[00:00:00] Cynthia Garcia: First of all, let’s talk about what exactly it means. So the term pollution describes a situation where a contaminant enters the environment causing undesirable effects. And there are several types of pollution. You’re probably most familiar with water pollution or air pollution, but there is something known as noise pollution. And just as you might guess, it is the spread of unwanted sounds into the environment.
[00:00:32] Welcome back to The Transformational Nutrition podcast. The podcast that is redefining nutrition as anything that feeds you physically, mentally, and spiritually. I am your host, Cynthia Garcia, the founder and CEO of the Institute of Transformational Nutrition. And today we are talking about noise pollution. That’s right. Noise pollution.
[00:00:53] Sometimes I don’t think we really think about the impact of noise in our environment and just how major that it can impact us. So that’s what I want to talk about with you today. So I remember I’ll tell you a quick story from my own life around noise pollution. So I remember many years ago I lived in an apartment building in Hollywood.
[00:01:20] And across from me, there was this big, wide open lot. It was just a parking. And things were good until they decided they, the powers that be decided that what would look really great in that open parking lot is a huge hotel complete with, I think it had like 900 rooms and like 200 residences and retail on the bar.
[00:01:46] I mean, huge huge amount of space. And I, at first I got really excited about this, right. I thought, oh gosh, there’s going to be, you know, new places maybe I’ll have like a, a new gym or a smoothie shop or whatever comes with that. I was excited until they broke ground. It was so noisy. And I mean, I guess the windows and the building was insulated properly, but it didn’t matter because this noise would start in early morning, and it would go into late afternoon. And it was absolutely exhausting. There was constant drilling and jackhammering and beeping and loud crashes and people yelling. I mean, think about a construction site. That’s exactly what it was.
[00:02:31] So what happened was I started just not sleeping as well. I’d wake up. I’d be tired. I noticed that I started getting grumpy. I was short with my friends and my colleagues. I was easily annoyed. I was short with myself. I would just get frustrated with myself really easily. And normally I am a very creative person and I would have lots of creative outlets including painting.
[00:02:57] But at this time I remember my creativity just kind of went away. I just have no desire to sit down and actually paint or do anything at all for that matter. I’m not sure that we really understand the impact that noise has on our overall health and well being. And I tend to be someone who’s sensitive to these things you might’ve remembered in episode eight, we talked about my condition called misophonia, and basically it is a condition where noises like eating noises or repetitive clicking noises or lawnmowers or noise can make you feel like you’re a crazy person and it can make you just go into this rage until it stops.
[00:03:45] So I admit I am sensitive to noise and I’m not alone. It’s interesting to see how many people spoke up after episode eight and was like, oh my gosh, that’s me too. Like we had team members say, oh my gosh, I can finally put a name to that thing. So if you haven’t heard that episode, go back and listen to it. Especially, if you think this could be you, cause I give you some great tips on how to deal with that. But today we’re talking about noise in general for everyone. And again, specifically noise pollution.
[00:04:18] We love spotlighting the stories and transformations of our students here at ITN. I’m especially excited to share Jared Fisher’s journey from being told he had a debilitating disease and suffering a horrific accident to being a certified transformational nutrition coach with his own thriving product-based business. Let’s meet Jared now.
[00:04:48] Jared Fisher: I was in an accident when I was 17 years old. And I woke up or I regained consciousness underwater. And I remember thinking at the time, like, this is how my life’s going to end. I’ve been a huge surfer my whole life. And I was involved in a surfing accident. I had several surgeries to repair the injury after that. I was always a really small kid growing up. I never really had a growth spurt. And so that was really a source of, I would say, insecurity for me and contributed to an overall lack of confidence.
[00:05:25] And then when I had this injury to my face, that just kind of made it worse because I had these horrific scars on my face. I would say that really started this downward spiral. Well, it turned into alcohol and drug abuse and really just living a lifestyle that was not supportive of good health. And then I found myself in my late twenties, and I started having really bad, lower back pain. And I saw a couple of doctors and they’re looking at my MRI and they’re like, whoa, this looks horrible.
[00:05:57] They diagnosed me with degenerative disc disease. There’s really no cure. And basically I was told, yeah, your spine looks like that of somebody in their sixties. From there, the daily drinking continued. I was put on prescription pain medication. Things just kind of continued to spiral and get worse from there.
[00:06:23] Cynthia Garcia: So I started to notice that I wasn’t sleeping as well as I normally did. In addition, it was hard for me to focus on things I would get really frustrated. I’d be short with my friends. I was short with myself. And the other thing that happened is normally I’m a pretty creative. I’m always creating something. And back then I was doing a lot of painting. I’ve been painting and doing art since I was a little thing and I was really into it. But at that time, I just wasn’t feeling drawn to do anything creative.
[00:06:59] And one day I had a friend come over, we were going to go out and get some coffee. And it’s interesting because just a few days before we had gotten into an argument and I’d never really argued with this friend. She was pretty passive. I was pretty passive. It was just whatever, right? Like we just kind of go with the flow, but she came over to get coffee. We were going to patch things up. And when she got into my apartment, she said, oh my gosh. Like from the time I parked, it is so loud here. No wonder you’re so grumpy these days.
[00:07:29] And I thought, oh right, no wonder. It’s not just me. It’s the noise. This noise is polluting my environment. It’s polluting my brain. And that’s the key that’s what’s going on with me. So that was quite a breakthrough. And again, I tend to be sensitive to these things. Anyway, I’m surprised I hadn’t noticed that on my own, but I bet we all have stories. I bet you can remember a story where there was just noise and you desperately needed for that to stop.
[00:07:58] So in this episode, I’m going to talk a little bit about what noise pollution is because a lot of times people don’t talk about it, but it is really important. And I’m going to tell you why, and I’m going to tell you what you can do about it and why you should do something about it if you live in an area where you deal with a lot of noise pollution.
[00:08:19] So first of all, let’s talk about what exactly it means. So the term pollution describes a situation where a contaminant enters the environment causing undesirable effects. And there are several types of pollution. You’re probably most familiar with water pollution or air pollution, but there is something known as noise pollution. And just as you might guess, it is the spread of unwanted sounds into the environment. And I know this sounds kind of weird because sound is literally everywhere around us is right. It’s birds chirping. It’s wind moving through the trees, it’s human activities, right? It’s the sound of alarms, the sound of keys on a keyboard.
[00:09:05] And again, some of these noises I talked about in episode eight. So go back and check that out. If you want to discover what misophonia is and why you should be aware of that if you have it and what you can do to get some help. But noise pollution more specifically explains not just birds chirping, but rather when sounds build up. Think about larger cities like Los Angeles or New York in the U.S. but also places like India, China, where the human population is very dense in most of those cities.
[00:09:36] I mean, you could also think about factory workers who were surrounded by loud noises every day, right? Nine to five, they go into these noisy environments. They have earplugs that they have to put in oftentimes because of the noise. And this is what I feel like we haven’t talked about a lot in detail. And I think that that is a problem. I’ve seen it with numerous clients over the years.
[00:09:58] In fact, a 2018 review performed by the LD college of engineering in India, noted noise pollution as an under reported factor when it came to human health. And unfortunately noise pollution can have a serious impact on our physical and mental health. So let’s talk about how, and then I’ll give you some things that you can do. If this is something that you deal with.
[00:10:24] Listen in as Jared shares his turning point and what spurred him and his family into action when it came to their health.
[00:10:36] Jared Fisher: I remember one day I was literally laying on the couch. I could barely move. And my kids, they were young at the time and they came up to me and they’re like, Hey dad, you want to go outside and play? And I was just like, it just kinda hit me. I’m like, I can’t even get up and go play with my kids. And so it all kind of came to a head.
[00:10:54] I actually went to see a doctor and he told me that I had Andropause, which is basically the male equivalent of menopause. Me going through that my wife come to find out she’s had Hashimoto’s, which is an auto-immune disease. I was experiencing what I was going through, which included drinking every day, eating out every day, taking pain medication every day.
[00:11:19] My daughter was having allergic reactions to a lot of the things that she was eating. My son was having anxiety. So my wife was the one who really took the bull by the horns and initiated change for the family by, you know, starting to make all of our food. We stopped eating out every day, and it just went from thinking that we were healthy or doing things that were supportive of good health. But in reality, we weren’t. To making the shift where health became the focal point of both of our lives. And it was no more eating out. It was making every meal that we were eating from scratch and really reinforcing these health habits.
[00:12:04] Cynthia Garcia: So the first reason that noise pollution is so detrimental has to do with our reaction to it. You see the brain is always monitoring sounds for signs of danger, even when your sleep. A study that was published in environmental perspectives put it really well. They said the fundamental purposes of hearing are to alert and to warn. As a result, sound directly evokes emotions and actions.
[00:12:36] The processing of sound by the brain is outlined to provide a biological and psychological basis for understanding the way in which sound can become a human stressor. So frequent or loud noise can trigger anxiety or stress. And with continued exposure to noise pollution, a person sensitivity, distress increases. Right? Kind of like, I felt really on edge when the construction noises went on and on and on for weeks and then even months. People who live with noise pollution in general, may feel irritable, on edge, frustrated, or even angry.
[00:13:15] I mean, again, I felt that way for sure. And if you feel like you can’t control the amount of noise in your environment, it’s impact on your mental health only intensifies. Right. Which brings me back to that original story. I couldn’t control the construction noise. I mean, I couldn’t, I couldn’t just like make them stop right. That wasn’t gonna happen. So it was very frustrating to say the least I was completely out of control. My brain thought okay, well, we’re not in control. We must be unsafe. And I was just in, just spinning in this loop of mental stress and anxiety.
[00:13:54] I looked online for noise insulating materials for the walls. I tried heavier curtains to block out the noise. I got a white noise machine, cause I thought, well, maybe this noise would round out the other noise. But nothing worked. And so again, having felt like I had no control over these loud, annoying sounds left me incredibly anxious and incredibly on edge. And it came out in my life in the worst kinds of way, like, I was not a good person to be around, but it doesn’t just stop with you feeling irrigate.
[00:14:27] Numerous studies have linked noise pollution to increased anxiety, depression, high blood pressure, higher heart rates, heart disease, and stroke. Even small increases and unwanted ambient sounds have significant effects. So in 2011, for example, scientists studying people living near seven major European airports found that a 10 decibel increase in aircraft noise was associated with a 28% increase in anxiety medication. That is insane. Like this is all because of noise, right? So this is why I wanted to talk about this today.
[00:15:08] Another study conducted by the environmental health perspectives found that people living in areas with more road traffic noise were 25% more likely than those living in more quiet neighborhoods to have symptoms of depression. Right. It’s wild. And similarly people exposed to noise. Pollution were found to be significantly more likely to have heart problems compared to those unaffected by noise. So again, we need to take this seriously.
[00:15:37] Thomas Münzel who is a cardiologist at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz Germany said when you experience noise in the middle of the night, you have an awakening reaction. You can close your eyes, but you cannot close your ears. So when you think about people living say in New York and New York City, for example, where, you know, it’s the city that never sleeps. That’s not necessarily a good thing. If that noise of the city is impacting you and you become the person who never sleeps.
[00:16:11] A study conducted by the world health organization in 2011, found that at least 1 million healthy years of life are lost each year in Europe alone, due to noise pollution. The authors of this study concluded that there is overwhelming evidence that exposure to environmental noise has adverse effects on the health of a population.
[00:16:32] They ranked traffic noise second among environmental threats to public health with the first being air pollution. And unfortunately, this is only going to continue to get worse. I mean, before there were cars and planes and huge cities, people didn’t really have to worry too much about noise and the sounds that they were being exposed to, right. They heard the birds, they heard the crickets, but they weren’t in this constant just generator of noise all the time.
[00:17:00] But as the population grows, the number of people living in noisy, urban areas will also increase making up an ever larger share of the population. In fact, the United nation estimates by 2030, 60% of the world will live in cities, which is up from 54% in 2016.
[00:17:22] Jared is leveraging his certified transformational nutrition certification in a different way than many coaches who become certified do. And we not only encourage that, but we love it when our students use their education in a way that inspires and motivates them to go out and impact the world in a better, healthier way.
[00:17:45] Jared Fisher: I would say I’m definitely not using it in the traditional capacity. A lot of people probably think that this program is designed for somebody who wants to work with clients one-on-one or in a small group setting. And I would say this is a great program for those who want to do that. But I would say it’s definitely not limited to those who want to work with others, one-on-one, myself being an example.
[00:18:16] So my wife and I, about a year ago, we decided to take one of the recipes that she’s been making, which is a pancake and waffle mix and turn that into a food company. It’s called Organically Food. For me, the way I’ve leveraged, that is part of the program was dedicated to nutrition aspect. Part of the program was dedicated to a psychology spirituality, but there’s also this running a business component.
[00:18:45] And although I’ve been running a business in a completely different industry for the past 16 years, I was really looking for some guidance there to help leverage nutrition and health knowledge and translate that into the business that my wife and I have launched. There’s so much of what I’ve taken from that program has been applied to what we’re doing with Organically Foods. The whole business incubator part of the CTNC program. There’s some amazing resources there.
[00:19:30] Cynthia Garcia: So this is something that we want to take seriously. Right? This is something that it’s important that we get on top of. And so then knowing this, which is great, right? Like the first step of change is awareness. And once you know, better, you can do better. So how do we do better? How can we combat excessive urban noise? What can we do?
[00:19:54] I mean, some of this goes back to our cities and our infrastructure and having them do things like. Aircraft routes, building roads and railway barriers to reduce the level of noise that reaches the nearby communities using quieter hybrid and electric cars, installing the insulation and home and offices. Like there are a lot of big picture solutions that could really go a long way in providing relief from the constant noise that surrounds us.
[00:20:22] But as you know, systems certainly aren’t perfect. And you can’t always count on someone else to look out for your health. I mean, I certainly don’t have to tell you that. So what it’s important that you do is first of all, no one, accept that. And second of all, educate yourself on what you can do. How can you deal with this in your own life? Especially if you live near an airport or in a noisy environment, or maybe even just work in a noisy environment.
[00:20:52] So, what can you do? Obviously, it would be easy to say, okay, we’ll just change jobs or move away, but that’s probably not a likely solution for you or very many others. So how do you deal with it? How do you prevent it from hurting your mental and your physical health? So the easiest way to help with noise pollution is simply turning off appliances when you aren’t using them. I mean, again, it’s so simple. If you’re not watching your TV, don’t leave it on. Turn your coffee pot maker off if it starts making noises.
[00:21:25] Turn off the sounds on your phone when you don’t need it to be on to alert you for some reason. If the washer and dryer are running in the laundry room, close the door of the laundry room. You can even turn off beeping noises on appliances like washer, dryer, dishwasher, microwave, et cetera. Like most of those all have a setting these days where you can actually turn off the beeping noise that they make when they start or when they’re finished or when they begin a new cycle. So on and so forth.
[00:21:57] You also want to be mindful of how you might be creating noise pollution in your own life without even thinking about it. If you’re driving around and you always have the radio on or music on or a podcast on first of all, think about the kind of content that you’re putting into your mind. And is that serving you in terms of making you healthy, making you well? Or is it not?
[00:22:24] You know, some of what we listen to on a regular basis, including news and media. It’s not a good thing. You know, they never talk about the great things happening in the world, because if it bleeds, it leads, right. So first of all, be aware of what you’re listening to. And second of all, still try to take breaks so that you’re not constantly bombarded with noise and you have time to free up your own thoughts. So think about that.
[00:22:52] For me, I very rarely drive with the radio on. Now it’s one thing if I’m out and I’m on a date with my husband or taking my daughter to school, we’re just having fun. Got the radio on, we’ve got some music on. We’re just having a good time. Like, that’s great. It’s fun. But I don’t do that all the time. I do it very intentionally. It’s not just a default that if I’m in the car, there is music or there is a pod. I intentionally take breaks, but again, as I said, I am sensitive to noise anyway.
[00:23:24] If I get picked up in an Uber or Lyft or car service, or what have you, especially if I’ve been traveling, I ask them to turn the radio off. And it’s funny, I noticed that oftentimes that sounds like a very strange request to them. They’re like, wait. And sometimes I’ve noticed that it makes them a little bit uncomfortable because they’re not used to not having that noise to occupy their brain. And so that’s a whole other episode on how we’re left alone with our thoughts.
[00:23:54] In fact, I talked about that in a previous episode where we talked about, you know, the importance of quiet and how that really serves you and how most of us don’t really get enough of that. So again, go back, check out that episode if that’s something that you want to dive deeper into. But just be very aware of how you’re surrounding yourself with noise on a regular basis.
[00:24:18] When I travel, I use these little earbuds that block out sound. I can still hear, it just dampens the noise so that it’s not quite as intense for me. So do you, right? Think about how often you are doing things like even using your vacuum cleaner, right? Another thing. So for example, when the gardner comes, I don’t let them use a leaf blower. I’m just not available for that kind of pollution, both noise pollution and air pollution. But again, that’s another topic, so many great topics, so many great things to still talk about, but that’s something for me I’m just not available for that. I don’t like the noise. It’s grating on my nerves. It disturbs my mental wellbeing.
[00:25:00] I just like, that’s what they make rakes for. And so, my gardener’s amazing. He’s the sweetest man. And he’s just like, I don’t, he doesn’t understand me. He thinks I’m a little weird. Not that I’m not, but he goes along with it and it’s great. We are all on the same page on that. So do what works for you, but start to really pay attention.
[00:25:18] Now, if you want to take it to the next level, go ahead and plant some trees around your home. I know it sounds crazy, but it’s true. Trees are actually great at absorbing noise. According to studies, trees can reduce surrounding noise by 5 to 10 decibels. That’s not too shabby.
[00:25:35] We asked Jared what he would say was his favorite aspect of the CTNC program, and I love his response. Let’s listen.
[00:25:48] Jared Fisher: From the curriculum to the faculty, I really feel like Cynthia has just pulled together some incredible resources to create a very comprehensive program that you can follow at your own pace. What I also really liked about the program. It’s not just focusing on nutrition. It brings in and ties in the psychology component, as well as the spirituality component.
[00:26:17] This program specifically, it’s such a comprehensive well-rounded program and it’s so well done and well put together. I would say it would be nearly impossible to go through this program and not come out with some amazing ideas and have at least a sense of direction as to what is it you want to be doing.
[00:26:43] Cynthia Garcia: But, okay, let’s say you’re doing all these things already. You’re like yeah Cynthia, I get it. I understand. But maybe you just live in a crowded area where everyone else around you is causing the noise. What do you do then for your health when it’s those environments? Well, the first thing you want to do again, is notice what you’re noticing.
[00:27:03] So a skill that we use as coaches is simply notice what you notice. So make a note of how much sound you take in on a daily. Do you work with music playing in the background? Do you shower with music or a podcast? I know they have those little speakers you can put in the shower with you now. How loud do you have the TV on at night before going to bed? Do you leave the TV on all the time? How loud is your work?
[00:27:28] Doing a mental audit of how much noise pollution you actually experience every day is going to help you find where you can cut down and how much action you need to take. So if you notice that a lot of your noise comes from just while you’re at home, for example, if you’re in a busy city, perhaps wear earplugs to bed at night, so at least when you’re sleeping your brain isn’t hearing what’s going on. It can rest and not have to be in fight flight or freeze mode. I sleep with earplugs on a regular basis, and my neighborhood is actually pretty quiet, but there’s still noises. I just hear it.
[00:28:01] The other noise might come from the person next to you. If you have a partner that snores or pets. Pets snore too. I’ve heard, heard some very loud snoring pets in my day. Or if you just have pets that love to go exploring at night, like cats are notorious for turning everything on at night and just going for it. Cats they’re wild. So use earplugs, if you deal with those types of things as well. I’d also recommend finding some sort of quiet space that you can escape to on a regular basis to help balance out all the stimulation that you’re getting when you are in your home.
[00:28:37] Now, maybe it’s a dedicated room in your house that doesn’t have a TV or any machines that make noise. Maybe it’s a library in your city. Maybe it’s a quiet coworking location. Maybe it’s a park or just being out in nature. Having an outlet definitely will help you in those times of stress and anxiety and look for heavy curtains that insulate against noise. There’s some great ones out there. We could hop on Amazon and find some great things to help cut down on that. Also putting rugs down in your home can often help to dampen noise and quiet that more.
[00:29:12] So think about noticing what you notice and then what you can do to really cut down on the noise pollution. And finally make sure that you are supporting your mental health in other ways. Right? So if you’re taking a hit with noise pollution, how are some other ways that you can strengthen your mental health, working on feelings of anxiety or stress really prioritize your mental health by doing things like journaling, talking to close family members and friends, taking time for yourself, going on walks, meditate. I mean, there’s so many things you can do for your mental health. Art therapy, like, like I like to do. But just make sure that you have that in place so that you’re getting some balance if you regularly experience noise pollution.
[00:29:57] So remember, noise pollution can easily get worse and worse, not just in the us, but in the world. And it’s really up to us to start to do something about it. Again, if you can do something on a systemic level, if you can speak to people in your cities, your towns, that is a great place to start. I know living in Los Angeles, I was in a neighborhood a few years ago, where they changed the routes of the airplanes flying into lax. And it just so happened that the planes were now going over the neighborhood that I lived in and it was constant. And so the neighbors there petitioned to have a change in the flight paths. And the city actually did that and it was a huge relief for everyone. They just now fly over this mountainous range where there aren’t any homes.
[00:30:49] And so you actually can make a difference. Your voice can make a difference. So think about from systemic standpoint, what you can do. And then of course, bring that all the way home and take that down to a personal level for what you can do. Because again, this really does affect your physical health, your mental health, and it’s often overlooked.
[00:31:09] We are hearing from Jared one last time as he shares his epiphanes not only from his journey, of reclaiming both his and his family’s health, but also from his personal journey of becoming a certified transformational nutrition coach with ITN.
[00:31:30] Jared Fisher: The realization that I’ve come to, at least for myself, is that health above anything else is my greatest asset. I really truly believe it’s the foundation for happiness, for fulfillment, for a better life. I feel like good health just makes everything else in life better. You talk to somebody that doesn’t have their health and what is it that they want more than anything? They just want to be healthy.
[00:31:57] With good health, I’m able to be a better father, a better husband, a better leader. It’s made such a big difference in my life. I’m so passionate about sharing that with other people, because I see so many people struggling and not knowing what to do, not knowing where to turn. My name is Jared Fisher. I live in orange county, California. I’ve been married for 13 years. I have a son Jackson a daughter Jaycee. And being involved in the health and wellness space I would say that’s really become like the centerpiece or the focal point of my life as of about eight years ago.
[00:32:44] Cynthia Garcia: Alright, if you want more resources and you want to interact with people who were also on the same journey of discovering what feeds them, shutting out noise and focusing on what matters, then I invite you over to our Facebook community. We have a great group. You can find us just by searching on transformation generation on Facebook and join us.
[00:33:06] Again, there’s some amazing conversations, some great tools, some great resources. You can also see all of the other show notes and resources for this episode. over transformationalnutrition.com/episode010. So episode 0 1 0, and while you’re at it, listen while you’re taking action, please rate the podcast and leave us a review.
[00:33:28] And then also make sure you follow or subscribe so we can get more people this great information that will help them live healthier, stronger, better, longer lives. Alright, that’s what I have for you today. Please take action on reducing noise pollution. You can see why it’s extremely important that you do.
[00:33:45] So I’ll see you in our Facebook group. Let us know if you have ideas for upcoming episodes and speaking about coming episodes. I will see you right back here for another exciting episode that will help you feed yourself physically, mentally, and spiritually.
