Editor’s note: This op-ed is by Matt Fisken, a freelance energy adviser, permaculturist and stay-at-home dad who lives in Hartford.
The ongoing debate over health care in Vermont is squarely focused on whether we should adopt a single payer system, settle for an expensive, complicated and proprietary insurance exchange system, or possibly even go back to something we had before. Of course, some will insist we stay the course without considering how throwing more money and technology at the mess will likely do little to make Vermonters healthier.
Consolidating everyone’s medical insurance under the control of government appears to have worked fairly well for a few other countries, but in the U.S., the underlying problem isn’t a lack of access to medical insurance. Our poor health is really a product of lifestyles basted in exceptionalism, and having health care enables many to ignore preventative care knowing that whatever happens, the system will mostly hide the real cost of treatment. Still, even with insurance now mandated, the price of hospital visits can vary widely and those who can least afford them are left with high deductibles or other unexpected out-of-pocket costs.
Instead of enabling the wealthy to get sick and punishing low-income families by forcing them to buy into a broken system, we should be looking more closely at how to improve the actual care using prevention so we can reinvent a system which currently has few incentives for making people healthy and often times makes us sicker.
Roughly a quarter million Americans die each year due to hospital errors making it the third highest cause of death behind heart disease and cancer. Between misdiagnoses, over-prescribed medication, drug-resistant bacteria, abysmal hospital food, high electromagnetic fields, recycled air and volatile organic compounds from cleaning agents and construction materials, we all take our chances stepping foot inside a modern hospital, even healthy visitors.
Many people who haven’t always had the privilege of buying health insurance have explored the countless alternatives to our expensive and risky health care machine. It turns out, there are lots of things the average doctor doesn’t know or doesn’t want us to know because it might disrupt business as usual and his or her income.
Food be thy medicine
Because doctors assume everyone is tired of hearing “eat your vegetables” and there isn’t the same financial benefit that accompanies prescribing pharmaceuticals to mask symptoms, our health care system too often turns a blind eye to lifestyle and diet, which are the keys to avoiding chronic, costly health problems. In Vermont and around the country, fresh, locally produced food is gradually finding its way into hospitals and even being prescribed to patients. [1][2]
This model may be the most important breakthrough in health care, even though the concept dates back to Hippocrates, the father of medicine. It usually doesn’t take long for people to experience the benefits of eliminating artificial processed foods and replacing them with nutrient-dense whole foods. Fewer sick days and trips to the doctor plus increased energy more than make up for the slightly higher cost of eating real food.
Salt of the Earth
One of the most important substances for maintaining health is salt. Unfortunately, what is usually added to food slowly makes us sick, despite being told that the added iodine is all that matters. Table salt lacks trace minerals and often contains additives making it a poor choice compared to sea salt or the crystals formed millions of years ago. Salt from the Himalayas has dozens of trace minerals to balance our bodies’ functions and very few harmful toxins. This is the same salt that is used to make salt lamps; many have found them to improve their respiratory health without making noise, costing only pennies a day to power.
These simple, often ignored healing modalities only scratch the surface of what health care means to more and more people who are losing trust in mainstream doctors and hospitals.
Taking this idea a giant step further, a new “salt cave” has recently opened in Bethesda, Maryland, where its creators explain “People come here … because they’ve come to the end of the Western medicine road…” [3]
The right light
Light therapy is nothing new. You’ve probably seen those “SAD lamps” which purportedly create a full spectrum of light to improve your mood and health, especially in winter months. The problem with these fixtures is they rely on fluorescent bulbs which aren’t actually full spectrum and create measurable and harmful power quality issues known as dirty electricity. Anyone wishing to improve their health with artificial light would be better off sticking to low-wattage incandescent or specialty bulbs like those made by SoLux. What you really want is a bulb with an even spectral power distribution (SPD) which more closely resembles sunlight, a feat no fluorescent bulb can come close to achieving. [4]
Dimmer switches may be tempting to use for setting the mood in the evening, but they also disrupt power quality. If you find yourself up late and want a light that will help encourage sleep, look for amber bulbs which lack the blue/white light known to suppress melatonin production, a key hormone that keeps us healthy. There is also a free utility called F.lux that automatically changes your computer screen to yellow or orange hue after sunset. [5]
Getting sunlight in moderation is still one of the easiest ways to avoid illness and improve mental health.
Getting grounded
Possibly the most important overlooked factor to consider is our electromagnetic environment and how it affects our health. Our heart, which is an electrical pump, has a frequency around 1 Hz, or 1 cycle per second. Our electrical brain typically has a frequency close to 10 Hz, almost identical to that of the Earth itself. Compare this to millions or billions of cycles per second (megahertz or gigahertz) at which our computers and wireless devices now operate and you’ll start to understand part of why there are so many new and prevalent ailments that seem to have no cures. Many of us are literally vibrating our cells to death with gadgets and appliances.
Besides the more common ways to maximize our health in an electrified environment (like unplugging electronics not in use, setting wireless devices to airplane mode and relying on landlines and ethernet for communication) there is emerging research on the positive effects of reconnecting one’s body to the ground, a practice known as “Earthing.” While the phenomena has existed as long as we have walked the planet without insulating footwear, the scientific understanding of why it helps has only been around for about a decade. Pioneered by retired “cable guy” Clint Ober, the idea that walking barefoot or connecting to a grounding rod while sleeping and working is sure to raise eyebrows from most medical professionals. However, studies show that when people ground, melatonin levels increase, cortisol levels decrease, and many find immediate improvements in their sleep and well-being, especially reduced pain and inflammation. Besides the two recent documentary films on the subject, there is also a kid-friendly short from “Sesame Street” promoting bare foot play. [6][7]
These simple, often ignored healing modalities only scratch the surface of what health care means to more and more people who are losing trust in mainstream doctors and hospitals. Cheap or free alternatives to the skyrocketing costs of conventional medicine will likely continue to face stiff criticism by the forces who profit from keeping people sick, medicated, and returning time and time again to unhealthy hospitals. Doctors who genuinely want help people find sustained health will eventually accept these concepts, even if it means they see their patients much less frequently.
