Even though the Chernobyl catastrophe was bad enough, it appears now the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant catastrophe was 7 to 10 times worse in terms of worldwide radioactive pollution. Even as late as Feb. 20, 2014 there was a new report of further radioactive water spill into the Pacific Ocean.
It is important that you start thinking about preparing yourself to cope with radioactive pollution.
In this blog I will briefly review the history of several radiation disasters in various parts of the world and will mention how coping mechanisms with radiation were fortuitously developed. Finally, I will summarize what you can do to reduce any damage to your health that is caused by radiation leaks.
History of the first nuclear bombs with radioactive fallout in 1945
On Aug. 9, 1945 the second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan. Dr. Akizuki worked at the St. Francis Hospital (Uragami Daiichi Hospital), about one mile from the epicenter. He and a staff of 20 were serving at this hospital that looked after 70 tuberculosis patients.
Miraculously all of the staff and most of the patients survived because of a vegetarian diet, which consisted of uncontaminated brown rice, fermented foods, sea algae and vegetables. Dr. Akizuki did not allow sweets of any kind. Salt was allowed as the main condiment. Everybody was fed at least one helping of a soup with fermented soy and seaweed in it (wakame miso soup). Other investigators have confirmed that in a mouse model miso soup has radio protective effects.
The staff and the patients of another hospital also one mile form the epicenter were not so lucky. Almost 100% of them died. They were not on the strict miso/seaweed diet without sugar and sweets.
Protect Yourself From Radioactivity
The experience with Chernobyl
Perhaps the best way to start reviewing the Chernobyl disaster of April 26,1986 is by looking at how children fared who had been directly exposed to the radiation spill from this disaster. As this link shows about 7 million people living in the nearby area were exposed to the highest radiation exposure ever since the atomic age. The children of this population have experienced a 2,400 % increase in thyroid cancers, a 100 % increase of cancers and leukemia and a 200% increase of breast cancer. There were about 800,000 men who risked their lives when working on containing the radiation spill. 25,000 of these men have died and 70,000 are disabled. 20% of the deaths (5000 men) were due to suicide. Here is a report for those who like more details about the health consequences as a result of the Chernobyl disaster. Here are more questions and answers regarding the Chernobyl disaster.
The question is whether a similar accident could happen with any of the other nuclear power reactors. This link explains that such an accident can “only happen in a reactor operating with a Positive Temperature Effect combined with a Positive Steam Effect, and built without a containment structure to mitigate the potential atmospheric effects of a worst-case reactor accident.” It goes on to say that only the reactor in Chernobyl was this type of a reactor, the RBMK series made by the former USSR. The link above goes on to say: “All other reactors for the production of electricity, including all those in America, operate on natural Negative Temperature and Negative Steam Effects, and are encased in air-tight multi-layered containments, the integrity of which rivals that of Egypt’s pyramids.” It ends with this rather strong statement: “This being understood, it is entirely correct to say that an accident like the one that occurred at Chernobyl in 1986, will never happen anywhere else.” The same website reports in another section about the Fukushima disaster, without mentioning that this should not have happened. Nobody could have predicted the forces of nature (a double whammy of an earth quake of the magnitude 9 on the Richter scale, followed by a horrendous tsunami), which destroyed part of the nuclear power plant. From the literature it is not clear whether the government went through any major efforts to provide chelating agents, Prussian Blue and iodine salts to the affected population either in Chernobyl or in Fukushima to minimize the radiation effects from the radioactive emissions.
Part of the problem in Chernobyl was at the time that this all happened behind the iron curtain and that there was a news blackout, which only gradually improved after 1989. In Japan the problem was severe denial and underreporting on behalf of the Japanese government.
Goiania accident involving radioactive cesium-137 in Brazil
On September 13, 1987 two fellows illegally entered an abandoned private radiation treatment hospital in Goiania where a radiation unit containing cesium-137 had been used for treating cancer patients. They stole the radiation head thinking that it might be valuable scrap metal that they could sell. They managed to sell it to a junkyard owner, Devair Ferreira.
Having a lack of insight that the radiation head would contain radioactive cesium-137, which was emanating ionizing radiation, Devair proceeded to probe for a precious metal with a screwdriver. As the details in the Wikipedia link show, shortly after a total of 112,000 people were screened for potential radiation exposure. There were 4 deaths including the junkyard owner’s wife, and his 6-year old daughter. He himself survived the incident. 249 people were significantly contaminated with cesium-137 and 1000 people had received a dose twice the amount of the yearly background radiation. 20 patients developed radiation sickness and required treatment. As this link shows the Brazilian authorities arranged treatments for patients who had proven contact with cesium-137 with 10 Grams of Prussian Blue daily, which reduced the effective radiation exposure by 70%. This was the reason for the relatively low mortality and disability rates from this serious accident.
The Fukushima experience
Fast-forward to the latest disaster that has made clear how an earthquake of the magnitude of 9 on the Richter scale followed by an enormous tsunami in combination could lead to the Fukushima disaster in Japan. Following the catastrophe on March 11, 2011 there have been several leaks of radioactive material into the ocean, which are described here.
Dr. John Apsley II also pointed out that with the explosions in Fukushima there were also significant releases of radioactive pollution into the stratosphere that subsequently traveled around the globe. He has made it his ambition to help people minimize radiation exposure from nuclear accidents such as Fukushima.
The initial denial of the Japanese authorities caused a problem of assessing the true significance of the Fukushima incident.
As mentioned in the introduction to this blog there are still ongoing releases of radioactive material, which will eventually work their way into the oceans and into the atmosphere. Dr. Apsley II describes in detail in his book that there were 29 radioactive elements that were released into the air and into water, the main ones being Cesium-137 (and 134) Iodine-131, Plutonium-238 and 239, Strontium-89 and 90 and Uranium-234 and 238. As the body takes up these radioactive elements, they have different organ preferences and they metabolize differently so that each of them causes a certain disease pattern. Radioactive Iodine for instance causes thyroid disease and thyroid cancer, while radioactive Plutonium is causing leukemia, heart disease, lung and breast cancer, several childhood cancers and infant mortality. There is a wave of radioactive cesium-137 coming across the Pacific Ocean that will start to show on the west coast of Alaska, Canada and the US mainland by 2015 and stay peaked until 2020 and beyond.
Ref. 1 points out that it is difficult to know the real concentration of the radioactivity in the water and in the radioactive rain over the US and Canada, as government agency measurements were kept hidden or were falsified. However the author comes to the conclusion in comparing various reference sources that the radiological leak and impact of the Fukushima crisis was and is about 7-fold to 10-fold bigger than that of Chernobyl.
Depending on what story you believe, the fear mongering or the more balanced reasoning arguing that there is enough water in the ocean to significantly dilute the amount of spilled radioactivity, you may or may not eat the sushi on the West coast.
With all this noise it is unclear whether the local population made use of the simple method of chelation at home using miso soup and uncontaminated seaweed. One would hope so. But did they know that it is only effective in combination with a strict diet without sugar and starchy foods?
Protection from radioactive fallout
This brings us to toxicity studies and simple ways of how to protect you from radiation in the environment. First, you need to know how radioactive materials can enter your body. Most nuclides (that is another name for radioactive compounds) enter the body through contaminated food via the gut where they are absorbed into your blood. You can inhale gases like gaseous radioactive Iodine or Radon. Cesium, which has now leaked into the Pacific Ocean can be absorbed through your skin when you walk on a beach that is contaminated with radioactive Cesium-137 containing ocean water. Cesium-137 has a half-life of 30 years meaning that after 30 years it still emits 50% of today’s gamma rays (these are strong X-rays). The biological half-life of Cesium-137 in the body is 110 days. But we do not want this stuff in our bodies causing free radicals to destroy our body cells. So we need effective methods to remove radionuclides.
By reviewing the history above, we already have learnt of two effective ways to remove such radionuclides: Miso soup with seaweed in Nagasaki; and Prussian Blue in Brazil. Prussian Blue works on eliminating the radioactive Cesium-137 before it is absorbed from the gut into the blood. It disappears from the body with bowel movements and also in the urine. However, it should only be taken, when there is proven food contamination with Cesium-137 as it can seriously affect your potassium levels, which could cause serious side effects to your heart. A physician knowledgeable in the use of Prussian Blue can monitor your potassium levels and follow you along.
In comparison to that it is easy to implement dietary habits as was done in Nagasaki: miso soup and seaweed can be consumed without any side effects. So, why is it important to avoid sugar and starchy foods? The reason is that sugar oxidizes your cholesterol and any tissue it comes in contact with. It also causes the pancreas to overproduce insulin, which causes an inflammatory reaction. Cesium-137 also causes an extreme inflammation in your body, because of the free radicals that are caused from the gamma radiation of cells. Add to this a situation where there is a fire burning inside of your body (inflammation from sugar and starch consumption) and you have a recipe for disaster, comparing it to dumping gasoline into a fire. Inflammation is amplified ,and the radioactive Cesium-137 causes havoc in your system. You quench the fire when you do not eat sugar and starch and you give it an extra dousing by taking chelating agents (miso soup with seaweed), which removes the radioactive Cesium-137. The successful outcome of Dr. Akizuki’s treatments in his hospital in Nagasaki speaks volumes.
There are a number of other useful antioxidants like melatonin, vitamin C, and glutathione. Co-Q10 supports the mitochondria and protects cholesterol from being oxidized. But other substances are also useful. Cabbage contains isothiocyanates that will bind radionuclides before they are even absorbed from the gut. Edible clays, like calcium bentonite works similar to Prussian Blue, but it also supplies extra calcium for the body. For further details consult Ref. 1, which contains a lot more details.
Conclusion
The surprising twist for me when I researched this topic was the fact that what is good for your heart, what prevents Alzheimer’s disease and what helps you to live longer also helps you to cope with processing and eliminating radioactive pollutants. When we adopt a healthier lifestyle now, we are at the same time preparing ourselves for the worst nuclear pollution.
More information on vitamins, minerals and supplements: http://nethealthbook.com/health-nutrition-and-fitness/nutrition/vitamins-minerals-supplements/
Reference
1. Dr. John W. Apsley II : “Fukushima Meltdown & Modern Radiation: Protecting Ourselves and Our Future Generations” © 2011. Temet Nosce Publications, Sammamish, WA 98075
Last edited Nov. 7, 2014