Have you ever seen a molded gourd — a squash or pumpkin grown into the shape of a person’s face or an animal? Many plant fruits can be shaped as they grow simply by encasing them in a mold, then letting them grow into the space inside. The fruit fills every little nook of the mold, resulting in the desired shape.
We call an athlete’s body “sculpted”. Specific exercise produces certain desired muscle development, reshaping the body. You are shaping your body —both inside and out — whether you exercise or not, whether you change your diet or not: your body is constantly adjusting to whatever environment you present to it. Some of us are shaping in desirable ways, others of us are not. A gourd grows within the environmental confines that it has, and so does your body. It is constantly adapting, right down to the cellular level. It is like water flowing in a river: it just keeps flowing whether you want it to or not.
There are plenty of negative forces in your environment that shape your body in undesirable ways. If you do nothing, you are probably going backwards.
The Interstitial Matrix
While we are being impacted and buffeted by our environment, we also have stability — structure that holds us together. Unlike a river that flows where gravity pulls it, cells don’t just wander around wherever they are pushed. Cells communicate with and bind to the body through proteins. The structure which they join is called the “interstitial matrix”. This structure has fiber strands in it which provide some strength to the mass of connecting cells. The matrix has a gel-like quality which allows movement of cells to some extent, as well as flow of transport molecules. Nanotubes can form through this structure allowing special transport of some material. All this is part of the cell-to-cell communication network. These are chemical modes of cellular communication.
The interstitial matrix also transmits physical stress — when one portion of the structure is impacted, the force will be partially distributed across the matrix. This means that neighboring cells experience the same stress or mechanical impact in common. We might not think of physical stress transmission as a form of communication, but if you have ever had a family member kick you under the table to change the direction of a conversation, you know that physical force can communicate. If you had a bruise from previous kicks, you know that it can be a particularly sensitive form of communication. As it turns out, cells react in very special ways to various types of physical stress. Some of these types are: pulling/tugging, pressure, shear forces, long-axis force, short-axis force, and angled force.
The surprising dynamic of cell communication via physical signals was shown in a study published in Nature Communications by researchers at the University of Illinois. They were able to manipulate a microscopic magnetic bead to apply force on a cell’s surface in any direction. They found that moving the bead across the short axis of the cell caused the greatest response. When they applied shear stress — the same type of stress created by blood flow and the same type of stretching caused by blood pressure — the responses were immediate.
Why does this matter? The interstitial fibers cause stress to be transferred to cells more strongly in certain directions. Some stress can actually stretch the chromosomes and deform them. This causes reactions which can be significant and immediate. “Epigenetics”, which is the ability of the genetic code to rearrange its segments which then control its instructions, is influenced by physical stress. Simply put: the physical force transmitted by fibers in the interstitial matrix cause changes in genetic expression without introducing new DNA. Physical environment changes cell reactions.
This isn’t a haphazard reaction of the cells to being pulled on — the cells are getting direct signals through this process. It’s not surprising that this would be hard for science to determine: who would expect that cell signaling has been intricately designed to include both chemical and directional physical modes of communication? This gives cells an amazing amount of “intelligence” and fine detail in their responses.
Exercise and environmental forces
Since forces exerted on the cells cause changes in genetic expression, consider the implications of what exercise does to all cells, including those not being directly exercised. Already we see that blood flow and blood pressure elicit cell reactions. The forces on cells from waves of impacts taken during physical activity should cause epigenetic reactions to all body cells which are suddenly being pulled and stretched.
How about external forces, such as those caused by electromagnetic waves hitting the body? Where these cause physical stress throughout the body, we can expect the cells to react in some way. Small amounts of iron can translate electromagnetic waves into physical waves. Some waveforms, such as ultrasound, cause heat to develop in affected areas. High energy waves, which we are increasingly absorbing as technology advances, should have some impact on our cells and how they express their genetics. Do you really need to hold a cell phone against your ear during a call? Something to think about…
Mind communication
We know that the brain communicates with the body with electrical signals through the central nervous system. What we are realizing is that the brain also affects epigenetic expression in cells through physical means. Not directly — the direct signals are chemical and electrical via the nervous system. But indirectly the brain exerts stress on cells through blood pressure, heightened activity of neighboring cells, muscle contraction, immune system reaction and inflammation, and probably other ways we haven’t figured out yet. These forces then affect how cells react to their environment through epigenetic changes. These reactions can then impact how those cells communicate with other cells — a chain reaction that can affect the entire body.
We know from experience that the mental state impacts the health of the body. When science wasn’t finding any mechanisms by which that could happen, we tended to discount that the mind has such an influence. But the more we learn, the more we see the intricacies of communication throughout the body. The mind isn’t just centered in the brain — some aspects of the mind go throughout the body. “If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad.” Is there some wisdom here that could apply to our health?
A review of multiple studies, published in World Psychiatry, finds that the mortality rates of people with certain severe mental illnesses (schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depression) is between two to three times higher than that of the general population. In less extreme cases, the impact on health is harder to measure, but there are many studies showing that a positive mental attitude increases average lifespan and health. Subconscious thoughts certainly impact health and longevity as well, but again, these are hard to measure in a study. Discovering the multiple aspects of cell communication gives credence to the anecdotal evidence that our health, right down to the way cells express their genetic programming, is affected by our minds.
Cell communication through physical means is yet another aspect of our highly tuned, amazing design. You are being affected in ways you probably never realized. Knowing that, it’s time to take control.
Dr. Nemec’s Comments:
The amazing interstitial matrix: it is a communication network in which all the cells of the body can communicate instantly. Each cell has receptor proteins in the cell membrane that are connected to the matrix via laminin type proteins. These act almost as antennas to receive and send communication messages, whether they be physical, chemical, or — most important and fastest — mental stressors that are communicated to each cell in the body at nearly the speed of light. What you think (consciously or even subconsciously) is affecting all 50 trillion cells in your body instantly. So how can you heal or remain healthy when you eat poorly, get little exercise, don’t sleep enough and have conscious and subconscious stress program playing 24 hours every day? I cannot tell you how many patients we have seen over the last 36 years that were shocked they were diagnosed with cancer because they took care of themselves, ate well, exercised, and were not stressed (not consciously, not that they were aware of). When we do the brain mapping for subconscious stress programs they always show imbalance, and when they are resolved they can now heal. People come from around the world for our unique brain mapping and heart brain entrainment therapy to balance and release these stress programs. Remember every cell in your body is listening to you.
If you need help in your health journey here are ways we can assist you:
- Outpatient Comprehensive Teaching and Treatment Program-has the most benefit of teaching, treatment, live classes and personalized coaching. This program has the most contact with Dr. Nemec with 3- 6 month programs that can be turned into a regular checking and support program for life. This is our core program that has helped so many restore their health and maintain that restoration for years.
- Inpatient Comprehensive Teaching and Treatment Program-is our four-week intensive inpatient program for those that are not in driving distance, usually over 4 hour drive. This is the program that is an intensive jumpstart with treatment, teaching, live classes and coaching designed for all our international patients along with those in the US that do not live in Illinois. This program is very effective especially when combined with our new membership program support.
- Stay at Home Program-is offered to continental US patients who cannot come to Total Health Institute but still want a more personal, customized plan to restore their health. This program also includes our Learn Membership Program.
- Membership Program is our newest program offered for those that want to work on their health at a high level and want access to the teaching at Total Health Institute along with the Forums: both Dr. Nemec’s posts and other members posting. And also, to have the chance to get personalized questions answered on the conference calls which are all archived in case you miss the call. The Membership Program has 3 levels to choose from: Learn, Overcome and Master. The difference is at the Overcome and Master levels you received one on one calls with Dr. Nemec personalizing your program for your areas of focus.
