Firstly, I'm not here to just talk in depth about WiFi. I want to us this as an opportunity to discuss a problem I see in the fitness world. That is, anxiety related to very minor variables of one's life, when there are evidently much bigger levers to pull to improve health and wellbeing.
Let's start by touching on WiFi as an example, for those of you who are dying to know whether or not you need to ditch the internet for health's sake.
Many people online are concerned about WiFi harming their health due to the "radiation". The problem here is that radiation
has become a bit of a buzzword, and for good reason, considering the harmful effects of ionising radiation such as X-rays (look up images of X-ray technicians' hands in the early days before radiation protection). Thankfully, WiFi is a low-energy form of non-ionising radiation, and while it does interact with the body, it does so to a minor
extent.
Non-ionising radio-frequency waves that are emitted can indeed cause a heating effect when interacting with the body, but the energy levels of standard WiFi signals are so low as for this to be insignificant. There are some basic science studies (e.g. in mice or petri dishes) that demonstrate hypothetical harms on cells, but again, these studies often use doses
that are far greater than that experienced in your home.
Overall, there is no good evidence that WiFi is exerting any significant harm on health, and regulatory bodies currently consider WiFi and various other forms of radiofrequency signals to be safe. With that said, science is about embracing uncertainty, and thus it's reasonable to remain open to the idea
that heavy exposure (which would be hard to come by currently) to such forms of radiation, along with other sources you may encounter, may have some effect across the lifespan (I suspect this is unlikely to be significant).
WiFi aside, why bother with this topic?!
Many people online are focusing their attention on speculative health harms with little evidence, despite there being much more deleterious behaviours and environmental harms to which they expose themselves. A great example of this is that many of the "natural" health influencers that scaremonger about WiFi also promote sun exposure for health, often discarding suncream while they're at it. Given the overwhelming evidence suggesting heavy sun exposure to be harmful
for photoaging and skin cancer, it's clear that this contradiction results from an ideological position (that of "natural = good"), rather than an assessment of the evidence.
We see this all the time in exercise and nutrition too. People are terrified of various additives in their food, despite drinking alcohol regularly. Many don't consume fruits or vegetables daily,
yet worry about what supplements they should be taking. Guys that don't even get to the gym 3 times per week are micromanaging their diet for muscle-building.
There are many more examples, but the point is simple: major in the majors. I honestly have nothing wrong with someone chasing 0.1% behaviours if they have taken care of the other 99.9%. But, in most cases,
people aren't even 50% of the way through the basics of eating well, sleeping well, progressive and varied exercise, quality leisure time, etc.
Is this you? Do you find yourself majoring in the minors?! I've certainly been there, but unfortunately, the time, money, and mental cost of such majoring often outweighs the hypothetical benefit!
Need help getting the majors in order to get real results? Reply to his email or check out our Coaching Page here.
