Yesterday morning I ordered a pair of wireless Bluetooth lavalier mics, so I can capture outdoor, in-person conversations in high fidelity (more on that in a minute).
Thanks to Amazon Prime, they arrived that night.
The modern world is defined by technological trade-offs:
Amazon offers cheap goodies on demand, but erodes our patience and fills our lives with plastic junk we don’t really need.
Smart phones connect us to strangers on the other side of the planet, while alienating us from the people we’re with.
Industrial agriculture feeds billions, but chemicals run off and pollute our streams.
We read about "forever chemicals" polluting everyday items, heavy metals in our food supply, not to mention blue light emitting from screens.
It’s hard to know which of these we should focus, or whether we should just accept some level of technological toxicity.
It’s one thing to switch to a healthier diet, or start exercising more, but it’s another to research every product purchase for BPAs, PFAS, etc. etc.
Harmful EMFs (electromagnetic fields) are another stealthy side effect of the proliferation of powerful wireless electronics.
Non-native EMFs – from sources like dirty electricity (think light dimmers), Wifi, 5G, and Bluetooth – are almost impossible to avoid altogether. Even if you go off the grid, you’ll still get it in heaps if you install solar panels.
EMFs may open cell calcium channels, allowing positive ions to flood the normally negative cellular environment, potentially damaging mitochondria and DNA. They may also deplete electrons our body uses to “recharge” through contact with the earth’s natural resonance.
I had been a skeptic that EMF is one of the top-ranking culprits compared to other modern insults – say, the social and psychological effects of smartphone addiction. But I’m more mindful of the potential harms after my interview with Justin Frandson – a performance coach based in Newport, CA., and founder of Athleticism.com.
Introducing Cross Currents
This is the first podcast in a new series I’m calling Cross Currents – exploring a convergence of topics, from natural movement and hormesis to generative AI and productivity.
I struggle with the balance between my work with technology and my desire to simply and live naturally. At its best, technology is invisible and minimalist (like “barefoot shoes”). You could say the same thing about my new wireless lav mics. No need to fuss around with wires – just plug the receiver into your phone, clip the mic on, and start talking.
But I’m not naive about the downsides or the need to bring myself back into balance when I’ve gone too far towards techno-solutionism.
As Justin explains, the potential dangers from EMF are proportional to three factors:
Magnitude
Frequency
Proximity
Newer technologies like 5G have a higher frequency, and antenna towers are becoming more ubiquitous. You can find out how many towers are in your area here.
While research on 5G is still emerging, some studies suggest that frequent, intense exposures may cause symptoms – especially in sensitive individuals. These poor souls are the canary the coal mine for the rest of us – if we don’t adapt individually or change course as a society.
As communication infrastructure expands, we should take precautions.
Grounding, or “earthing,” by going outside barefoot is a popular method for re-establishing electromagnetic equilibrium. Just 20 minutes with your feet in the moist grass can do wonders at the beginning and end of your day.
For me, swimming in the bay seems to be the fastest way to recharge my batteries after too many hours staring at a computer screen.
Still, even if you are grounding daily, it’s wise to limit Bluetooth devices, especially AirPods and wireless headphones that have direct access to your brain through the ear canal. Turn off wifi routers at night, and request an analog utility meter if its close to where you sleep.
If you're driving a Tesla and noticing some subtle changes in your physiology, Justin may have a solution: small bags of "EMF rocks" that he describes as "going-barefoot-in-a-bag".
While I haven't tried the rocks myself, I'm not opposed to the idea that certain crystals or stones can have healing and protective effects. Hildegard von Bingen, the 11th-century abbess and doctor of the church, wrote about the healing effects of crystals that spring from their moisture and energy.
Lest you think crystals and gemstones are just some new-age nonsense (or even a portal for evil spirits), listen to what Hildegard had to say first:
“In this way, then, precious stones are made out of fire and water; they
therefore contain energy and moisture within them and they have many powerful qualities and effects, so that many actions can be carried out with them. These actions are nevertheless good and honest and useful to human beings, and not works of seduction, fornication, adultery, hostility, murder and the like, which are vices in opposition to human beings. For it is the nature of precious stones to seek the honest and useful and reject the evil and false in human beings, in the same way that the virtues throw off the vices, and in the same way that it is impossible for the vices to act in conjunction with the virtues.”
As with any matter of health and spirituality, I encourage you to listen to my full conversation with Justin, research further, and draw your own conclusions.
I, for one, plan to re-up my grounding efforts and become more resilient to the potential harms of EMF, rather than obsess about eliminating every source from my life. I may even buy a couple bags of the rocks to give out to my Tesla-driving friends in exchange for joyrides.
I welcome your feedback in the comments. And lastly, if there are any topics or guests you want me to feature, let me know!
(Sweetened Condensed) Transcript
NOTE: The following transcript has been abbreviated by generative AI for clarity and conciseness. To get the full picture with 100% accuracy, listen or watch! If you are a podcaster interested in having your transcripts condensed like this, contact me.
Charlie Deist: Justin, thanks for being here.
Justin Frandson: Hey, I appreciate you having me on.
Charlie Deist: Yeah. Well, you're a fellow Californian, down there in Newport Beach for some time. I'm up in California. I feel like we're supposed to have some rivalry between north and south, although I've always felt what unites Californians and makes us distinct is greater than what separates us. Have you been down there long? Are you a lifelong Californian or did you just move there with your practice?
Justin Frandson: Yeah, similar to you, I'm a lifelong Southern California guy, born and raised.
Ranking Environmental Pollutants and Toxins
Charlie Deist: Got it. We both have the coast in common, and I know you surf. I sail, but also swim. I've envied the people doing wind sports, that I've found rejuvenating. I do work on my computer, always tethered, checking emails, and get discombobulated, this feeling of dysregulation and being pulled different directions. I've wondered, is this just psychological or actually going on? Because soon as I get in that water, I come out a totally different person.
So our focus today is your expertise - EMF. We'll get into that, have you define it for the uninitiated - electromagnetic frequencies or fields. This is a hot topic, but people approach it differently. Some come out with devices to counteract, which can bewilder someone trying to feel better in a world with many toxins and pollutants. It's not just electromagnetic pollution—our water supply is tainted, we contact phytoestrogens and plastics, hear about forever chemicals.
So my first question: you work with high performance athletes at athleticism.com. I want to hear how you got that domain name. But if we rank the most pervasive pollutants and toxins, where does EMF fall? With your clients, what are the first things you focus on - is it diet, nutrition, getting outside? Where does EMF fall in that pecking order?
Justin Frandson: Yeah, great question. The answer is complicated with many moving parts. We're inundated with environmental stressors in every way. It depends on the person, how inundated they are. Are they eating out of non-stick pans cut open with knives, getting forever metals? I'd say EMFs are the #1 stressor, with an asterisk - if you live on a farm sprayed with glyphosate for years, that may surpass EMFs.
Charlie Deist: Right. I checked a website showing antenna radars in my area. A friend not far from you in LA, Venice Beach, tries to get to the beach often to stay sane. He noticed tons of antennas around him. I'm doing better here in the East Bay hills. Aside from radio antennas, we've devices - phones, wifi routers. Taking the same EMF hierarchy, what should people eliminate first? Sometimes more is gained from subtraction. Is it the phone by the gonads or wireless router? What puts off the most pollution?
EMF Reading List
The Biology of Belief by Bruce Lipton
Electric Body, Electric Health by Eileen McKusick
Justin Frandson: Another loaded question. It really comes down to proximity. How close are you to smart meters? Do you live in a home or multi-family complex with your unit next to eight meters collecting power usage? We've got to understand the stressors first, then develop proximity protocols.
Yeah, if you have your phone glued to your head 24/7 for a decade, that's a challenge. Same with ear pods - there's a direct canal to the brain, no skull, so you get an antenna in your inner ear with localized millimeter radiation waves. Prolonged, that'll catch up with you.
Other stressors are electric cars. Guys 50+ in Newport Beach drive them now with tax incentives, so that demographic changed. They're offering $15-20,000 tax breaks, so you get a $50,000 car for $30,000. Everyone's buying them for the cost, but I'd lean against that - sitting on a massive battery is not great for health. It's about 18% lower testosterone. The guys doing synthetic hormone replacements wouldn't see that effect, but the trickle down is devastating.
Then there's solar - everyone wants off grid, powering themselves, cleaner, but it's not healthier. They haven't figured out grounding solar manufacturing, so every time we plug in a Stetzer meter it should read under 50 GS units, but reads 900-1600 - really high dirty electricity waveform vibration speed.
We've got to look at the stressors. If you put a laptop with its battery over your lap and wanna have kids, those are your reproductive organs with a router directly over them - not great for fertility, lower sperm count for guys, ovaries absorbing 10X more radiation. It goes back to awareness - identify stressors and develop proximity protocols.
Measuring and Quantifying EMFs
Charlie Deist: So there's proximity times magnitude - certain devices put off more frequency. And when we say more, is the frequency amplified? Coming faster? Related question: what does 5G do to the magnitude compared to older radio towers? Should people campaign against adding 5G towers because it's orders of magnitude worse than radio? Or we can't eliminate everything unless we go completely off grid, but even there we've solar panels, right back to it.
Justin Frandson: I say it's the #1 stressor because it's literally everywhere. We've never been inundated with these non-native EMFs at current levels ever in civilization. So this is a newer stressor. I'd reframe: how do you quantify or measure these fields? They manufacture meters measuring different waveform speeds. Electricity is 50-60 hertz. Dirty electricity is a faster 4,000-100,000 hertz. That's where home static comes in.
If you have a dimmer switch, it attempts the electricity level you request - like in an electric car, accelerating, decelerating, idling, going 0 to 20 or 20 to 70. It tries keeping that level. You'll see that static in the dirty spectrum.
Wireless signals are billions of hertz, millions to billions. Cell phones and routers are 2.45 billion. That's the speed destructuring water - really challenging for our bodies, restructuring what we're made of. 5G is 60-90 billion, 10 zeros faster than Schumann resonance, our sleep rhythm.
Charlie Deist: Okay, let's talk about how all matter and the universe exists within a matrix of things vibrating at frequencies. It can sound "woo woo" but physics confirms it - based on particles and waves. Matter/light have properties of both, still a mystery, but we can quantify and measure with devices.
Some say, "EMF, what's the problem? Science proves radio/microwaves are harmless." That's a bold claim. I wouldn't microwave food or put my head by one. I've heard those believing EMF more harmful have stronger reactions - a psychosomatic component. What do you say to the skeptic? You can't see it, it's invisible, so how do you measure it and establish a link? Maybe with athletes coming to you with problems - how does it manifest and how do you measure it?
Justin Frandson: We look at the environment - everything around us. Let's focus on air, which is ether plasma - waves and particles travel through it. We can quantify the invisible by making it tangible, since that's how we communicate via waves and particles through air.
The difference is non-native EMFs are one-directional, while our natural framework is non-polarized, distributing equally. An example is a pebble in a pond - the splash goes all directions, called scalar waves. That framework is all living resonances on our planet, while EMFs are one-directional, 10 zeros faster than polarizing waves we're used to. We can take the complex, break it down to simple physics/biology for understanding - maybe this invisible environment should be examined like visible LA smog.
There's this other invisible EMF smog our bodies feel, though most don't hear it. Animals hear it, plants feel it too. I only hear it underwater - with an electric foil board in our cove, it's like the worst staticky radio station turned all the way up, that loud. Plants/animals/pets deal with this and hear those bandwidths we can't. That's the EMF background.
The Body's Frequencies and Natural Resonance
Charlie Deist: When we talk about the body's resonant frequency, are you saying it's the same as the planet and sun? I don't have the language to frame this, but thinking of charge as positive/negative - related to wearing rubber shoes, insulating from the earth's negative charge. That we need more electrons - can you speak to the body as an electrochemical being? Why it's important we maintain a certain charge, get the right balance of positive/negative ions?
Justin Frandson: Great question. Bruce Lipton's work shows our electromagnetic body resonance indicates our health. Energy is our health - no biology/chemistry without energy. It's all from waveforms, the resonance we emit. Lipton covers this. A great book is The Electric Body, Electric Health by Eileen Cusick, talking about our body battery.
We get a negative charge from the earth's electrons. We get a positive charge from the sun's unpolarized light distributing equally. We breathe in air minerals - Zach Bush says "breathe your microbiome." We get it from clean, chemical-free food and water with structure/minerals for our body battery.
If we miss any part - no grounding, wearing shoes all day - we miss huge recharging. It's like a flashlight battery not fully contacting the metal - the light won't work. We're way more efficient in nature's resonance. Schumann resonance is 7.83 hertz, 5G is 60-90 billion - that's the gap we want to fill. Just one device. We have a major gap getting grounded, removing excess voltage - we shouldn't carry over 1.6 volts but do 6X that from everything. It's really important to get outside, connect to those resonances.
When we sleep, our brainwaves are 1-8 hertz like earth's healing pulse. So we want to turn off bedroom electricity at night, put devices on airplane mode, get our home/bedroom resonance closer to nature's outside.
Charlie Deist: Can you speak to the physiological changes at the cellular level? I never took chemistry or biology properly - you'll have to dumb it down. I've heard of electron transport within cells, shuttling minerals. What's causing the imbalance? In your interview with Dr. Cowan, you covered susceptible organs - what minerals are blocked or exchanged? Help me reframe this.
Justin Frandson: I'll go back to Dr. Martin Paul's work at Washington State studying cells. He realized with vibration, voltage gated calcium channels open. Break that down - "voltage gate" is the energy gateway into your cell for mitochondrial function. This is disrupted from low 50-60 hertz and up - faster wireless billions of hertz - but any vibration challenges mitochondria, from simple home electricity to wireless.
Those channels let positive calcium into the negative cell, causing cell/DNA damage - oxidative stress. That bandwidth destructures water, calcifies the pineal gland - the first EMF challenge steps. The secondary effects are level 1-3:
Level 1 is cognitive - anxiety, stress, fatigue, headaches, behavioral issues, lack of sleep. Our grounding products have helped people sleep and deal with this.
Level 2 is non-trauma concussion - nausea, vomiting, muscle twitches, seizures, bloody noses, ringing ears - like the Havana Syndrome with microwave radiation on US Embassy workers abroad.
Then big ones - cancer, suicide, diabetes, Alzheimer's, cardiovascular disease. Infertility is 6th biggest with EMF. That's the breakdown we're seeing.
Charlie Deist: The Havana Syndrome is fascinating - I'd forgotten that chapter. US diplomats in Cuba reported severe pain and ringing ears, cognitive dysfunction, theorized as an energy weapon attack. But you don't need to speculate on nefarious things - look at what we're doing to ourselves with these directed energy devices we have to learn to use and balance the benefits against costs.
Getting back to natural living through grounding, earthing - those seem the best first defense.
The Grounding Properties of the Ocean
What is it specifically about the ocean that's grounding? Feet on sand? Minerals? Water? Why do we feel the opposite of symptoms you described after a deep plunge in the Pacific?
Justin Frandson: You'll feel it going barefoot, having a picnic, touching a tree - just getting into nature. I think being unstressed helps too. Physiologically we're pulling electrons, so all water has that negative ionic charge where we draw electrons to recharge. But look at the other senses - the olfactory is primal, you're getting that fresh, oxygenated air. Smelling the sea life, kelp, fresh air - that's why sailing feels so good, all those flooding negative ions so close to and touching the water, breathing that incredible fresh air.
Charlie Deist: We can use that when time allows - treat yourself to some time doing it, no matter how much work you think you have. I have a sticker saying "Finish work, go outside" - I'll be so much more productive after an hour break. But still 23 other hours indoors, less fresh air, dirty electricity - things you covered with Dr. Cowan on minimizing home exposure, like a wifi router timer off at night, keeping devices far away.
I wanted to underline earbuds close to the brain, and solar panels/Teslas - wasn't expecting that.
Testosterone, Hormones, and Aging Naturally
Before your EMF solutions, I want to circle back to Tesla drivers. There's a stereotype - aging male midlife crisis. Used to be the muscle car, now the Tesla. You said most are on synthetic hormones. This is a hot topic - taking exogenous testosterone. What are the latest wonder drugs? As a performance coach, what's your take? Is there benefit, or do you take a natural approach?
Justin Frandson: As you age, I'm over 50 now, I highly recommend natural aging over synthetics. Pellet implants are big now - you become a lab rat, getting tested and dosed. It's tricky - likely no more kids, it signifies infertility. Your body stops producing testosterone. Potentially genitals shrink, rashes from estrogen imbalance, hard nipples - signs a guy's on testosterone incorrectly.
The buzzword is "bioavailable" - it's different than your body's, shutting your systems down. I'd encourage building testosterone naturally. If you feel crappy and low, get outside - detox, methylate, flush toxins, open pathways. Get in the light - red light shines on testes builds testosterone. Lifting weights, rigorous exercise builds it. Our bodies age naturally.
You'll still have that "F You" power to do what you need, just longer recovery than a 25 year old. But I can still go naturally all day in taxing environments - long swim, volleyball tournament. I can sustain and maintain without breaking down. We've got to dive into this whole testosterone thing.
Replacement means being a lifelong lab rat, I don't want that, you don't need that. Look at thyroid or other areas causing fatigue, supplement naturally - herbal tinctures, biodynamic food sources, water quality, environment including stress levels, proper exercise/rest/hydration/nutrition. Own your power in quantity, quality, frequency of each.
Charlie Deist: Thank you for the confirmation of my inherent bias toward natural solutions. When you see guys peddling synthetic hormone treatments, there's a sense of what am I missing out on? There's always some novel treatment, but that lab rat idea resonates.
I read a great article, maybe Men's Health, about a guy doubling his free testosterone hiking the Colorado Rockies for 15-20 days. I love backpacking, don't do it enough. Each year I do a 50 mile march in the tradition of JFK and Teddy Roosevelt, who embraced vigorous life for health, not taking it for granted. I feel I need nature's primal energy. Maybe I could get a temporary boost from injecting something, but the idea of that lifelong doesn't appeal.
Supplement Recommendations?
I've debated supplements or going 100% natural. People use creatine, collagen for inflammation/tendonitis - any recommendations? You mentioned cycling - are there any supplements as a baseline addition or just introduce for a specific, limited need?
Justin Frandson: This is a big topic, a whole podcast's worth on best intake for the body. With the aerial spraying of chemtrails and weather geoengineering with barium, strontium, aluminum nanotechnology, I can't even stay in a bathroom when hairspray is used. The barium has dehydrated us - we can't stay hydrated without silica. alphavedic.com makes great homeopathic silica I love. Also Diatomaceous Earth, Irish moss - Gary Ham talks about this dehydrating the fascia, our biggest system. We've got to keep our hydration up.
Silica is number one, not known/discussed much. Magnesium is a common go-to, get good bioavailable forms of magnesium. Digestion is huge for me - digestive enzymes, amylase, protease. I killed my system early being allergic to wheat, gluten. Some digestion support is great - Source Naturals Plant Enzymes.
HCL helps those RH positive without enough acids to assimilate meats. Lean into your blood type diet more - I eat more turkey than chicken, a "dirtier" meat for me. Essential oils are a go-to - my wife's company campo.com curates blends, I use them for relaxing, energy, treating concussions - on pulse points for circulation and nutrients. Those first few come to mind, but everyone is unique - no one size fits all. Mismatch with modern life means some external things can help ease the strain.
Charlie Deist: I've taken digestive enzymes too, especially one meal a day fasting - to ease the strain, imagining that's what's happening. If interested in your overall philosophy, go to athleticism.com and your book, Athleticism: Whole Body + Whole Brain + Performance.
EMF Rocks
You've got another site, emfrocks.com - not that EMF rocks, but literal rocks. I want to understand what they are - gemstones? Crystals seem "woo woo" but doctor of the church Hildegard Von Bingen wrote on gemstones' healing properties - all contain energy and moisture, which for a gemstone I wouldn't guess.
While some peddle additional devices against EMF, you've got a different solution - can you explain your product and how it helps?
Justin Frandson: This is the final product - crystals with moisture and magnetic properties inside the grounding bag, helps you sleep. The crystals all have a resonance, called Tesla crystals, with different magnetic or healing properties - quartz, amethyst, tourmaline. Their moisture is gone by the time we see them, or they'd turn to dust. Ours remain sealed and moist, double sealed, to be more effective than other known crystals protecting from EMF.
Charlie Deist: Where do they come from? Hildegard von Bingen in the 11th century said the East created gemstones. Is it proprietary where you mine them?
Justin Frandson: They come from different global regions with mines. Ours is a purer form from the Western US, but you'll find similar crystals worldwide.
Charlie Deist: Before leaving EMF - what exactly do the rocks do? And the bag - it's not standard, there's more to it. What happens positioning them near the body? Is something coming out, absorbing EMF like boat sacrificial anodes? How does it work?
Justin Frandson: It's like walking barefoot in a bag - the earth's resonance specially preserved. We put them in a static bag, then a cloth bag to double seal and preserve them for years. It amplifies, spreading the frequencies. It creates a coherence, harmony between us and the one-directional waveform, converting it to an order our bodies accept rather than blocking.
Dr. Barre Lando tested them - the bags passively treated up to 91% of patient marker imbalances. That shows the powerful medicinal earth resonance we're bringing into our electrical box homes.
Protocols: one on your bed, 5 together clear 2000 sq. ft, 7 with solar, behind the driver's seat in an electric car. You can also put one on your desk, in your car seat - it helps clear.
Charlie Deist: So even the Tesla owner isn't completely lost if they can afford the rocks. Especially if you're susceptible, EMF could cause problems. As 5G towers go up, you don't have to believe an intentional conspiracy - humans adopt new tech fast without considering downsides, creating a mismatch. The assault from intense, rapid, unidirectional EMF frequencies.
Final questions - check out emfrocks.com and athleticism.com. How early did you get athleticism.com? Novak Djokovic wears a tau patch, some nano crystal capturing body heat, converting it to light - familiar? Start with the domain.
Justin Frandson: I got athleticism.com over 25 years ago starting at Scripps Clinic in La Jolla during the early .com days - a fun early one.
I've heard of this energy to light conversion helping people. Djokovic is my favorite athlete for many reasons, especially his stance not getting the clinical trial shot when other athletes just got shots or bobbed and weaved. I have utmost respect for him.
It goes back to his gluten free days - he wrote a book about being sensitive to gluten, changed his culture. Then he instantly could finish matches and be #1 for years, one of the greatest ever. I love him. Our body communicates through light, frequency, vibration - the elderly are pale, low cellular health. The young are glowing, energetic - we're a light being, a hologram, one with the universe.
We've got to understand this environment. I'll note the book The Invisible Rainbow - it covers electrifying our atmosphere. 130 years ago there were 6 diabetes cases worldwide until electricity, then diabetes took off. With EMF, glucose spikes 200 points on a plane. MCT oil like Lean Oil helps normalize glucose. Understand your environment and how we're a light being.
Tom Cowan's Contagion Myth is great too. We have so much to unlearn about health and optimizing performance - it goes back to recharging your body battery and getting grounded by nature.
Charlie Deist: Perfect place to end. I knew we had a kindred connection - our mutual Djokovic appreciation. We'll wish him luck at Wimbledon, extending his streak. For gluten and feeling lousy - don't discount fringe ideas as the culprit. My big takeaway: explore this. Any closing thoughts or wisdom?
Justin Frandson: You asked if EMF sensitivity is psychological - there is that, but I had an office by a cell tower. We got massive headaches - 6 young healthy guys. I had to emotionally clear that EMF would kill us. Don't fear this - physics means we can coexist with waveforms. That's what our grounding bags do. Get outside, grounded often, multiple times a day. Inside, create proximity protocols and use the bags to bring earth resonance home.
Charlie Deist: Let's make this message go viral positively - it's timely and needed. Thank you Justin - I look forward to following your work and continuing the conversation.
Justin Frandson: Look forward to it, thank you.
Riding the (EMF) Waves