Barry was an experienced home inspector recommended by my real estate agent.

“He’s the best in the business. Extremely thorough!”

Never a good idea, I know, but once the purchase agreement was signed, the home inspections needed to be done quickly. For me, finding references for an inspector in the allotted time frame seemed like a burden. So, I took a chance and listened to the advice of my realtor. Barry was the owner of his company and had been in business for over 35 years!

The inspector was a nice guy with a few gadgets my kids found entertaining. One device could locate hidden sources of moisture and then there was the drone that flew like a giant insect, over the house to visually inspect the roof. I was on board with his demonstration until we went into the basement.

As we walked down the narrow staircase, I noticed an open elongated, rectangular window at the bottom of the stairs. We turned the corner where two other windows were open. The inspector casually closed these two windows and proceeded to the furnace, continuing his inspection. From the furnace, he moved to the sewer line and then to the fuse box. Nob and tube wiring, the old fashioned kind that didn’t have a ground. Great, I thought… more to be updated. I looked beneath the stairs and asked, “Do you think that’s mold?”

“No. That’s paint.”

Then, he changed the subject and asked, “Do you know anything about radon?”

“Actually, yes!” I said.

“So what do you know about radon?” He asked, looking at the wiring with his flashlight.

“I know it’s the most common cause of lung cancer in people who don’t smoke.”

He seemed satisfied. I turned to the realtor and mentioned that we needed to get someone to do the radon inspection.

“It’s taken care of!” He said proudly.

“Who’s doing it?” I asked.

“Barry here is!”

The inspector smiled smugly.

“Yep, got the canisters over there” He pointed over to a workbench where I indeed saw two canisters.

The real estate agent chimed in, “We should have the results of the radon inspection by tomorrow!”

The inspector then went back to the fusebox.

“Wait a second!” I said, “Why were the windows open down here? How can you do a radon test with open windows?”

The inspector seemed a little irritated and said that the windows were now closed.

“There is a window at the bottom of the stairs that is still open!” Now angry, I asked, “Who opened the windows?”

He shrugged his shoulders and said, “Maybe the seller. He must have forgotten that we were doing the radon test. I’ll run the test for 4 days, instead of the usual 48 hours to compensate for the windows being opened.”

I wasn’t satisfied. Neither the realtor nor the inspector seemed concerned, but radon isn’t something to play around with. I fired Barry and found a new home inspection company, one that I properly vetted.

The new team reinspected the entire home and ironically, discovered that my future home is filled with toxins. Not only is there lead paint, asbestos, and mold, but the radon levels were measured at 4.9 picoCuries per liter (pCi/l).

Radon levels over 4 pCi/l need to be remediated.

Radon

Radon is found in many areas of the country. It is a byproduct from the natural decay of uranium, thorium and radium, radio-active elements found in the earth’s crust. Studies have suggested that hydraulic fracturing for natural gas, “fracking”, has caused an increase in radon concentration within homes in some parts of the country. 

Low concentrations of radon gas are ubiquitous outdoors and are of no concern. But, when radon infiltrates through cracks and seams in a building’s foundation and walls, it can accumulate in stagnant indoor air, particularly in the basement. Remediation is not typically a difficult process and is not costly.

If you haven’t had a radon test done in your home, schedule one. There are several different tests to choose from, ranging from a basic 48 hour test, commonly used for real estate transactions, to more comprehensive long term studies that measure fluctuations in radon over months and during different seasons of the year.

As basic as it sounds, ensure that all of the windows in the home are closed at least 12 hours before the radon test begins and that they remain closed during the entire testing period so the test results are accurate and usable.

Yes, our future 108 year old home contains a myriad of environmental toxins. But, I will be able to remediate them, as needed, now that I am aware to ensure my safety and the well-being of my family.

The corn all looked the same as if it had been cloned. The ears were same size, same girth, and same color. Even the tassels were the same length. So I casually asked the roadside attendant, “Is this GMO corn?” 

Both my kids rolled their eyes and turned around, looking for any possible escape from this embarrassing situation. 

The woman looked at me with a blank stare and said, “Well, I don’t know what GMO is, but it’s sweet corn.”

Ugh. (In her defense, although this was the summer of 2018, it was just before the heavy media blitz on glyphosate.)

I was feeling great and it was a beautiful day. So, I thought, “What the heck?” and bought a bag.

For dinner, we barbecued the corn on a grill leaving on the husks. The corn was so tasty, I had two ears. That evening though, I had a vague, diffuse stomach pain which disturbed my sleep.

When I awoke, my symptoms had dissipated and I quickly forgot about my prior discomfort. So during our next dinner, I cooked up more corn, this time boiling the ears in salty water. That repeat dose seemed to instigate a problem in my gut. I was awake most of the night, bloated and suffering from a severe, steady abdominal pain. In the morning, my son awoke and expressed that he too had a stomach ache and couldn’t sleep. His matching symptoms fueled my suspicion that the our maladies were related to the previous night’s dinner, and the corn, in particular.   

I am aware that GMO sweet corn is grown in soil doused in Round-up and genetically engineered to produce its own insecticide. So, by eating what I then suspected was GMO corn, I knew we ingested not only glyphosate residue, but also a pesticide.

Glyphosate in the media

Recently, a judge in California found Monsanto liable for their chemical glyphosate’s role in a landscaper developing cancer. Those who routinely use this “chemical tool” to make farming and gardening easier, are befuddled as to what this could mean for their future livelihood and their health.

And then, the Environmental Working Group announced it found traces of glyphosate in breakfast cereals containing oats, including oatmeal and General Mills Cheerios! These two cereals are particularly popular with children and many adults who choose them to eat “heart healthy”. 

It is now apparent that Glyphosate is throughout the environment and the food supply. GMO crops contain glyphosate residue, but so do most non-GMO grains. Conventional non-GMO grains, including wheat, rye, oats, and others are sprayed with glyphosate immediately prior to harvest to make harvest easier. Even sunflowers are now sprayed with glyphosate prior to harvest! Realistically, how could a farming operation or factory effectively wash off the glyphosate residue from each wheat berry, oat or sunflower seed?

What is glyphosate?

Glyphosate is an effective nonselective herbicide because it is a metal chelator. This means the chemical binds to metals and makes them unusable. Without metals, cells cannot properly construct proteins and enzymes. Glyphosate is also a patented antibiotic. So what happens to you and your gut bacteria when you chronically ingest a metal chelator that also functions as an antibiotic? 

Have you heard of celiac disease?

Many question a connection between repeated glyphosate ingestion and chronic digestive problems including gluten sensitivity and celiac disease. From my perspective, this seems likely. If I told you that celiac disease was so rare 25 years ago, that radiologists around the country all had copies of the same exact teaching file case to teach their residents what the disease looked like just in case anyone would ever encounter a case. It wasn’t until around 2006 that I saw my first patient with a genuine case of celiac disease. Then, I saw another… and another. Now the symptoms of gluten sensitivity and celiac disease are so common, physicians don’t even order imaging studies to make these diagnoses anymore!

What can you do?

Be conscious and aware of what you are eating. Try to reduce your exposure to conventional grains and processed foods. Unfortunately, even organic grains have been shown to be tainted with glyphosate, so eating organic won’t keep you glyphosate-free, but it will help.

Follow the news and understand that this is a moving target. Recently, Monsanto received approval for a new form of genetically encoded insecticide utilizing a novel technique called RNA interference. This “gene” is being encoded into corn to hopefully selectively kill off a pest called the western corn root-worm. This product and will more than likely become part of our food supply by the end of the decade. What this technology will do to our health is unknown.

Be proactive with probiotics. Your choice, but try to have a probiotic food or drink daily to help counteract the harmful effects of ingested antibiotics and glyphosate on your microbiome.

Probiotics certainly helped me. After tossing out the remaining ears of corn, I increased my ingestion of kefir, raw sauerkraut and dilute apple cider vinegar. Within a few weeks, I was much better!

This week, as I’ve listened to newscasters talk about how the flu epidemic is taking over America, it struck me that people are ill, in part, because they are deficient in melatonin.

Vitamin D and Melatonin have something in common. They both strengthen the body’s immune system. Their relative production should complement each other perfectly. But, in our world of technology, they have become out of sync. Cancer and other diseases can develop if an immune system doesn’t function properly. In this post, you are going to gain an appreciation for melatonin and learn what you can do to normalize your brain’s production of this important hormone.

Winter
It is wintertime in the northern hemisphere and people all over are getting sick. The news is filled with reports of how bad the flu is this year. Unless you are supplementing yourself with Vitamin D, your Vitamin D levels have likely dropped because the sun is low in the sky and days are short. We know that low Vitamin D levels are associated with decreased immune function. But why would mother nature do this to us? Does it make sense that we should all be put at greater risk for illness during the winter?

Although days are short, nights are long and your body’s natural response during periods of prolonged darkness is to produce more melatonin. This hormone is produced by the brain’s pineal gland, often referred to as the third eye. This gland receives information directly from the eyes and can therefore in a way, sense whether or not it is dark or light out. In the absence of light, the pineal gland secretes melatonin which has crucial beneficial health effects on your body, one of which is to strengthen the immune system.

So in the summertime, your immune system is fortified by sunlight and Vitamin D, while in the wintertime, your immune system should be enhanced by darkness and melatonin.

If this is true, why are so many people getting sick in the darkness of winter?!

Maybe one reason has to do with a mass deficiency in melatonin production. There are several common habits we share which could explain why so many of us have deficient melatonin production.

Here are 6 simple tips that will help you optimize melatonin production:

1. Melatonin production should be cyclical, off during the day and on at night. expose yourself to sunlight or at least full spectrum light during the day so your brain knows when it is daytime.
2. Pick a bedtime and stick with it. When the body gets into the habit of going to sleep at a certain time, it will naturally want to fall asleep when that time arrives each day or night. Let yourself drift off when that time comes.
3. Before going to bed, refrain from looking at all LED screens, including cell phones, laptops, tablets and TVs. Looking at an LED screen before going to sleep significantly reduces the amount of melatonin your brain produces at night. This light effect is even more potent for children than adults, so make sure your kids turn off their devices at least a half hour before bedtime.
4. Feng shui masters consider having electronics in the bedroom to be inauspicious. They are wise. When you turn out the lights to sleep, there should be NO ambient light. If you have electronics in your bedroom, unplug each device that has an indicator light. Alternatively, you can shield each light source with a piece of countertop decor. Understand that if you can see any light with your eyes open, your pineal gland will more than likely see the light even when your eyes are closed.
5. If you are used to falling asleep in front of the TV, try to change your habit. It is best to read before bed (not from a tablet). If you need some ambient sound to relax, play music or listen to something previously downloaded to your device. If you feel you absolutely must have the TV on to fall asleep,  put the TV on a timer so it will shut off after you typically fall asleep.
6. Electromagnetic frequencies (EMF) trick the pineal gland into thinking that there is ambient light. EMF exposure during sleep will therefore cause your brain to produce less melatonin. If you use your cell phone as an alarm, put it in airplane mode to ensure it doesn’t ping you with EMF periodically while you are sleeping. And importantly, please don’t place a cordless phone or a wifi router anywhere near your bedroom. If you must, because of the design of your living space, either unplug the units or place them on a timer so that they turn off when you go to sleep and click back on when you are scheduled to wake up.

Waking up!
Ideally, we would be able to wait for the sunrise to wake up. But, since many of us have to work in the early morning, some methods of waking up are less stressful than others.

Like many people, I’ve gone through an evolution of alarm clocks starting with a freestanding windup clock with bells on top. From there, I moved to a plug-in variety with hands and a buzzer and then, a digital clock radio, which had been my preferred method for awakening until recently. A few months ago, I purchased a daylighting alarm clock. I am in awe over this technology. 30 minutes prior to my scheduled wake up time, the clock begins to glow a reddish hue, which slowly brightens to a white light. It is relaxing, pleasing and so completely natural. At the designated wake up time, the clock will produce some type of sound, either an ambient noise such as crashing waves, or it will play radio.

The way this light works is very clever. Even though I sleep with my eyes close, light from the clock hits my eye lids and causes a faint illumination, telling my pineal gland that there is light in the room. In response, the pineal gland stops producing melatonin. Different wavelengths of light will have a stronger suppression on melatonin secretion than others. Interestingly, redder hues have less of an effect on melatonin suppression than blue frequencies. So, by simulating a sunrise, the clock is telling the pineal gland to SLOWLY stop producing melatonin. This gradual awakening feels so natural and is completely stress free! I highly recommend trying one.

Take care of yourself this winter and always!
Give some consideration to your sleep habits. Maybe you can do a little reorganization in the bedroom to enhance your melatonin production. Now, in the midst of winter, is a perfect time to start.

Have you ever been frustrated by the experience of wanting something badly, but never truly being able to have it? No matter how hard you try, it seems as if the universe will provide you glimpses of your desire, but forbids you to have ownership. This has been my experience with the plant Wysteria.

Descending down the hillside on the Isle of Capri, we headed towards the grotto. I’m sure Capri’s tourist attraction was beautiful, but to be frank, I don’t remember it. I don’t even remember if we were heading to the Blue grotto or the Green grotto! What I do recall of that day was our walk down the hill and standing beneath an arbor covered with blooming Wysteria. It was the first time I had ever seen this flower and I was awestruck by its beauty and scent. The grape-like clusters of purple flowers hung underneath a wooden lattice and surrounded me and Kristin. I remember the fragrance was intoxicating. We sat there for a while before continuing our journey down to the water. I fell in love with Wysteria on that day and vowed that I would grow those blooms in my future backyard.

So, 5 years later after purchasing my first home in Shadyside, a section of Pittsburgh, the first thing I did was to plant Wysteria. The plant grew and grew, but didn’t bloom. I read about taking care of Wysteria and learned that it could take a few years for the plant to be mature enough to flower, so I waited. But, after 3 years, no success. I read that by cutting the branches and sometimes the roots, the plant could be stimulated to blossom. So, I did just that. But, pruning didn’t work either. After 7 years, I changed jobs and planned a move to New York City.

Before the internet, securing housing in New York City was difficult. It helped to know people. Rent controlled apartments and other desirable places to live were hard to find. People used to check the obituaries to find vacancies. There weren’t many, if any “For Rent” signs on the street. Using an agent made the process less onerous, especially if one was moving to the big apple from out of town. My two closest friends, both living in the East village, a neighborhood of Manhattan, didn’t know anyone influential. My hope was to live somewhere near them. My only real “want” for housing was to have outdoor space. That way my two cats, who had been used to roaming Shadyside, could get spend some time outside. I contacted an agency and planned a trip to the city.

The weekend I visited, the agency had nothing to show me. So my friend, David, and I criss crossed our way through lower Manhattan, starting at 22rd street. We walked across town from 1st Avenue to 9th avenue. Then, walked one block South to 21st street, and walked back down to 1st avenue. We made our way down through the East Village, Greenwich Village, the West Village, and Gramercy. During one of the two days, while walking down West 13th street, I admired a Wysteria vine growing up the facade of a brownstone. It was June and I knew that Wysteria back home had already leafed out. This plant though was oddly in full bloom. I walked up the stairs to the front door of the stone home where I was able to reach and smell the sweet aroma of the flowers. “Wow.”, I said, “This is amazing!” We continued our journey all the way down to Houston street, where the numbered streets began. In all, we must have walked well over 100 city blocks and passed thousands of apartment buildings, brownstones and businesses.

No place to live and a bit disappointed, I got back home to Pittsburgh when the rental agent called. There were now 3 units available with outdoor space. I made a few calls and arranged for the agent to take David to see the units. I couldn’t fly back to New York and I trusted his judgement. He knew my taste.

When he called me later the next day, I asked, “So how were they?”

He said, “Well, you know one place already.”

“I do?” I asked, a bit confused.

“Yes. It’s the place with the Wysteria. You’re gonna love that apartment. It’s a split level on both the first and second floors. And, it includes an outdoor patio.”

I was amazed. Out of over a thousand buildings I saw that weekend…

I took the unit “sight unseen” and chuckled as I mailed the first rent check to my new landlord who lived at 69 Fifth Avenue.

When I moved to West 13th street a month later, the first thing I noticed driving up to the Brownstone was that the Wysteria had been removed!

Since then, I have encountered Wysteria in bloom only a few times, each time during a crossroad in my life. I’ve also re-tried to grow the plant. This most recent time, I purchased two mature Wysteria plants, both of which were in full bloom in the greenhouse when I purchased them. But, once they were transplanted into the yard, the blooms quickly dropped off and neither plant ever bloomed again.

Now, 8 years later, I’ve come to accept that Wysteria is more than a plant for me. It is a spiritual beacon. A guide that I cannot have on my own terms. I must simply experience the beauty of the flower when it mysteriously manifests in my life, and take confidence in knowing that its presence is directing me to a new destiny.