June 20, 2020

If you heard my podcast “The Ultimate Biohacked Workout & The Future Of Fitness: Minimal Effective Doses, Cold, Blood Flow Restriction, Electrical Muscle Stimulation, Ozone & More!,” recorded at Systimfit in New York City, then you may have heard, towards the tail end of that podcast, how I was about to wander across town to a place called La Casa to undergo a cutting-edge ozone sauna recovery treatment with something called a HOCATT.

HOCATT stands for “Hyperthermic Ozone and Carbonic Acid Transdermal Technology,” and the machine acts as an ozone steam sauna in which you sit with just your head exposed to the air, while your body receives the benefits of an infusion of ozone, carbon dioxide, steam, photon light, and oxygen—all while undergoing pulsed electromagnetic field therapy (PEMF).

While I was there, the proprietor of La Casa, Dr. Jane Goldberg—a New York-based psychoanalyst and holistic health consultant—commented that she wasn't too concerned about the mild amount of ozone one might breathe in while using this device. I asked her why, and she handed me a book. The book is called The Hormesis Effect: The Miraculous Healing Power of Radioactive Stones.

Yep, I know. Woo-woo alert.

But on the plane ride home from New York, I read the book, and it was actually quite compelling. Turns out that for thousands of years people have been treating pain, injuries, and disease with low-radioactive stones.  In The Hormesis Effect, Dr. Goldberg and her co-author, the late Jay Gutierrez (a noted Native American healer and CEO of Night Hawk Minerals in Pritchett, Colorado) talk about rediscovering a forgotten ancient science that was supposedly once well-known to our ancestors: the healing power of low-level radioactivity.

It also turns out that the concept of using low-dose radiation for therapeutic purposes, called in medical literature “radiation hormesis,” has 100 years of solid scientific research behind it, and thousands of medical studies to support it. It is easy, affordable, and highly effective. If you're like most people, you're afraid of radiation, and all it implies. Yet, in other countries all over the world, millions of people have benefited from using low-level radiation on everything from tennis elbow, joint pain and arthritis, to far more serious illnesses such as multiple sclerosis, spinal meningitis, autism, stroke, macular degeneration, heart disease, and cancer. The book discusses an inexpensive delivery system that can bring this powerful, proven healing modality directly to you within the comfort of your own home: the concept of radiation hormesis and low-level radioactive natural stones.

So could radiation actually cause you to live longer and be healthier? That's exactly what we discuss in this podcast.

Dr. Jane G. Goldberg, Ph.D. is a licensed psychologist, a certified psychoanalyst, and an oncological psychoanalyst (having worked extensively with cancer patients). She is a Stone Carrier-Medicine Woman of the Nemenhah Native American Tribe. She is one of the founding conceptualizers of the application of psychoanalysis to group therapy. She is the author of 8 books, as well as writer and creator of a holistic newsletter called Musings From 20th Street. She owns and operates two holistic centers: La Casa Spa and Wellness New York (the oldest wellness center in NYC) and La Casa Spa and Wellness Puerto Rico in the El Yunque rain forest (established in 1986). For several years, she had her own television show called The Really Real Reality Group Therapy TV Show.

She is also a documentary filmmaker, having produced and directed “Because People Are Dying” (watch part 1 here and part 2 here), a film about radiation hormesis. Her latest project, about to be launched (but delayed by COVID-19), is a unique brain enhancement program called Brainercize. Accompanying the launch will be the publication of her most recent book, The Revolutionary Mind Project. Also, soon to be published is her book, co-authored with Karliin Brooks, on biohacking called Biohacking WW (Women's World).

During this discussion, you'll discover:

-Whether breathing in ozone is a good thing, and how much is safe…10:20

• Hormesis (low dose exposure) is very different from high dose exposure
• Precautions are taken at La Casa to minimize exposure to ozone via the breath
• Causes slight irritation to the lungs, which stimulates the body to repair itself
• No studies on the hormesis effect of breathing in ozone
• Ozone acting on human blood yields a hormetic dose-response relationship
• Mechanisms of Action Involved in Ozone Therapy: Is healing induced via a mild oxidative stress?

-Jane's story, and the opening of La Casa…15:00

• Jane's mom was diagnosed with terminal pelvic cancer shortly after moving to NYC
• Foundation for the Advancement in Cancer Therapies
• Her mom was able to reverse her cancer, much to the surprise of the doctors
• Opened the way to holistic health
• Most popular treatments:
  • The PulseCenters PEMF unit that Ben uses  (use referral code BEN2018 for 15% off through June 30th)
  • Colonics
  • Ionic foot bath
• Jane's dog was healed through PEMF therapy, which piqued interest in hormesis treatment
• A radioactive stone in the water was highly therapeutic for the dog

-The surprising health benefits of atomic bombs…23:52

• 4 kinds of radioactivity: alpha, beta, x-ray, gamma
• The bombs dropped in Japan were gamma rays
• Gamma penetrates, it doesn't burn
• People exposed to low doses of radiation from the bombs lived longer and healthier than those with no exposure at all

-What exactly radiation hormesis is…26:20

• Using a low dose of radiation to stimulate a slightly damaged cell to go into repair mode
• Radiation therapy for cancer is high dose, not hormesis
• Radiation induces apoptosis (cellular suicide)
• Dr. Sohei Kondo, researcher on cellular apoptosis
• Japanese became experts in radiation therapy after the atomic bombs were dropped
• Hot springs are radioactive
• Radon was thought to be correlated with high cancer rates, but the opposite was proven to be true
• Rectifying Radon’s Record: An Open Challenge to the EPA

-The effect radiation has on DNA…39:02

• 200,000 DNA repairs every day in every cell
• Radiation hormesis causes slight damage, which stimulates the repair process in DNA
• DNA is “supercoiled” with cancer; low dose radiation “uncoils” the DNA

-The effect of low dose radiation on the immune system…42:42

• Stimulates the production of lymphocytes
• Increases helper T cells
• Decreases suppressor T cells

-Radiation frequency and dosages…45:20

• The body can't tell if radiation is man-made or natural
• The body can discern the wave-particle (alpha, beta, x-ray, gamma)
• Gamma is always destructive
• Brazil nuts, bananas, and the human body produce low doses of radiation

-How radioactive stones work…49:20

• Jane's coauthor Jay made jewelry out of an attractive stone in Colorado
• People who wore the jewelry reported improvements in maladies from which they were suffering
• The stones he had been harvesting and selling were thorium
• There are over 3,000 gold-standard studies on the effects of low-level radiation
• Nighthawk Minerals
• Bathtub treatment available at La Casa

-The link between radiation and fungus…56:15

• Radiation damages healthy cells, as well as fungus
• The healthy cells recover, while the fungus doesn't
• Protective effects from mushrooms
• Potential to anecdotally test the efficacy of the stones or radioactive water
• Fungus “poops” out dangerous mycotoxins
• BGF podcast on the mycobiome

Click here for the full written transcript of this podcast episode.

Resources from this episode:

– La Casa Spa and Wellness New York

– La Casa Spa and Wellness Puerto Rico

– Podcast:

• On the mycobiome with Dr. Mahmoud Ghannoum

– Books:

• The Hormesis Effect and other books by Jane Goldberg

– Other resources:

• Ozone sauna recovery treatment HOCATT
• Night Hawk Minerals
• Musings From 20th Street newsletter
• “Because People Are Dying” documentary, Part 1 and Part 2
• The Really Real Reality Group Therapy Show
• Brainercize
• Study: Ozone acting on human blood yields a hormetic dose-response relationship
• Study: Mechanisms of Action Involved in Ozone Therapy: Is healing induced via a mild oxidative stress?
• Dr. Sohei Kondo, researcher on cellular apoptosis
• Study: Rectifying Radon’s Record: An Open Challenge to the EPA
• Scientific American article: Do Fungi Feast on Radiation?
• The PulseCenters PEMF unit that Ben uses  (use referral code BEN2018 for 15% off through June 30th)

Episode sponsors:

–Kion Aminos: Building blocks for muscle recovery, reduced cravings, better cognition, immunity, and more. Get 10% off your order of Kion Aminos, and everything at the Kion site when you use discount code BEN10.

–Organifi Gold Chocolate: This superfood hot chocolate is loaded with herbs, medicinal mushrooms & healing ingredients to help the body fight disease during sleep. Receive a 20% discount on your entire order when you use discount code BENG20.

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-Beekeeper's Naturals: A wellness company specializing in innovative nutraceuticals made from healing hive compounds and plant-based ingredients. Get 15% off your order when you use discount code BEN.

Do you have questions, thoughts, or feedback for Jane or me? Leave your comments below and one of us will reply!