What is our generation's version of smoking?
I’m Brandon Wilson. I am constantly working toward improving my mind, body, and spirit using various ancient techniques and cutting-edge biohacking tools and devices. I want to be healthy, but not at the expense of being happy. This simple idea is what it means to be wellthy.
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My personal experience with smoking is somewhat limited. My mom smoked KOOL cigarettes when I was in grade school. I couldn’t stand the smell of them. I tried smoking a cigarette one time as a teenager. It gave me a coughing fit that rivaled one of Hillary’s, and I never touched them again. When The Sopranos was still on the air, I got caught up in smoking cigars. I still might have one once or twice a year.
When I watched the show Mad Men, a period drama about ad agencies in the 1960s, I couldn’t believe how much everyone smoked. Years ago, an older coworker told me he had fond memories of being able to smoke at his desk at work and on an airplane. Smoking was cool, socially acceptable, and thought to be harmless. Doctors even recommended smoking. Now we look back at this period and ponder, “What were they thinking!?”
There are many controversies and disagreements in the health and wellness space, but we do have a consensus on one topic: smoking tobacco is bad for your health. Some might argue there is a spectrum of harm between “Big Tobacco” cigarettes and vape cartridges and hand-rolled “natural” tobacco cigarettes, cigars, and pipes. None of it benefits your body, but it took a while to reach this conclusion. The insidious nature of smoking is that it’s not an immediate poison. It takes years, even decades, before severe health conditions manifest.
In 1965, 42% of the US adult population were smokers.1 In 2021, 11.5% of the US adult population were smokers.2
The airline industry is one example of the slow progress toward curbing smoking. In 1973, the US government established guidelines for smoking and non-smoking sections on airplanes. More restrictions came in the 1980s, and Delta was the first US global airline to ban smoking on all flights in 1995. It wasn’t until the year 2000 that President Bill Clinton signed a law that officially banned smoking on all flights to and from the US.3
In 1954, the tobacco industry paid to publish the “Frank Statement to Cigarette Smokers” in many US newspapers. It stated that the public’s health was the industry’s concern above all others and promised various good-faith changes. I think we know how that turned out.
The 1996 60 Minutes interview with Mike Wallace and whistleblower Jeffrey Wigand exposed the tobacco industry’s diabolical operation to mislead the public about the harms of cigarettes. We have a treasure trove of documents that reveal the extent of Big Tobacco’s corruption.
By the way, if you have struggled to quit smoking, I’ve heard good things about Allen Carr’s Easy Way to Quit Smoking. You can also try Füm, which is a smoking replacement that uses essential oils.
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” —George Santayana
What do you think is our generation’s version of smoking? Some people say sitting is the new smoking. Sure, there are detrimental effects of a sedentary lifestyle, but we know that, and not many people advocate this lifestyle. Others have noted the parallels between Big Tobacco and Big Food. This document makes some good points, and the Standard American Diet is not doing us any favors.
My bet is on something invisible that continues to increase all around us—E-smog. Most of us are exposed to 20-40 sources of negative electromagnetic frequencies (EMFs) every day: WiFi, Bluetooth, 3G/4G/5G cellular signals, and “dirty” electricity in building wiring. How many wireless “smart” devices can you name in your home? Now consider all the wireless signals coming from outside your home. Search for WiFi signals on your phone and see how many more there are besides yours. Use AntennaSearch to identify all the cellular towers and antennas around you.
The good news is that there are things you can do to minimize your exposure and neutralize the effects of EMFs. I wrote about some strategies in a previous newsletter. I will write about more cool tech I’ve been experimenting with in future newsletters.
The Daily Habit is where I share my habits related to the fundamentals: sleep, diet, physical activity, mindfulness, and stress management.
One of the biggest sources of EMF is usually within arm’s length—your phone. Consider an EMF-blocking case like one from SafeSleeve, DefenderShield, or BonCharge.
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What is the missing number?
A year ago, I wrote about my experience with Somavedic, a company offering beautiful home EMF neutralization devices.
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https://www.statista.com/statistics/184418/percentage-of-cigarette-smoking-in-the-us/
https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/adult_data/cig_smoking/index.htm
https://www.businessinsider.com/when-did-smoking-get-banned-on-planes-in-the-us-2020-2?op=1#later-that-year-the-us-canada-and-australia-signed-an-agreement-banning-smoking-on-flights-between-the-three-countries-15
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