I
wanted to do another blog about Earthing because I was so excited to
have the opportunity to get my body voltage measured, and indeed the
mats I use at my computer and sleep on have proven to work! It was very
exciting for me to discover this (not that I had a single doubt in my
mind).
A
few weeks ago I went to an Eco Living Expo in a near by city, and at
the event I had my body voltage measured. My 5 year old nephew had his
measured first, followed by my 3 year old niece, both ranging in the mid
30s. When it was my turn I rated 45 mv! I thought at first, aww that's
probably not great because the 2 before me were in the 30s, but I
clearly had no idea how it was measured. The lady replied to my sigh
with a "what do you weigh 30lbs!? that's excellent!" It wasn't until we
left the booth that it all clicked with me that what i just measured was
a result of using the grounding mat.
Below is an article by Dr. John Briffa,
he also shares his experience with Earthing. Now that the weather is
warming up, I will definitely be spending more time outside connecting
with the Earth:)
‘Earthing’ or ‘grounding’ has been getting a lot of attention of late
in certain communities, so about a week ago I decided to take a look.
Here, in summary is what I’ve learned.
What is ‘earthing’?
Earthing is the practice of connecting the body with earth by
touching skin to a conductive material such as grass (preferably wet),
wet sand, a river, lake or sea.
Why would you want to do that?
When the body loses contact with the earth it can carry a positive
voltage relative to the Earth. Some people believe this is not good for
health and wellbeing. Earthing the body returns the voltage to zero
which is, supposedly better for us.
Is there any ‘science’ to it?
Actually, yes. First of all, some theory…
During the normal processes of metabolism the body generates what are
called ‘reactive oxygen species’ which are commonly referred to as
‘free radicals’. These compounds appear to be important, at least in
part because they have the ability to attack and destroy unwanted things
within the body including bacteria and viruses. However, too many free
radicals are a bad thing, and have been implicated in chronic disease
and well as the very process of aging.
Free radicals are involved in the process known as inflammation,
which is part of the healing process. However, low-grade inflammation
throughout the body may lead to pain and other problems in the muscles
and joints, and is also believed to be a key driving factor in many
chronic diseases including heart disease and type 2 diabetes. In short,
we want free radicals, but not too many.
Free radicals lack sparks of energy known as ‘electrons’. One way to
quell them is to give them electrons, and these can be supplied by
nutrients such as vitamins A, C and E, and plant substances known as
‘polyphenols’ (found in, among other things, tea, coffee, cocoa and
apples). However, substances we eat and drink are not the only way to
get electrons into the body: earthing does this too. If the body has a
positive charge on it, earthing allows electrons to flow into the body
where, in theory, they can neutralise overblown free radical and
inflammatory damage.
Carrying a positive charge may well affect the body in lots of
different ways, which means that earthing may offer a range of wellbeing
benefits.
Any studies?
There is indeed some evidence that earthing can help people. For
example, in one study earthing was studied in 60 people suffering form
sleep disturbances and chronic muscle and joint pain for at least six
months [1]. Subjects were randomly divided for the month-long study in
which both groups slept on earthed mattresses. Half the pads were
properly earthed and the other half while the other half were “sham”
grounded (not actually earthed).
Most grounded subjects described symptomatic improvement while most
in the control group did not. Some subjects reported significant relief
from asthmatic and respiratory conditions, rheumatoid arthritis, sleep
apnea, and hypertension while sleeping grounded. Here’s a table which summarizes the results:
Other ‘blinded’ experiments have found earthing can induce
significant changes in a range of objective parameters including heart
rate, brainwave activity and skin conductance. You can access a pdf of a
review article about earthing by clicking the following link earthing review article.
My own personal experience (Dr. John Briffa)
I decided to give earthing a try.
First some background: On 3rd January this year I vaulted over a high
gate and landed on some steps the other side, twisting my right ankle
as I did this. I’ve had pain in this ankle ever since. Not enough to
stop me walking, but running has been out of the question. Rushing down
the stairs (as I like to do) has also been quite uncomfortable. I’ve
also had a pain in the top of my left foot. Not sure when this started,
but I first noticed it at least several weeks ago.
My earthing experiment started with me sitting with my bare feet on
damp grass on 14th April. I lasted 20 minutes. Later in the day I
noticed that the pain in my left foot and ankle had disappeared
completely (and they have not returned since).
Another odd thing is that for the preceding few days I had been
brewing an ingrowing toenail on my right big toe. I used to get these a
lot when I younger, but they’ve been rarer since I’ve gotten older. The
normal course for these is to get steadily worse over several days and
then I’d perform a bit of DIY surgery (don’t ask) to relieve the issue.
The morning after my first earthing escapade, I noticed that my
ingrowing toenail had utterly resolved on its own.
That day I put my bare feet on the grass again, this time for 30
minutes. And then some earthing kit that I’d ordered arrived in the post
and I’ve been using ever since (primarily an earthing mat which I put
my feet on when I work).
OK, so the near miraculous resolution of my foot and ankle troubles
could have been due to a lovely placebo response. I’m comfortable with
this, if that’s the case (though I’ll never know). But one of my
experiences I think points away from the improvement being purely
placebo: For several months now I’d also had a niggly pain in my left
elbow which is most noticeable when I wake up. While my ankle and foot
pain (and ingrowing toenail) resolved, my elbow pain did not. This does
not in any way disprove my foot/ankle improvement was not a placebo
response, but the likelihood of it being placebo is diminished by the
experience with my elbow I think.
Further reading
One of the biggest proponents of earthing is Clint Ober. He’s
co-authored a book (Earthing – the most important health discovery
ever?) which is worth a look for those who want to dig deeper and learn
more. (I have personally read it, and it's what caught my full attention last summer about getting grounded...I was so happy to have received this book free from where I bought my Earthing mats:)
References:
1. Ober C. Grounding the human body to neutralize bio- electrical
stress from static electricity and EMF. ESD Journal January 2000.
