It’s a Small World After All – Especially When Nuclear Accidents Occur

HolisticSurvival.comThe recent chain of events in Japan – earthquake, tsunami, nuclear accident – seem like they are unfolding in a place far, far from the safety and security of the United States. Until elevated amounts of radiation, borne by global wind currents, begin showing up in California. The scientists tell us that the level, though slightly higher than normal, is still about a billion times below that required to cause damage to humans, so don’t push the panic button just yet.

The truth is that nuclear meltdowns on the other side of planet will find us eventually and it is possible that a radioactive cloud riding on the jet stream could cross the Pacific Ocean in about 36 hours. If it did, what would you do? Do you have plan of action other than the quaint 1950’s Cold War response of crouching under a desk and covering your head?

The critical damage done to the human body during radiation exposure is damage to the thyroid, so it behooves us to take specific measures to protect it. Iodine tablets are a good start. Flooding the thyroid with iodine intake and maintaining it throughout the exposure period, helps protect the thyroid, which is extremely susceptible, by blocking radiation from getting in. An overdose of iodine can lead to other thyroid problems but they are trivial compared to a blast of nuclear radiation.

Good general advice is to start boosting your immune system with antioxidants like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and vitamin C. Obviously, it takes a while for these to have an effect so this is more of a preventative approach. A stronger immune system will be better able to withstand the debilitating effect of exposure to radiation.

Other supplies to have on hand are sodium bicarbonate and sodium magnesium. These nutrients help reduce the extreme load radiation places on the kidneys. Depending upon how close you are to a nuclear detonation or reactor accident, you should keep at least 25 to 50 pounds on hand. A pound of bicarbonate in a bath tub full of water is one method of treatment, as is an intravenous cocktail of bicarbonate, vitamin C, and pure sea water. Obviously, you need more information on the subject than we are able to provide in this post. The key is to do your own research.

The Holistic Survival Team

HolisticSurvival.com

 

 

 

Flickr / BlatantNews.com

* The author of the following article is unknown but was provided to us by Dr. Leonard Horowitz of HealthyWorldStore.com.

How to Protect Against Radiation Exposure

The unfolding events relating to Japan’s damaged nuclear reactors is raising the concern in the U.S. of a worst-case scenario of multiple meltdowns with a consequent cloud of radioactive particles following the jet stream over to the U.S. The prevailing jet stream winds will impact Los Angeles to Alaska, and will include Hawaii. Radioactive pollution will reach the U.S. within 36 hours. It will then travel the typical jet stream across the U.S. that you see on your daily weather programs.

A coordinated cover-up of the severity of the situation is underway. This sort of behavior is typical of governments, especially when they are interested in protecting their power base and protecting the interests of transnational corporations.

Japanese health authorities are passing out iodine tablets to those in the vicinity of these reactors — as it is common knowledge that the thyroid gland is a weak spot when it comes to radiation exposure. By flooding the body with iodine it is taken up by the thyroid which then blocks radiation uptake into the thyroid, reducing the risk for future thyroid cancer (which is already an epidemic form of cancer in the U.S. in part likely due to excess CT scans).

Such iodine saturation should occur 24 hours prior to exposure and be maintained during the duration of excess exposure. This solution is not without risks, especially when potassium iodide is used. That is because excess iodine can clog thyroid function, inducing either hypo or hyper thyroid. However, that risk is trivial compared to acute radiation exposure — thus iodine makes sense. We like water-soluble iodine that in our experience is much less problematic when higher doses are used. Liquids can be applied transdermally, directly over the neck region or taken orally, and reapplied as desired based on concerns.

Protecting the thyroid with iodine seems to be about all public health officials are willing to recommend to the public. However, there are other important steps every person should consider. Radiation interaction within your body generates massive amounts of damaging free radicals, in turn potentially inducing DNA damage that may lead to future cancer — often manifesting a decade or two later. This means it is a good idea to maximize your overall antioxidant defenses. Ideally, this system of defense should be bolstered in advance to provide maximal defense. Unfortunately the antioxidant defense systems of a majority of Americans are in shoddy condition.

Many nutrients contain antioxidants and many of these behave in your vital antioxidant network to protect your DNA from damage. In your diet these nutrients come from fruits, vegetables, whey protein, and whole grains. Additionally, almost any nutrient supplement with antioxidant properties, such as vitamin C, will help bolster your antioxidant team. We suggest that everyone consume a broad spectrum of antioxidant support as the minimum. Indeed, a cocktail of antioxidants (selenium, vitamin C, N-acetyl cysteine, alpha-lipoic acid, alpha-tocopherol succinate, and co-enzyme Q10) started 24 hours after a lethal level of radiation exposure has been shown to be highly protective.

There are three specific nutrients that have science showing they can protect your body against radiation damage: tocotrienols, antioxidants from berries, and lipoic acid.

Tocotrienols are a unique form of vitamin E that offers protection that regular vitamin E does not. In a recent animal experiment carried out by the U.S. Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute it was shown that gamma tocotrienol can protect against whole body radiation exposure.

Excessive radiation exposure damages DNA, especially DNA relating to the system in our bone marrow that produces all the red and white blood cells that are vital for survival. Therefore radiation exposure has adverse consequences on circulatory health and immune system competence, disturbing energy balance and increasing the risk for cancer. Of particular importance are the hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) that constantly rejuvenate blood and can become any of the white or red blood cells, as well as the hematopoietic progenator cells (HPCs) that transform into specific blood cells. Both HSCs and HPCs are the life force of blood cell rejuvenation and essential to your good health.

Stem cell colonies (HSCs) are 80% – 86% maintained in gamma tocotrienol-treated mice, while they were 50% reduced in controls. Similarly, progenator cells (HPCs) have recovered completely within 7 days in gamma tocotrienol treated mice, while they remained at 30% for weeks in the controls.

A detailed analysis of the bone marrow showed that gamma tocotrienol maintained the regenerative integrity of bone marrow cells. Gamma tocotrienol protects hematopoietic tissue by preserving the HSCs and HPCs and by preventing persistent DNA damage.

Another recent animal study shows that gamma tocotrienol can offset the adverse effects of radiation exposure, including the reduction of peroxynitrite, the most damaging free radical. This is important because as free radicals begin forming their reactions can cascade into producing large amounts of the most damaging of all free radicals, peroxynitrite. Short-circuiting peroxynitrite formation in response to radiation exposure is of immense importance to protecting DNA.

Lipoic acid is a very small and versatile fat- and water-soluble antioxidant. Animal studies show that it helps maintain the antioxidant defense system in multiple body tissues upon radiation exposure, especially protecting the brain, liver, spleen, kidney, and testes.

The health status of some 6,000 workers from Latvia who went to clean-up the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant has been followed for several decades. These workers suffered higher-than-normal rates of problems in their nervous, digestive, respiratory, cardiovascular, endocrine system (especially thyroid) and immunological systems. A study conducted on some of these workers 10 years after the fact showed that 600 mg of lipoic acid for two months was able to normalize many, but not all, of their lab abnormalities. Too bad they didn’t have protection prior to and during exposure. Pretreatment with lipoic acid has been shown to significantly reduce radiation exposure damage to the brain.

Recent animal research conducted by the United States Department of Agriculture showed that blueberry and strawberry extracts helped prevent brain damage from radiation exposure. Interestingly, the polyphenols of each fruit protected different areas of the brain — supporting a variety of dietary berry intake and/or supplements with multiple berries. Having an adequate antioxidant defense system for more optimal health is common sense. During times of increased stress your needs for antioxidants rise — and this relates to any type of stress. Radiation exposure is simply one more type of stress — a rather nasty type. The demands in your life or existing health concerns may already be testing your antioxidant bank account. Bolstering your antioxidant defense system to compensate for a potential challenge is common sense.

If you have been exposed to too many X-rays or CAT scans, if you fly too much, work with diagnostic medical equipment or are environmentally sensitive and have ingested elevated levels of radioactive contaminated food, air or water, you also want to partake of the following protocol on a regular basis

Sodium Bicarbonate (Baking Soda)

The oral administration of sodium bicarbonate diminishes the severity of the changes produced by uranium in the kidneys. The kidneys are usually the first organs to show chemical damage upon uranium exposure. Old military manuals suggest doses or infusions of sodium bicarbonate to help alkalinize the urine if this happens. This makes the uranyl ion less kidney-toxic and promotes excretion of the nontoxic uranium-carbonate complex. So useful and strong is sodium bicarbonate that at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, researcher Don York has used baking soda to clean soil contaminated with uranium. Sodium bicarbonate binds with uranium, separating it from the dirt; so far, York has removed as much as 92 percent of the uranium from contaminated soil samples. The United States Army recommends the use of bicarbona te to protect the kidneys from radiation damage.

Sodium bicarbonate can safely remove paint, grease, oil and smoke residue, decreasing workers’ exposure to harsh chemicals and eliminating much of the hazardous waste associated with other cleaners. “Sodium bicarbonate is able to clean in areas where other substances pose fire hazards, because baking soda is a natural fire extinguisher,” says Kenneth Colbert, a general manager for Arm & Hammer. This is the reason it’s used by oncology centers to control chemo agent spills and it’s actually used intravenously to protect patients from the hazardous toxicity of chemotherapy.

Uranium is one of the only metals that get significant bonding from carbonate. Just flushing a lot of bicarbonate through the system, along with whatever kidney support you are going to use, will be very helpful. There is no better therapy for radiation sickness then intense sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and magnesium baths with the appropriate clay added in. Even sodium thiosulfate can be added to these baths and that instantly neutralizes any chlorine in the bath water while simultaneously providing sulfur for the vital sulfur pathways.

Bicarbonate and Nuclear Fallout

If the bombs start dropping anywhere on earth, or if you live near a nuclear plant, you will want to have a large amount of sodium bicarbonate on hand. Minimum stocks should be 25 or 50 pounds. Normally we recommend someone start with using one pound of bicarbonate in a bath but that could easily be two or three pounds in an emergency situation. You will also need a lot of magnesium salts and the very best and most penetrating of them is the magnesium chloride in the form of magnesium bath flakes. Dead Sea salt is also fine for this application because it is high in magnesium.

Exposure to radiation causes a cascade of free radicals that wreak havoc on the body. Radiation decimates the body’s supply of glutathione. Nebulization is one of the best ways to quickly increase glutathione levels as is the use of glutathione rectal suppositories. The main cancer risk from inhaled uranium oxide and other airborne radioactive particles is from tiny insoluble particles lodged deep in the lungs. That’s a good reason to nebulize both glutathione and bicarbonate directly into the lungs and one must wonder why governments and health officials haven’t sponsored this.

Uranium oxide can be inhaled by soldiers and civilians, it sticks to the lining of the lungs, it is taken up by cells of the immune systems and gets into lymph glands, bone, brain, hormone producing glands, ovaries and testes. It stays in these organs for many decades and is only very slowly excreted in urine. Nebulization topically treats the lung tissues allowing for best effect on contaminated lung tissues.

The scientist with the greatest genius, especially when it comes to mercury chelation, is Dr. Chris Shade. He has developed a sophisticated detoxification system based on enhancing the natural removal of metals through the intestines. Though his specialty is mercury, detoxification and chelation of radioactive poisons use the same pathways as mercury. He has developed three products that are effective for the removal of mercury including a liposome formula that allows us to get glutathione into the system via oral administration.

Combining his formulas with chlorella powder gives the best possible medical formula to help remove radioactive contamination as long as iodine, magnesium chloride, a super-food, spirulina-based powerful chlorophyll-rich formula that is easy to administer in high quantities because of its exceptionally pleasant taste, and edible clay are used as well. The intense levels of will quickly help build up a person’s immune system and help them recover from the RNA/DNA damage caused by radiation exposure.

Uranium-238 is being eliminated in the hair using heavy metal detox protocols; to date there is no natural chelating agent known to mobilize and eliminate uranium-238 from body tissues.

Cilantro will move heavy metals and radioactive material out of the brain cells into the detoxification pathways with rectal suppositories of Detoxamin working on the liver’s glutathione pathway to get the material out through the intestines. The internal consumption of edible clay and external clays dramatically facilitate this process. Zeolite clay baths are a very effective way of removing heavy metals from the body and increase one’s chances of survival if exposed to nuclear fallout. Also activated charcoal powder in water will bind these toxins and pass them out of the body.

Iodine

Iodine is the most obvious and important element in protecting against radiation damages. Radioactive iodine will plunge into any and all iodine receptor cites that have no iodine in them due to iodine deficiencies.  This is a serious problem because over 90 percent of people in North America are iodine deficient. This leaves them incredibly vulnerable to radioactive iodine, which is one of the principle forms of radiation given off in nuclear accidents and from nuclear weapons.

Intravenous Cocktails

In cases of serious exposure, IV cocktails with high dosages of vitamin C, magnesium chloride or sulfate, sodium bicarbonate and very pure seawater full of all the minerals necessary for life would be ideal. Dr. David Brownstein administers a slow IV vitamin C drip–usually 25-50 gm, with minerals, and he adds 10cc of sodium bicarbonate.

The addition of bicarb to the IVs made a huge clinical improvement.

Nutrients to the Rescue

Spirulina and chlorella have been used heavily by the Russians after the Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster. And the Japanese love their miso soup and that was said to help some of their citizens survive the fallout after the Americans attacked two of their cities. We recommend a green powder in high doses that is high spirulina and chlorella content because it is like rocket fuel for the cells, providing them with a broad range of concentrated nutrients.

Miso is effective for detoxifying your body of radiation. During World War II, two hospitals that were located side by side were hit with atomic radiation, in one hospital people consumed Miso and all of them survived while many people in the other hospital that did not take miso died. Miso is rich in vitamin B12 therefore it is suitable for vegetarians who are in shortage of vitamin B12. For best results do not cook miso.

There are a number of foods that can better help our bodies tolerate the effects of pollution. Eating lower on the food chain minimizes our chemical intake. Consuming more whole grains has a multitude of benefits, unless you are intolerant to certain grains. Their high fiber content binds with toxins and lessens intestinal transit time. Their vitamin B6 content nourishes the thymus gland and their vitamin E content helps the body to better utilize oxygen. The grain buckwheat is high in rutin and helps to protect against radiation and stimulates new bone marrow production. The mucilaginous fiber in seaweed helps to prevent the reabsorbing of radioactive strontium 90.

Following the bombing of Nagasaki, a group of surviving macrobiotic doctors and their patients avoided radiation sickness by eating brown rice, miso and seaweed. They also did not get leukemia. Seaweeds also help to break down fatty deposits. High-chlorophyll foods like wheatgrass, barley grass, kale, collard greens, beet greens, swiss chard, etc. strengthen cells, transport oxygen, help to detoxify the blood and liver as well as help to neutralize polluting elements and stimulate RNA production. Sulfur-rich vegetables like broccoli, cabbage and mustard greens, as well as garlic, combine with heavy metals and help prevent free radical damage.

The sulfur compounds trigger increased expression of your glutathione system, which results in both metal detoxification and free radical neutralization. The other group of food compounds that do this is the polyphenolic antioxidants — pine bark extract, green tea extract, grape seed extract, and Haritaki or terminalia chebula, an Ayurvedic fruit that is the basis for many medicines including the intestinal detoxifier Triphala.  This fruit is used extensively in Tibetan Medicine where it is called the “King of Herbs.”  It has potent effects on the glutathione system and on expression of other intracellular antioxidants such as superoxide dismutase (SOD).

Research on animals indicates that curcumin (an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compound found in the curry spice turmeric) may help protect against radiation-induced damage to the skin. Other research in animals shows that the herb ginkgo biloba may help shield against organ damage resulting from radiation therapy. And aloe vera is a natural remedy for radiation-induced skin changes preventing or minimizing radiation-induced skin reactions.