Have you ever wondered why street urchins and madmen walk barefooted yet never (or rarely) get sick?
I’ve asked myself this question before, pondering how children of the streets and madmen walk barefooted and eat from the gutters, yet still stand strong. I once ate food from the previous night that was covered in aluminum foil. The next morning, I was rushing to the hospital in the throes of frailty and a bad diarrhoea that left my eyes listless, and my body dehydrated. What, then, staves off sicknesses, keeping children of the streets and madmen safe?
The role of negative ions
While I never found answers to the questions plaguing me, Dr. Maina Ernest says he has answers. He is a Natural Medical Therapist with decades of experience in helping his patients not only use natural medicine to treat their diseases, but also sustain their health by themselves. At age 63, he is very energetic and as fit as a fiddle, you’ll be excused for thinking he’s in his 40s.
“It can be explained by negative ions, or what science also calls electrons,” Dr. Maina told me on a WhatsApp call, speaking on why people who walk barefooted aren’t prone to diseases.
I asked him to explain further in simple terms so that you and I can understand.
“Free radicals in the body cause diseases. And where do these free radicals come from? They come from the air we breathe, water we drink, and also as a byproduct of the body’s metabolism system. Negative ions neutralise free radicals. We get negative ions from vegetables and fruits, but do you know what the biggest source of negative ions is? The Earth. Natural grass and the soil. That’s why I recommend walking barefooted whenever you can.”
My weird boss
The moment Dr. Maina told me this, my mind hit rewind and ran me back to this boss I once worked for. Office scuttlebutt had it that he had weird tendencies in the name of keeping healthy. And then on one cold June morning when I got to the office two hours earlier, I saw for myself what my colleagues had been on about. We worked from one of these residential spaces converted into offices.
My boss was walking barefooted on a neatly manicured lawn, letting the bare pads of his feet press onto the freshly-green dew-touched grass. Apart from that, I was told, he also used to eat natural foods and lock himself for two minutes in a freezer. The freezer practice is known as Cryotherapy (Cold therapy) and has been praised for rejuvenating body cells. Famous sportsmen and women, including footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, have been on record saying they undergo the practice or they have invested in a Cryochamber.
Getty Images; Footballer Frank Ribery undergoing Cryotherapy in 2012
So, taking into account Dr. Maina’s revelation, my boss’s practice, and the many yoga gurus we’ve seen write and preach about walking barefooted, there must be a connection to better health.
A creative invention — An antioxidant card
“It is risky when your body doesn’t have enough negative ions to match free radicals,” Dr. Maina explained further. “When your body is overwhelmed by free radicals, it extracts negative ions from your tissues (body tissues have negative ions). Taking them from your tissues destroys the tissues, causing diseases.”
But then, how many of us are blessed enough to have clean manicured lawns or backyards with fresh earthy smell to walk on barefoot? Your guess is as good as mine, very few. Do we, then, walk on the streets barefoot risking being labelled mentally retarded? Dr. Maina, who much to my surprise is also tech-savvy and tech-educated, has a solution.
He has invented an antioxidant card about the size of a palm, which you place on your pillow when sleeping. It supplies you with a generous amount of negative ions.
“Instead of walking barefooted, considering most grounds are contaminated and might cause you other diseases, an antioxidant card I invented supplies you with negative ions. You just place it on your pillow when sleeping, and what’s more, you’ll sleep like a child.”
Among his other inventions, Dr. Maina also has a water-softening system and a sticker you put on your smartphone and electrical systems to reduce radiations which cause Cancer. All these and many more have been explained in his book How To Avoid Cancer And Other Diseases From Modern Technology Radiations, a book he took four years to write. It is our (Positively African Book Club) book of the month, and that makes Dr. Maina our author of the month of September.
Dr. Maina Ernest’s background
Dr. Maina Ernest went to the University of Nairobi where he trained to be a veterinary doctor. He graduated in 1986 and worked for 7 years before quitting his job in 1993 to embark on research aimed at discovering, in its entire gamut, how natural medicine works. In 1997, he begun natural medicine treatment and that has been his path of passion ever since, treating and helping numerous patients.
“I sell health packages. My packages are unique because they are more than just medicine; I include guidelines that can help you sustain your health. They are simple follow-on-your-own lifestyle guidelines, because I want you to be in control as opposed to remaining my slave. I call it ‘complex problems solved by simple solutions’. I mostly deal with families, because if your spouse or children are sick, you are also sick.”
In 2014, Dr. Maina’s curiosity got stoked by something else. Modern technology. While we are happy about the technological strides we have made over the years, how do the new technologies affect our health, including pre-disposing us to Cancer?
He launched once again into research, this time on the radiations emitted by smartphones, electrical systems and wireless technologies. More than just uncovering how their radiations pose a threat (and make good on their threat) on our health, he also researched solutions to reduce these radiations, keeping diseases like Cancer away. Dr. Maina selflessly presents his research and life’s work in his self-published book which he begun writing in 2017.
Now, let’s whet your appetite
I’ll give you an appetising taster of the content in his book, and then invite you for the full course meal during our book club session.
Dr. Maina writes about a sticker he invented, which you stick on your electric system main switch. It reduces radiations and emits negative ions. He explained to me, “A thing you will notice when you use the sticker in your house is a dusty home. This is because negative ions bind and bring down anything floating in the air. That means the air remains clean and fresh — if you had allergies, you will notice the symptoms dwindle down. Even the humming of your fridge stops and your electricity bill goes down, because when you reduce radiations, resistance in current flow also reduces. Even better, you protect yourself from radiations that cause Cancer.”
Dr. Maina also explained that most of the time when we experience fatigue, headaches, lack of sleep and bloated stomachs, we brush it off as normal. We treat the symptoms and move on without realising that our bodies are sending a message that something is not okay.
"Once you use my sticker on your phone or on your electricity system main switch to reduce radiations, you will notice that you sleep better, you are rejuvenated, and you don't experience constant headaches. The secret has always been in simple solutions; simple lifestyle changes."
Over to you
My take-home points from Dr. Maina were:
- Drink soft water, it’s a source of negative ions which promote your health by neutralising free radicals.
- Whenever you can, walk barefooted on natural grass and Earth soil — Earth is a source of negative ions. (Aaand, read books like the one he has written, and do so while barefooted. If you have more shoes than books, you’re not going anywhere). OK, that bracketed part is my own advice.
- Eat fruits and vegetables, they help your body not only fight diseases but also prepare for war before the diseases come.
There’s more advice from where the above came from. Pick Dr. Maina’s book, and show up for our book club session on the last Wednesday of this month (September). Over to you.
Also Read: 5 Aspects of Holistic Health We Must Nurture
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The Positively African Book Club will be discussing How To Avoid Cancer And Other Diseases From Modern Technology Radiations, on the 28th of September, 2022, at The Chat Room, Kilimani.
Copies of the book are available for purchase at All African Bookshop, our partners. They are located at Hazina Towers, Nairobi, Ground Floor, Suite 2A. For inquiries or deliveries, reach them via 0748055879.
Copies will also be available for sale at the book club. To book your slot for the upcoming session, contact: 0743-235997 or 0748-055879.
