Earthing: The Simplest Health Booster Available
All animals, including humans, evolved to contact the Earth. We mostly walked barefoot or with footwear made of animal skins and slept on the ground, sometimes wrapped in skins. Humans routinely do not touch the Earth anymore due to shoes with synthetic soles, modern homes, and beds. Insulating ourselves from contact with the Earth has had negative health consequences that few are aware of, including health care providers. Have you ever noticed that you feel better after a barefoot day at the pool or beach? It isn't just the sun and fresh air that is responsible. The contact with the Earth is too. This post will cover the numerous health benefits of routinely contacting the Earth's surface, a practice called Earthing or grounding.
Adolf Just wrote a book about the power of the Earth for healing. Then in the 1920s, a doctor noticed improved sleep with patients sleeping on the ground or grounded to the Earth with copper wires. In the 1990s, Clint Ober, a former cable TV worker who knew grounding benefitted TV reception, experimented with grounding his bed. He had improved sleep and less pain. He inspired numerous research endeavors into grounding that have become the backbone of our modern understanding. Ober observed that going barefoot for as little as 30 or 40 minutes daily can significantly reduce pain and stress. 1
The Electronic Earth
The Earth contains an endless supply of electrons. It causes the Earth to have a negative charge perpetuated by the global atmospheric electrical circuit replenished by lightning strikes. Without Earth contact, bodily charge distribution will not be uniform but subject to various electrical disruptions. When we contact the Earth, or ground to it, electrons are conducted into our bodies, equilibrating the electrical state of every part of our bodies. Even in the presence of dirty electrical fields, also called EMF, experiments exposing subjects to 60Hz fields proved that grounding prevented the fields from producing a potentially harmful electrical potential. 2
Electrons and Reactive Oxygen Species
Reactive Oxygen Species, or ROS, are those ruinous compounds that damage our bodies. They are also known as free radicals. Antioxidants neutralize them. Electrons make perfect antioxidants. When they flow freely through us, they quickly neutralize reactive oxygen species involved in the body's immune and inflammatory responses.
Collagen the Conductor
The human body has a collagenous, liquid–crystalline semiconductor network known as the living matrix. The living matrix includes the extracellular and connective tissue and the cytoskeletons of all cells. Integrins at cell surfaces are thought to allow for the semi-conduction of electrons to the cell interior, and links across the nuclear envelope enable the nuclear matrix and genetic material to be part of the circuitry. 3 Protein semiconductors are predicted to lead to new types of computer screens, cell phones, tablets, biosensors, and microprocessor chips. 4
Grounding Calms
Twenty-eight subjects were subject to grounding and sham grounding. When subjects were measured during grounding, rapid activation of the parasympathetic nervous system and the corresponding deactivation of the sympathetic nervous system occurred. The sympathetic nervous system is activated in the fight-or-flight reaction, and the parasympathetic nervous system calms. Another experiment demonstrated that grounding increases heart rate variability (HRV), a well-known indicator of the balance between the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems. Tamping down the sympathetic and ramping up the parasympathetic nervous system results in calmness.
Grounding and Osteoporosis
In another experiment on grounding, the excretion of both calcium and phosphorus was reduced significantly. Significant changes in concentrations of minerals and electrolytes in the blood serum: iron, ionized calcium, inorganic phosphorus, sodium, potassium, and magnesium were also noted. These changes indicate that grounding could significantly reduce or eliminate the effects of osteoporosis. 5
Grounding and Blood
Red blood cells have a zeta potential related to their negative charges. The higher the negative charge, the more they repel each other, which is good. We don't want the clumping of red blood cells, which leads to clotting, heart attacks, and strokes. A study revealed that blood samples drawn while grounded had less red blood cell clumping and lower blood viscosity, which lowers the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Grounding and Inflammation
A barricade surrounds areas of inflammation. The barricade probably restricts the diffusion of circulating antioxidants into the repair. Luckily, electrons from grounding can diffuse across the barrier to neutralize reactive oxygen species to limit inflammation and speed healing. 6
Grounding and Energy
The mitochondria contain the electron transport chain. As the name implies, electrons travel along the chain to produce energy. A lack of electrons can also de-saturate the electron transport chains in mitochondria, leading to chronic fatigue. Therefore, grounding can supply the electrons to help with energy production. 7
How You Can Ground
Our lack of grounding may greatly contribute to numerous chronic inflammatory conditions. We can change this because grounding is very easy. We simply need to walk barefoot outside. 30 to 40 minutes is recommended. Laying down on the ground is also just as beneficial.
For cold climates or additional grounding, special products are available. Grounding patches similar to EKG patches are available for small areas of pain and inflammation. They are hooked up to a grounding source like the ground of an outlet. A step-up like a wearable sock can also be attached to the ground in your outlets. Finally, grounding mats for beds are available. Mats can also be placed on the floor at desks and workspaces. If you can’t get outside in your bare feet, I recommend the mats as the next best option.