The catastrophe that's hit Japan is mindblowing and has affected me on a deep emotional level. Our home, Planet Earth, is not as vast as we once believed it to be and what happens far away can impact us on so many levels. We are all interconnected in this web of life.

Today, the headlines are announcing a nuclear disaster in Japan that is almost as bad as Chernobyl. Here in California, we are threatened with the pollution that could make it's way across the Pacific.

Here are my recommendations, (gleaned from Drs. Ann Louise Gittleman and Jon Barron) to protect yourself from radiation:

Eat sea vegetables daily.  Sea vegetables are rich in sodium alginate which chelates radiation out of your system. You can use Nori seaweed sheets to wrap sandwiches in instead of bread. You can tear nori sheets into pieces and mix them into salad, soups, and rice. You can find dulse and kelp flakes in your local health food store and sprinkle them liberally onto your food. Drink bladderwrack tea. You can boil your grains with strips of Kombu seaweed. Use hijiki and wakame to make salads. (You can skip the sugar and use agave nectar instead in the linked seaweed salad recipes).

Boost your beta carotenes:  This will help to keep your immune system strong and keep your mucous membranes lubricated. Eat carrots, winter squash, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, and any and all dark leafy vegetables.

Protect your DNA with nucleotide rich foods: Nucleotides protect DNA integrity. Eat sardines, anchovies, and/or sprinkle nutritional yeast (at least 2 Tbsp) on your foods every day.

Supplements: If you are low on iodine, your thyroid will pick up the radioactive iodine that is being released into the atmosphere. Preload your thyroid with good iodine so that your are less likely to absorb the radioactive kind. If you have a healthy thyroid and are not taking medication, Take the iodine supplement called Iodoral, at least 125 mg daily with food. I also recommend Russian Choice Immune, a probiotic supplement that was especially designed for Chernobyl survivors.

Stay strong and positive and try to remain in a state of gratitude rather than one of panic.

Your in Health,

Sylvie Nalezny, MA, CNE