{"id":2309,"date":"2020-02-15T17:41:53","date_gmt":"2020-02-15T17:41:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/donovancarper.com\/?p=2309"},"modified":"2020-10-25T04:47:42","modified_gmt":"2020-10-25T13:47:42","slug":"what-on-earth-is-earthing-grounding-claims-evidence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.donovancarper.com\/index.php\/2020\/02\/15\/what-on-earth-is-earthing-grounding-claims-evidence\/","title":{"rendered":"Can “Earthing” (Grounding) Really Benefit Your Health? Current Research"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The earth\u2019s surface has a subtle electrical charge. Is it possible this charge interacts with lifeforms at a physiological level? What does current research say? (Image credit: Pixabay<\/a> at Pexels)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What on earth is \u201cearthing\u201d or \u201cgrounding\u201d? The subject keeps popping up in podcasts, books, and even in the medical literature. Does having physical contact with the earth\u2019s electron field actually provide health benefits\u2013benefits that hold up under close scientific scrutiny? Is \u201cearthing\u201d a scam or is there actually something to it? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I first heard about earthing in the podcast series \u201cThe Model Health Show<\/a>\u201d hosted by Shawn Stephenson. During my struggle with insomnia<\/a>, I came across the concept again in Stephenson\u2019s book \u201d Sleep Smarter: 21 Essential Strategies to Sleep Your Way to a Better Body, Better Health, and Bigger Success.\u201d Online, I found this article on Healthline.com<\/a>, in which preliminary research appeared valid and favorable. Finally, an episode in the \u201cBen Greenfield Podcast<\/a>\u201d series convinced me at last to try it out myself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is \u201cearthing?\u201d: Contact with the earth\u2019s electrically charged surface <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Earthing (or grounding the body) describes what happens when our electrically conductive bodies come into direct contact with the earth\u2019s ever present electron field (Menigoz, Latz, Ely, Kamei, Melvin, & Sinatra, 2019). Earthing is actually our natural state. Our skin and bodies are conductive, as is true of all organisms (Ober, Sinatra, & Zucker, 2014). When we swim, walk barefoot or in worn leather-soled shoes on the earth\u2019s surface, handle live plants growing out of the dirt, sit on porous (moisture containing) rocks, sit or lay on the ground (or on animal skins\u2013a practice of our ancestors), we are naturally in touch with the earth\u2019s electrical field<\/strong> (Chevalier, Sinatra, Oschman, Sokal, & Sokal, 2012; Education Services Australia, 2016; Menigoz et al., 2019; Ober et al., 2014). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is only in modern times that humans have managed to separate ourselves (with little thought or intention) from the earth\u2019s surface electrons. Wearing rubber and plastic soled shoes, foam mattresses, and use of synthetics in building materials have led to separation of the human body from the earth\u2019s conductive surface<\/strong> (Chevalier et al., 2012) . <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Direct contact with the earth\u2019s electrical field used to be a normal part of life, only changing in recent times (Image credit: Alicia Zinn<\/a> at Pexels)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s well known in the scientific field along with various industrial fields that the earth maintains a subtle, negatively-charged field of surface electrons (Chevalier et al., 2012). The earth acts as a massive stabilizer for various electronic charges and signals\u2013this is why all your electrical sockets have that third prong (Crow, 2018). It is also why all major electrical entities from telephone poles to houses are grounded to the earth\u2013to help provide electrical stability by allowing rogue electrical energy to be conducted into the earth as opposed to into a person (Brian, Harris, & Lamb, n.d.). The earth\u2019s electron field is continuously replenished through means of solar energy and atmospheric conditions, and its charge in any given location varies subtly throughout the day based on the intensity of sunlight and other atmospheric conditions (Ober, et al., 2014). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our electrical bodies interact with the earth\u2019s electrical field according to research<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As noted in an article posted by the University of Maryland, our bodies are also electrically active entities (Plante, 2016). Electrolytes such as calcium, magnesium, sodium and potassium are used within the human body to create electrical currents inside and outside our cells. These currents are in turn used to generate electrical impulses necessary for life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heart beats, nerve cell communication, cellular metabolism, our very thoughts\u2013all these things (plus many more) are dependent on electrical currents within the body (Plante, 2016). In fact, ALL LIFE is dependent on manipulation of electrons\u2013such provides the energy that makes life possible!!!!!! <\/strong>(Powell, 2015). Interestingly, research also has confirmed that our bodies exchange electrical currents with the earth\u2019s surface when we are grounded (such as by directly contacting the earth\u2019s surface with our skin, or through a conductive surface such as leather soles, water, moist surfaces, grounding mats, or other conductive mediums) (Chamberlin, Smith, Chirgwin, Appasani, & Rioux, 2014). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So research demonstrates that our bodies when grounded interact with the earth\u2019s surface electrically speaking, but what impact if any does this interaction (or lack of) have on our health?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Research confirms our bodies interact electrically with the earth\u2019s surface when in direct contact\u2013but what health effects does this interaction have if any? (Image credit: Daniel Watson<\/a> at Pexels)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Earthing: Health claims<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Proponents of earthing as a means of health improvement state that the electrical exchange from the earth to the body and back helps to stabilize bio-electrical activities within the body (Ober et al., 2014). They state this electrical stabilization leads to improvements in a number of health-related physiological aspects. Health claims regarding the effects of direct contact between the human body and the earth\u2019s electrical field include the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n