensitivity.

EMFs aren’t the only reason for decreased melatonin production, though.

As a landmark Tulane study shows, levels of this critical antioxidant hormone naturally decline with age. I recommend 3 mg Melatonin in a time-released form—particularly if you’re over 60 years of age. Recent research in the journal BMC Medicine reports that prolonged release supplements—as licensed in Europe and other countries for people 55 and older—are both safe and effective. One of my Zapped All-Star Supplements, UNI KEY’s Melatonin contains added manganese, selenium, and zinc for optimal antioxidant protection.

If you decide to have your melatonin levels tested, be sure to do it at night. Production of this antioxidant hormone peaks between 2 and 4 am, which is why it’s so important to make your bedroom as EMF-free as possible.


Sources:

Zapped: Why Your Cell Phone Shouldn’t Be Your Alarm Clock and 1,268 Ways to Outsmart the Hazards of Electronic Pollution
www.buildingbiology.net/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20857868
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20857861
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20707632
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20712395
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20696138
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20683768
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20549340
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2933606/?tool_pubmed

 

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Ann Louise Gittleman, PhD, CNS, is an award-winning New York Times bestselling author of more than thirty books including The Fat Flush Plan series and her latest book, Radical Metabolism. She’s been rewriting the rules of nutrition for more than 40 years and is internationally recognized as a pioneer in the field of diet, detox and women’s health issues. 

For a FREE daily dose of tips and strategies for maintaining healthy weight, conquering insomnia, and much more…check out my Radical Health Tips.

I’d like to meet and greet you on my Facebook groups, so won’t you check us out at the Radical Metabolism RevolutionFat Flush Nation, or my Inner Circle!

5 Comments

  1. Angela Salgado

    Where do you have your melatonin levels tested and what are the costs?

    Reply
  2. Ann Louise Gittleman

    Angela: Just heard from UNI KEY, the official distibutor of all my products and books. The good folks at UNI KEY can facilitate a salivary melatonin test for you with one of their contracted labs. The cost i $70.00. Please call LIZ for details:)

    Since I have received many personal emails regarding this same query, I thank the UNI KEY staff for their assistance in arranging the test.

    Reply
  3. Kathleen

    I have a wind-up alarm clock now thanks to your very informative blog, Ann Louise! Thank you!

    Reply
    • Team ALG

      Wonderful! We love to hear about these little changes that make big differences 🙂

      Reply
  4. Donna

    I put the clock radio in the bathroom and have room darkening curtains to help shield out the light. Next step is to try to get my husband to unplug the TV.

    My question is about EMF. There are EMF devices that are promoted to soothe and heal various ailments that was promoted by Dr. Pawluki on the Dr. Oz show. Would you know if these are the same EMFs that you are talking abut here? I have one of these devices and now wonder about their safety.

    Reply

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