Why it’s good to ground/earth
Grounding or earthing, as it is also known, is a practice whereby we directly connect with the earth through our bare skin, usually our feet, with the earth. Earthing restores a primordial electric connection to the earth which we have lost due to our more city based and techno focus. It simply means reconnecting our conductive human body to the earths natural and subtle electric charge.
The earth right under out feet provides unique energies that directly influence our body. Earthing appears to correct what is sometimes referred to as an electron deficiency syndrome - a syndrome that is attributed to a number of different health disorders. It systemically influences the basic bioelectrical function of the body.
Through studies it has proven to reduce inflammation, pain and stress, improve sleep, blood flow and viscosity as well as an overall greater sense of wellbeing.
How to ground/earth is a simple ancient practice of sitting, walking, standing with barefeet on the earth - this may be grass, soil, sand, water or rocks and some also say concrete. It can be as simple as having a cup of tea sat on your grass each morning with bare feet and legs connecting to the ground.
For those that this is not possible for what ever reasons that may be including time and mobility; there are also a number of grounding mats, sheets and body bands that are also effective - a company called groundolgy offers a lot of these products and worth a look. I used a grounding sheet at night for a while and was unsure of the outcome. I am a great sleeper anyway which makes it difficult for me to measure this factor.
I am currently sporting an achilles issue which has not responded to localised NSAID so I am interested to see the effect of grounding specifically on this complaint. So I am mounting my own study based on this and will report my findings as I go along (so watch this space). I will monitor via my own judgement and report on the reduction of inflammation and pain, stress and sleep (including interruption due to temperature changes) and overall feelings of wellbeing.
This subject is fascinating and there is so much to read about it, especially around case studies and findings. Below are a few of the studies that I have picked out for you that were both simplified and condensed. (easy reads)
More and more studies are being completed and its great to continually explore these as they validate some of the subjective claims.
If you start this for yourself - I would love to hear how you get on and to log albeit subjective findings. If you would like to be included in this mini trial - please get in touch.
Sleep and Stress
When grounded, the diurnal rhythm of the stress hormone, cortisol, begins to normalise. Cortisol is connected to your body’s stress response and when this balances it helps to manage and regulate our blood sugar levels, metabolism, inflammation levels , and also assists with memory function.
The results below are of the effects of being grounded while sleeping over the course of eight weeks. It included 12 subjects 6 men and 6 women.
11/12 fell asleep faster
5/6 women less MNS / hot flushes
9/12 more refreshed, more energy
9/12 less emotional stress, less anxiety, depression and less irritability.
Improved Circulation
When you are grounded, your circulation improves, aiding in the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to the tissues in your body. There are many reports around this and showing how it can help blood viscosity Read more :https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22757749/
Sleep and Chronic Pain
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3265077/
In a blinded pilot study, Ober recruited 60 subjects (22 males and 28 females) who suffered from self-described sleep disturbances and chronic muscle and joint pain for at least six months . Subjects were randomly divided for the month-long study in which both groups slept on conductive carbon fiber mattress pads provided by Ober. Half the pads were connected to a dedicated Earth ground outside each subject's bedroom window, while the other half were “sham” grounded—not connected to the Earth. Results are presented in the table below.
Table 1
Subjective sleep, pain, and well-being feedback.
Categories Test subjects Control subjects
Same Improved Same Improved
Time to fall asleep 4 = 15% 23 = 85% 20 = 87% 3 = 13%
Quality of sleep 2 = 7% 25 = 93% 20 = 87% 3 = 13%
Wake feeling rested 0 = 0% 27 = 100% 20 = 87% 3 = 13%
Muscles stiffness and pain 5 = 18% 22 = 82% 23 = 100% 0 = 0%
Chronic back and/or joint pain 7 = 26% 20 = 74% 23 = 100% 0 = 0%
General well-being 6 = 22% 21 = 78% 20 = 87% 3 = 13%
Further suggested reading
This report details results around the accelerated healing process of wounds of an ulcer ( diabetic elderly women) after just one week, Another shows the healing process using grounding patches above and below a wound and one of the reduction in pain from an old injury.
The effects of grounding (earthing) on inflammation, the immune response, wound healing, and prevention and treatment of chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.
Oschman JL, Chevalier G, Brown R.J Inflamm Res. 2015 Mar 24;8:83-96. doi: 10.2147/JIR.S69656.