The SHN #89: Artificial Light, GcMAF, and Talk Therapy

Welcome Back to The Synergetic Health Newsletter! 

February 6th, 2025. Greetings from Da Nang, Vietnam! This place is great. While many people traveling Vietnam just pass through Da Nang, many others have chosen to settle here long term. There is a large expat scene here and it’s clear why— super cheap, beautiful beach, lots to do, and centrally located in Asia.

In today’s newsletter, we have more about the trouble with artificial light, the promising but relatively unknown cancer treatment GcMAF, the limits of talk therapy, and more!

☀️ How Artificial Light Is Disrupting Our Health

Most of us spend about 90% of our time indoors under artificial lighting, as I wrote about in this newsletter. In this presentation, Dr. Max Gulhane explains how this modern lighting environment is a major driver of metabolic dysfunction, potentially fueling our current epidemics of diabetes and obesity.

"For the first 10,000 generations of homo sapiens," Gulhane explains, "the contrast between bright daylight and nocturnal darkness would robustly entrain the human circadian timing system to the Earth's 24-hour rotation." But in less than four generations, we've completely transformed our light environment - with serious metabolic consequences.

The link between artificial light and metabolic health is obvious. Research shows that even a single night of bright light exposure can disrupt blood glucose and insulin levels - without eating any food. Over time, this circadian disruption leads to insulin resistance, inflammation, and metabolic dysfunction.

Our bodies are essentially "walking blue light detectors," as Gulhane puts it. We have special light-detecting proteins called melanopsin throughout our bodies - in our blood vessels, fat cells, and brain. When we're exposed to blue light from LED bulbs and screens at night, it disrupts our metabolic rhythms and cellular function.

The absence of red and near-infrared light in artificial lighting is equally problematic. "Your body has given you an ability and wants all this near-infrared to enter," Gulhane explains. This light penetrates deeply into our tissues and helps our mitochondria function properly. Without it, our metabolic efficiency suffers.

The solution is, according to Gulhane, the same thing I’ve been preaching here for years: "brighter days and darker nights."

• Getting outside during daylight hours

• Minimizing artificial light exposure after sunset

• Using red lights or candles for evening lighting when needed

• Considering blue-blocking glasses for nighttime screen use

"Your health issue might be first and foremost a light problem," Gulhane suggests. With metabolic disorders on the rise, it's past time we recognized artificial light's role in this epidemic and started treating our light environment as seriously as we do diet and exercise.

🎗️ GcMAF: A Suppressed Cancer Treatment

GcMAF (Gc Macrophage Activating Factor) has emerged as a potential game-changer in medicine that powerful interests seem determined to suppress. The scientific evidence behind this naturally occurring protein is compelling— it activates macrophages in the immune system to fight disease, particularly cancer, through multiple verified mechanisms.

Research has shown GcMAF's remarkable ability to inhibit angiogenesis (stopping the formation of blood vessels that feed tumors) and its effectiveness against various cancer cell lines. The protein powerfully enhances the immune system's natural cancer-fighting abilities and studies have demonstrated promising results in treating breast, prostate, colon, liver, stomach, lung, kidney, bladder, uterus, ovarian, head/neck, and brain cancers, as well as fibrosarcomas and melanomas.

GcMAF works by targeting nagalase, an enzyme produced by cancer cells that otherwise destroys the body's natural GcMAF production - essentially disabling a key immune system response. Studies have shown that nagalase levels correlate directly with tumor burden, and as GcMAF therapy progresses, nagalase activity decreases, suggesting the treatment actively fights the cancer's immune-suppressing mechanisms.

The dark side of this story centers on Dr. Jeff Bradstreet, a leading GcMAF researcher who was found dead in North Carolina's Rocky Broad River in June 2015. While authorities ruled his death a suicide from a gunshot wound to the chest (?), his family has strongly rejected this conclusion. The timing speaks volumes - his death came just days after FDA agents raided his clinic over GcMAF treatments. His wife Lori emphatically stated he "was a fighter and would never just quit." The family's suspicions led them to raise money for an investigation into what they believe was foul play.

Most tellingly, as one medical review directly stated: "The question must also be posed as to why this medication has not yet been approved by the FDA. Despite the doubts raised as results of some clinical studies, the efficacy of this drug has been endorsed in several studies. It appears that there are non-scientific reasons that prevent FDA approval."

Clinical trials have shown amazing results. In one study, administration of GcMAF to 16 patients with prostate cancer led to improvements in all patients without recurrence. Another case showed complete remission in a 74-year-old man with prostate cancer and multiple bone metastases after nine months of GcMAF therapy. No harmful side effects of GcMAF treatment have been reported, even when administered to children.

While health regulatory bodies continue issuing warnings about GcMAF products, the mounting scientific evidence of its efficacy suggests something more sinister at play. The treatment's potential to revolutionize cancer therapy - and thereby disrupt the hugely profitable cancer treatment industry - provides a compelling explanation for the resistance to its approval and the suspicious circumstances surrounding those who champion it.

The mysterious death of Dr. Bradstreet, the FDA's aggressive stance, and the suppression of a promising treatment paint a disturbing picture of what happens when medical breakthroughs threaten powerful financial interests in healthcare. The evidence suggests we're witnessing not just the suppression of a treatment, but the systematic undermining of a cure that could transform cancer care as we know it.

🧠 Knowing vs. Believing

I highlighted the following passage from an article written by anesthesiologist, electrical engineer and author, Madhava Setty, that I thought was worth sharing.

“The problem I noticed is that if my beliefs do not change for a long while, I regard them as things that I ‘know’.

What’s the problem with that? The problem is that believing carries with it an element of uncertainty, the possibility that I could be wrong. That possibility, no matter how minute, offers me the possibility of shifting my understanding if necessary. Knowing, by my definition, offers no such flexibility. Remaining stuck is the price we pay for the comfort of certainty.”

There are so many things each of us “knows” that isn’t actually true. We’ve simply believed something for long enough that we no longer question its validity.

💆 The Limits of Talk Therapy

Many people struggling with trauma spend years in talk therapy without finding the resolution they seek. As nervous system practitioner Karden Rabin explains, this isn't due to a failure of the client or even the therapist – it's because we're often "trying to solve a problem (trauma) with the wrong tools (talking)."

Rabin points to a fundamental insight from Bessel Van Der Kolk's work: trauma lives in the body and its connection to our autonomic nervous system. While our conscious mind and personal narrative are certainly influenced by trauma, they aren't where trauma primarily resides. This is especially true for early childhood trauma, which occurs "when our language faculties were underdeveloped (but our feeling abilities were very well developed)."

This presents a challenge— how can we expect to heal pre-verbal trauma through verbal methods alone? As Rabin notes, "talk therapy primarily works at the level of cognition and language, it literally can't heal trauma because it doesn't connect with the parts of the brain... where trauma really lives."

The solution, according to Rabin and other modern trauma specialists, lies in somatic (body-based) approaches. Rather than just being "trauma informed," therapists need to be "deeply trained in somatics" to effectively help clients heal.

For those who haven't found relief through traditional talk therapy, this perspective offers both explanation and hope. You may simply need a different approach that addresses trauma where it actually lives: in the body's nervous system and non-verbal brain regions. There are dozens of effectives somatic techniques to try, feel free to reach out if you don’t know where to start.

𝕏 Thread of the Week

🤔 Is Longevity Medicine a Scam? In this video conversation, investigative journalist Scott Carney and longevity scientist Matt Kaeberlein discussed the state of longevity research and medicine. Both agreed that people who lie once shouldn't be trusted again and that financial incentives can corrupt scientific integrity. Their main differences emerged around preventative medicine and early intervention - Kaeberlein supported using newer diagnostic tools and biomarkers to catch health issues early, while Carney worried this could lead to overtreatment and anxiety. They also differed on the promise of longevity medicine, with Kaeberlein more optimistic about its potential despite acknowledging current limitations.

😴 GHB Excellent For Sleep, But Shunned by the FDA: This article discusses the importance of sleep and the controversial history of GHB, a highly effective sleep aid. Despite decades of research showing GHB's benefits for sleep disorders and other conditions, the FDA banned it in 2000 through a misleading campaign that labeled it as a date-rape drug. Now, while a pharmaceutical version exists, it costs up to $100,000 annually. The article argues this exemplifies how medical decisions are often driven by profit rather than public health.

🇰 Ketamine Treats Depression AND Slows Aging: A recent study examined how ketamine treatment affects biological aging in patients with depression and PTSD. Twenty participants received six ketamine infusions over 2-3 weeks. The research found that ketamine significantly reduced depression and PTSD symptoms while also decreasing biological age markers. The treatment also reduced certain memory T-cells associated with aging. So it looks like ketamine's therapeutic benefits may extend beyond mental health to include positive effects on cellular health and aging processes.

In more ketamine news, the FDA has approved Johnson & Johnson's Spravato nasal spray as a standalone treatment for severe depression. The ketamine-derived drug demonstrated superior results compared to placebo in clinical trials, with over 20% of patients achieving remission. Spravato generated $780 million in sales through Q3 2024. The approval is significant as about one-third of adults don't respond to traditional antidepressants.

🔗 One Hitters

🛁 Best nontoxic fabric softeners and dryer sheets (Article)

⌚ Are wearable reliable? (This doctor says no)

💊 Massive increase in child prescriptions led to current mental health crisis? (Opinion)

📚 Read my e-book, “Self-Development for Authentic Living” for free.

✔️ That will do it for this time! Hopefully you got some value out of it. If you have any questions/comments/things you’d like to learn more about please don’t hesitate to reach out.

🔗 If you know anyone who loves learning about these types of topics, send them this link!

📰 To read all past newsletters, go here.