Earthing: Another Reason to Go Barefoot?
I’ve written before about the benefits of going barefoot. Anatomically speaking, it’s the best thing you can do for your feet. Lately, however, I’ve been wading through a theory that suggests we have more to gain from ditching footwear than a more natural gait. In a book called Earthing, authors Clinton Ober, Martin Zucker and Dr. Stephen T. Sinatra put forth a bold proposal that body-to-earth contact has the power to directly impact our health. At the heart of their theory is a central physics-based relationship. Since the advent of shoes, houses, flooring, and elevated beds, we’ve lost our contact with the earth and its inherent electrical field. In discarding (or minimizing) this physical connection, we’re forgoing natural healing benefits that previously played a significant role in our physiological functioning. The body, when grounded in the earth, returns to its natural electrical homeostasis as part of the living electrical matrix. It’s an intriguing theory with, as yet, little attention. Is attention warranted though? Is it really the “most important health discovery ever,” as the authors suggest?
Chronic inflammation, that bane of modern existence, is set and kept in motion by free radicals, the well-meaning soldiers in an immune function run amok. (The body, of course, is responding the only way it knows how faced with the novel conditions of chronic stress, pollution, obesity, and other modern instigators. Anyone want a review?) As the authors explain, free radicals are inherently positively charged. They’re on the hunt for an additional electron, and they’ll scavenge whatever they come across to get it – usually (and hopefully) alien bacteria/virus invaders, which their ravaging disable. In the case of chronic physical/mental stress and its immune dysfunction, they target the only thing around, which is healthy tissue. Antioxidants, of course, serve the same role as these supposed free electrons. They offer up electrons to functionally neutralize free radicals and keep inflammation in check. Earthing (also called grounding) in this way acts as a “vitamin G” for our proposed “electron deficiency.”
Although I get the free radical part, the explanation of how this exchange gets set in motion feels scant. The book in numerous places includes reference to the “negatively charged” earth and its ample supply of free electrons. As a result of this negative charge, the ground itself is presumably the best source for these free electrons. When we’re “grounded” in the earth (e.g. barefoot/bare skin contact on unbuffered earth/conductive natural material or in barefoot/bare skin contact with a mechanically grounded device like a conductive pad or bed sheet), our bodies – as natural circuits – naturally absorb the earth’s plentiful free electrons and use them to feed the out of control free radicals. As the authors explain, “our conductive bodies naturally equalize with the earth.”
Call me picky, but I wish the authors spent more time filling in and substantiating these physics related claims. In some cases, there appear to be a number of convenient simplifications to the argument. Although the book makes it sound like the earth is a big ball of striking negative charge, the actual charge of the earth’s surface, for example, isn’t substantially “negative.” It instead hovers remarkably close to neutral and actually fluctuates in a dynamic relationship with the earth’s atmosphere. Generally, yes, it tends to hold a very slightly negative charge and the atmosphere a positive charge. (This relationship exists in a kind of continual exchange, with thunderstorms offering a dramatic shift and exchange of relative charge.) They comment that the physics part of the theory is “common sense,” but I’ll admit I’m not fully sold on the intuitiveness yet. Of course, I’m only a layperson here. Any physics experts out there care to chime in?
Furthermore, the authors assign seemingly random values to things like the voltage difference between a person’s head and feet. The value is likely a product of some probability distribution but has no merit as an absolute value, although this is never mentioned. (Even with a particular height, the actual voltage difference depends on a number of factors like humidity levels, wind velocity, etc.) They claim a specific voltage is inherent to living on a particular floor in an apartment building, and so on. Again, these might seem like minor points, but simplifications bother me, particularly when the persons giving them don’t acknowledge them as such.
But then there’s the biology. The book cites a variety of patient observations and clinical studies. A large part of the book contains anecdotal descriptions of people helped by earthing, which (while intriguing) can’t be counted as objective support. Thermography images (PDF) of patients’ with a variety of ailments and injuries show – after a half an hour of grounding (with no other intervention) – surprising reductions in inflammation where other medications and therapies have had little impact. Microscopic images comparing blood samples after less than an hour of grounding in several subjects suggest a dramatic improvement in viscosity.
One double-blind, controlled clinical trial demonstrated earthing’s impact on a number of biomarkers. Subjects who slept grounded showed statistically significant decreases in serum sodium, potassium, magnesium, iron, total protein, albumin concentrations, inorganic phosporus. Free T4 and TSH increased while free T3 decreased. (PDF) In another study, participants were given exercises that induced muscular pain. Those who were grounded showed altered immune activity and reported lesser pain levels than those who were ungrounded. (PDF)
Another controlled study suggested that sleeping grounded can impact cortisol levels and sleep quality. Subjects who slept grounded with conductive mattress pads showed lower night-time cortisol levels as well as an overall “resynchronization” of cortisol secretion “more in alignment with the natural 24-hour circadian rhythm profile.” (PDF) Subjects who were grounded during sleep also reported better sleep and less physical pain and emotional stress. You can check out links to other earthing related studies here.
Clearly, something is happening here. The results are pretty suggestive of some significant phenomenon. As for my part, I’m hopeful but still cautious about the authors’ general theory and the compelling (albeit modest) collection of research that supports earthing’s impact. The concept admittedly appeals to the evolutionary bent in me, but I’m always on the lookout for the snags of naturalistic fallacy.
When I first heard of the concept, I was on the verge of dismissing it out of hand, but a friend convinced me to read the book. I thought it was going to be another artfully construed, new agey round of BS. I finished the book a little disappointed at the vague physics summary and a few infomercial style sections but nonetheless intrigued by the concept and some of the study results.
The research and scholarly discussion on earthing isn’t overwhelming. The vast majority of studies aren’t substantial in size, and few bear the gold standard of randomized, controlled, and double-blind methodology. The inclusion of so many personal stories – with their apparent suggestion that earthing has conferred benefit to virtually every ailment and injury known to humankind (and don’t forget the section on pets!) doesn’t do the authors’ argument any favors. (And I still can’t let go of the thin, unsubstantiated physics explanation.)
Nonetheless, I’ve been spending even more time outside barefoot. I’ve taken to sitting on the beach or grass more often while reading or talking with my kids. I look for the grass, gravel, dirt, sand, or concrete the authors suggest for conductivity.
As of yet, I haven’t picked up any of the equipment, but I’m not ruling it out. I’ll admit part of me is curious. I don’t have any truly chronic pain (although the knee I injured a couple of years ago does get a little irritated now and then) or disease that would offer me the chance to follow any dramatic observations. The most I could hope for is a more restful night’s sleep and (barring a battery of blood tests, thermography and other images) the benefit of unseen stabilization of my body’s electrical state. Hmmmm…
We’ll see what the coming months bring. For now, it’s one more excuse to go barefoot and enjoy being outside with the sand or grass between my toes. Seriously, who doesn’t love that? It’s all the justification I need really.
Anyone out there familiar with the earthing concept? If you’ve read the book or tried the practices/products suggested by the Earthing authors, I’d be interested in hearing your take. Thanks for reading today, everyone. I’ll look forward to enjoying your thoughts. Have a great week.
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Posted By: Mark Sisson
I was just trying to force myself to finish reading the book. I think everything could have been said in 25-30 pages. It comes across as a long advertisement for snake oil, though I don’t see how more people walking barefooted will make the authors any money. Maybe it works?
What?! Snake oil? Wtf is that used for?
It’s a saying. Way back in the 1800s con artists would sell snake oil, bottles of mercury, cocaine, and whatever else to people by making them believe it was a cure all, when all it really was fake marketing mixed with the placebo effect.
Is snake oil negative or positively charged? If I rub it on my feet, I might get this same earthing effect…
This makes me want to grow a blue tail and plug it into a tree. . .
HAHAHHAHA
Comment of the week, say I!
I am in! Tell us how you did it, looking forward to do the same
I currently live and work outside on an organic produce farm. I go the majority of my time entirely without shoes (or shirt, for that matter) while working the fields, walking/running the 3 miles into town, hiking, anything. I can say without a doubt that I feel the best I ever have, and I’m sure that’s for a wide variety of reasons, but I’ve learned not to dismiss anything because it sounds like “woo.”
Our cultural belief that the basics of how our reality operates are fully understood by us through modern science is built on hubris. I used to epitomize that belief; studying whatever I could until all the pieces fit together like clockwork. Physics begat chemistry begat biology begat psychology etc. Everything a logical, purely physical fluctuating whole.
Of course, this point of view required me to ignore a good bit of cognitive dissonance (y’know, that stuff we attribute to the food-pyramid brigade). There’s so much to our subjective experiences of reality that our present model of science either hasn’t caught up with or is incapable of encompassing.
My experience (coming from a scientifically trained background) leaves no doubt that there is a reality behind things like energy meridians in the body and the earth, or a mood-altering affect to be experience with ionized water (perhaps not dissimilar to the effect observed here). But the most important thing I’ve learned from such experiences is to develop some humility about the limits of what can be/is understood by western science (or any paradigm of knowledge, for that matter).
There is plenty of “woo” out there that is absolutely worthy of a curt dismissal. So is plenty of the currently accepted scientific “wisdom.” There’s value in taking an even-handed, open but critical approach to both. Outright dismissal will get us nowhere.
I don’t think anyone here is outright dismissing the effects received from touching the earth or whatnot. We’re all just very skeptical about the “science”.
Science is a framework for discovering things about reality. Sometimes we don’t have the techniques to look at something yet–our telescopes and microscopes today are a lot better than Galileo’s and Van Leeuwenhoek’s.
But saying that x might be true because it feels right or y could be true because there’s some sort of effect, we just can’t prove it yet, is not based in fact or reality. Even given that you show a true effect (say, going outside and walking around barefoot in the sun leads to better health and feeling good), that doesn’t mean your “cause” is the right one. Maybe it is true–it might well be–and we can’t just prove it yet, but then you should get on it if you want to peddle it.
Regardless of where science is at any given point in time, it is the responsibility of the person pushing an explanation to demonstrate that that explanation is likely true–whether that explanation be primal living, a high carb diet, earthing, ionized water or the new blockbuster cancer drug.
It is not “even handed” to look at an explanation proffered with no valid evidence behind it and act as if there are two equally valid sides; this is the same fallacy that leads to calls to teach religion alongside science in the classroom. If there is no evidence for something, then it is less valid than an alternative for which there is evidence, and less valid than the simple alternative of rejecting the explanation unless evidence can be found. It may well be true, and in time the truth will out, but until then, without evidence, it is less valid than the alternative.
Hunches and feelings have nothing to do with fact–and in fact all the people who cling to “conventional wisdom” despite mounting evidence against it demonstrate that point.
We don’t disagree on any of those points; my intent was primarily to criticize the arrogance I find in comments referencing an individual’s “BS detector” or otherwise being dismissive without any evidence whatsoever, either for or against. Dismissal motivated by hunches and feelings is no more valid than acceptance based on the same. I’m not pushing for giving both sides equal ground, just that any side that features substantial unknowns (unlike the conflict between ID and evolution) be given a chance and judgement suspended until firm evidence for or against is available. If we assume that we already know basically all that’s worth knowing and anything else is bunk, how do we expect science to make any serious advances?
I found Mark’s review and speculation quite even-handed.
I fully agree that in order to scientifically establish that some sort of “earthing” effect exists would require controlled studies isolating variables. Even if our current body of knowledge were unable to supply a correct hypothesis for a causative mechanism (the ionic interplay suggested here sounds off to me), at least the effect could be established as real or not.
Here we do run into one of the limitations of the conventional practice of science, however. Since isolating variables is essential to the process, if the effect is dependent on the interaction of multiple variables, or a variable we’re not aware exists (or isn’t acknowledged by academia), getting any sort of answer may prove difficult or impossible.
This is where hunches and feelings do prove valuable; they often nudge a perceptive individual in the right direction to explore something previously unexplored, something that previously was considered “out there” but turns out to have substance. Tesla and Darwin didn’t get where they did by slowly inching forward along the established path. They took leaps of intuition where they encountered gaps in science, and in doing so they arrived at profound and important facts that changed the way humanity interacted with the world.
So again, I’m not against critical scientific inquiry, I’m just advocating a bit of humility in the face of the unknown. Someday, hopefully, further inquiry will take it from being an unknown to either established BS or something of established significance.
“Hunches and feelings have nothing to do with fact…” – not true.
How does an animal with no conscious knowledge survive? Humans just like animals may certainly have had some profound evolutionary advantage because of their hunches and feelings – IF and only if they correspond to reality.
Otherwise, very good comment.
Spoken like true wisdom!
Nobody is dismissing this because it “sounds like woo”. Lots of things that sound insane at first blush have a perfectly sound scientific explanation. The “scientific” explanation of earthing is simply wrong. I fully believe there are benefits to walking barefoot – it just doesn’t have anything to do with free radicals jumping off you’re feet.
Humans have believed many completely wrong things because of their “subjective experience” of things (earth being flat, center of the universe and all that) – fortunately we have science to point us in the right direction when our experience misleads us, as it so often does.
Science has nothing to do with hubris. In fact it is the humblest of pursuits, as it begins with the basic assumption that you know nothing. Believing that something is true simply because you feel it to be so, on the other hand, is the height of conceit.
And again, my point was that comments claiming that any sort of “earthing” effect must be BS (some on the basis, yes, that it simply “sounded woo”) is more along the lines of “believing that something is true simply because you feel it to be so” than an objective judgment.
There is data suggesting an effect exists (and has to do with more than simply walking around barefoot). There is currently no further evidence that this effect is real or a sort of placebo (say, caused by vitamin D and stimulation of nerves in the feet). If someone more knowledgeable than I can give a good explanation of why the free-radical hypothesis is BS (I’m skeptical myself), great, but that doesn’t reflect on whether or not an effect exists. This is currently an unknown and needs to be treated as such. We can’t know yet whether it fits in the “completely wrong things” or “not previously understood” category.
Science itself is of course incapable of hubris, but that says nothing of the individuals who practice (or speculate online about) it.
the funny thing about the “woo woo” guys is that the authors of such books always try to make themselves seem accredited through refering to science while at the same time discrediting it as “too materialistic” in some implied way.
and the funny thing about scientists is that they seem to assess that the “woo woo” guys have to be wrong because of their weak methodology, weak definitions of terms like “energy” etc., and because it doesn’t seem to be translatable into scientific concepts.
This might just be superstition though.
Other possible explanations of the “woo woo” vs science polemic that one ought to keep an eye out for are of course politics and money.
Ronnie Van Zant never wore shoes on stage so he could feel the music. The Skin is the largest Organ of the body and God doesn’t want us to keep it covered all the time. Why stop with shoes? I like to run nekkid with wolves.
Peace – Barney
If you make a large wooden frame in your bedroom and fill it with soil you can sleep on earth which will make you either very grounded or a vampire.
Mark I am a 66 yr old practicing OB-GYN in Missouri. I have been gluten-free and primal for 4 years. I read the book as I have a lot of respect for Dr. Sinatra and his work. After reading the book I ordered a grounded bed sheet. My wife laughed at me. I now sleep even better and recover from my workouts so much faster it is amazing. It may be placebo, but I don’t care. I spent less on this then many of the supplements that I take daily. My wife still laughs at me for many reasons not just the grounded sheet.
Your comment was very typical. People sleeping better and recovering from workouts quicker. We have heard that from many athletes. Regarding sleep, one of the earlier Earthing studies (we describe it in the book) relates to a cortisol normalization trend seen in a small cohort as a result of ground the body during sleep. Subsequent studies show that grounding, even for short periods of time, generate a shift in the autonomic nervous system from sympathetic (stress) to parasympathetic (calming). These were all double-blinded studies. Small, but double-blinded. More research is obviously warranted. It is almost hard to know where to go next in the research because the impact of grounding the body is so, so systemic. The physiological changes are countless and often immediate. If somebody were to step up with big bucks you could put all the electrophysiologists to work for years. Cheers
Martin Zucker, co-author of the Earthing book (info@earthinginstitute.net)
I’m going on a really old memory here and I’m not sure if it directly applies as I really can’t find that much useful info around but check out a guy called Dr Otto Christoph Joseph Gerhardt Ludwig Overbeck. He had a device known as “the rejuvenator” and was around back in the late 1800′s. As far as I can remember he used it to apply electricity to the body to help heal. Let me know if you find anything useful.
I read about these things 10 years ago and stumbled across it again last year. I bought a sheet that goes on the bed and my inflamation levels went down significantly. Inflamation is telling you something! I discovered 5 weeks ago that I have a case of Lyme Disease (less than a year progressed) and think that the earthing mat may have masked some symptoms. Also masking symptoms was auto accident injuries, so it wasn’t just the earthing pad. I do try to ground via feet on earth as much as possible. Watch out for those ticks!
I first heard about this idea recently. I am a biologist, not a physicist, but my first thought was, “Ok, so say it is all about ‘grounding’ onesself in the electromagnetic sense. Well, we touch metal things all the time, every day, so while our modern lifestyles may have removed us from the physical ground, shouldn’t we get the same effect that way?”
In any event, I still think that bare feet are great physically, and I think that there is a lot to be said psychologically (and even spiritually, if you’d like) to take moments to touch the ground, feel the sensations through out feet, and center ourselves. This will affect a lot of change because of relaxation and stress reduction alone.
Absolutely. Many people have told us that they feel better simply by going out and sitting or walking barefoot in the backyard. It’s a wonderful experience.
Martin Zucker, co-author of the Earthing book
Who knows if earthing can help one heal or not due to the electrons or what not.
I believe “Earthing” can at least help indirectly. Chillingoutside on the beach or in grass in the sunlight instead of wearing shoes releases stress in most people. Its more relaxing, more real. In the summer I am rarely seen without a shirt. I love it. It feels more real.
The simple fact that all of us prefers to be barefoot deep down says something about this. It may have nothing to do with electrons and what not but it does release stress which in my opinion can help heal disease or cancer.
“but it does release stress which in my opinion can help heal disease or cancer.” – if it does or not is not a matter of opinion.
“The simple fact that all of us prefers to be barefoot deep down says something about this.” – I think this one is great, because many people have to find their way back to a good communication between mind and emotional awareness.
My parents kicked me out and recently let me move back in until I can find an apartment, with some rules to follow, one of those being that I have to go to bed at 11pm, a sleeping time that I find difficult to adhere to. As an alternative I suggested that I set up a tent outside and exit the house through the basement to sleep there once I’m tired so as not to wake anybody up when I go upstairs. They thought I was crazy! Sleeping outside? In the fresh air? Close to nature? You think it’s healthier? Whaaaat????
In a health food store the other day my mom asked a lady working there to explain to me the importance of whole grains in the diet (even though after not seeing me for a while she commented that I looked healthy, whereas before she thought I looked sickly). After the usual “they are full of nutrients” indoctrination from her I replied that I’ve been avoiding grains for about 5 months and that “I try to eat what prehistoric people probably ate and I doubt that they had fields of wheat” she was speechless at these simple common sense words coming from me, the person, if I may so, possibly with the most natural looking body and definitely the nicest tan in the store! Progress and demonstrate… that’s how we will convert the infidels
I heard the author (Sinatra I think) interviewed on talk radio, and he was pretty convincing. It may be he doesn’t understand correctly why it works, but there seems to be something there. The originator stumbled onto the technique by accident, and was intrigued because his own chronic pain seemed to disappear. He tried it on some friends and acquaintances with chronic muscle pain, and they got similar results. Hard to argue with results.
I love going barefoot, and I don’t particularly have nice feet. Too bad. It feels good and my feet are stronger for it. Now I’m trying to figure out how to do winter. Thinking heavy wool socks and minimal shoes/sandals. Used to wear my Birkenstocks like that.
Sounds like a good idea. In the last few winters I’ve worn normal socks under normal running shoes, even when on long treks through deep snow. Usually I can tolerate at least an hour of this before my feet, ankles, and lower legs start to get too numb/painful. Of course the shoes aren’t doing my feet any favours but I assume the little bit of exposure to the cold is healthy. I wonder if rubber socks exist? You could wear thick wool socks or a couple pairs of them under long rubber socks that hug your legs tightly, which would be similar to going barefoot, and probably stay warm and dry enough to be comfortable out in the snow for a long time.
I first heard about grounding having a positive health effect from a David Wolfe video (I know, I know…). He’s since made shoes called “Grounders.” I’m not thoroughly convinced on the whole thing.
Very interesting! I’m getting shoulder surgery in a couple days (my first time ever being put under) and I’ve been trying to find anything that might help with the healing and recovery. I’ve already been told by a natural-movement-fanatic friend of mine that I should work on barefoot running to keep some aspect of my training up – now there’s even more reason to give that a try!
As for the “woo-woo” part of it – as long as it could help (pretty heavy anecdotal evidence in those thermograph images) and can’t hurt, I figure, what’s the harm in trying it out? I might be slightly more inclined to try something if there were more truly scientific weight behind it, but especially as this idea appeals to me to start with, I see no reason to focus on the New-Age-y bent as a reason to steer clear.
Please check out the Earthing research and scientific commentaries. They are posted at http://www.earthinginstitute.net Keep in mind that Earthing is new and so is the research. This is a new frontier, and an exciting one at that.
Martin Zucker, co-author of the Earthing book
I don’t wish to sound negative, but I don’t intend to go charging in to any new theory unless I’m positive there is some current scientific grounding for the idea – maybe I need something a bit more down to earth?
what could be more down to earth than your feet on the ground?:)
The answer below says it all. To paraphrase an old Bob Dylan tune, the answer my friend is flowing in the ground.
Martin Zucker, co-author of the Earthing book
“what could be more down to earth than your feet on the ground”, yeah it was funny but it’s that kind of reasoning that makes me not going to read the book, because I believe the book is full of it.
And of course, too much anecdotal evidence have also been reported.
Are there any RCT’s with double blindness on the “earthing effect” and preferably with objective reporting of the subjects health states? Then please let me know.
I am on the other hand feeling rather positive, so I think it is time for me to put my feet down to the ground for some negativity – to balance things out
Here I go – charging off – pfft!
Regards,
Torsten Nielsen
Michael Sandler has a section in his book “Barefoot Running” about the physics of getting grounded. Besides the dissipating of electric charge aspect of going barefoot, he also discusses the natural 7.83 Hz Schumann resonance frequency of the earth, and how it supposedly matches the natural frequency of our brain. He also says that the 7.83 Hz is an average, that it changes predictably throughout the day, and that going barefoot in the morning is especially beneficial since it ties you into this natural variation which then positively affects your circadian rhythms. And he’s also way into the grounding sheets and pads.
I have a masters in physics and am a physics teacher, and though it does sound a little “woo”, I have been wrong and humbled enough in my life defending conventional scientific wisdom that I certainly am not ready to rule it out, and am even tempted to buy the sheets and perhaps (hopefully) add to the anecdotal success stories.
If nothing else it’s a great excuse to go camping….
Living electrical matrix? Sounds like Avatar… I guess James Cameron was right!
I have a phd in physics. The more I learn about physics the more I realise the absolute minute amount we know about anything at all.
If it makes you feel good forget about why for the most part. You can attempt a hypothesis and extrapolate but in reality you know nothing and at best you’re working under massively simplified approximations. We have reliable models for certain things but there are enormous gaps in our knowledge in areas such as this.
I would forget about their scientific explanation for the grounding effect, I haven’t read the book but I’m pretty sure it’s a ineffective attempt to scaffold a scientific explanation onto something for which the science doesn’t exist.
I’m going to try it and call it an experiment. If it works it works.
Amen,
Their explanations are just hypotheses which they have not even attempted to test. The only studies have been on the effects on biological systems.
The truth is, most of us want a good ‘story’ to explain why something works. The true mechanisms may not be understood for millennia.
I really cannot comment on the physics behind grounding, but it does seem to me that varied surfaces would stimulate the nerves, muscles on the bottom of our feet in a way that would be beneficial. Like others have mentioned, walking in the grass sure feels good. Perhaps we are stimulating a primal area of our brain, as well.
” Perhaps we are stimulating a primal area of our brain, as well. ”
THIS is exactly what I think is happening. Lots of people claim they have childhood memories when smelling certain trees and grasses. But what are the memories exactly, nobody can really remember the day they soaked in that particular smell to form a long lasting memory. Are certain scents programmed into our DNA?
Perhaps ‘grounding’ is one of those things we evolved on and the genetic door is being unlocked. Like walking through the woods and picking up a stick to walk with…or the desire to build a dam with rocks in a creek.
I see this “unlocking door” a lot in my dogs when I take them hiking. My pitbull finds a carcass and tries to hide it in the woods, but he never does this at home and nobody has taught him this behavior.
Going barefoot or just putting our butts on the ground opens up the primal doors.
I’m not an electrical engineer, nor a scientist, but I have read the book and I do sleep “grounded.”
First, the authors don’t claim to know the mechanism for many of the effects of grounding. They hypothesize that free electrons have some sort of antioxidant effect on the body. I have know idea what the mechanism may be, BUT it does seem to help my sleep and recovery time from injury and tough workouts.
Second, grounding does change the charges built up in the body from contact with electronics or standing near electrical outlets. With a $20 volt meter I measured charges of 3-6 volts on my skin depending on where I was standing. By touching my toe to a grounding wire, the measured charge dropped to mere thousandths of a volt.
Has this been proven to produce health benefits? Absolutely not. However, there are a handful of intriguing studies as Mark points out.
Our ancestors were “grounded” nearly all of the time until just a few decades ago. I find it unlikely that there are no negative health effects from being ‘insulated’ from the earth most of the time.
could we just call it “grounding” instead, in order to mitigate a knee jerk reaction from “woo”-weary individuals?
Unfortunately, I think the authors of “Earthing” decided to market to the raw-food hippie movement through huckster David Wolfe (No relation to Robb Wolf).
“Earthing” appeals more to that crowd.
that it does:)
“You’re grounded! Now go to your room!” Is there something evil at work there?
OK. This may or may not be a horse of a different color…but has this grounding thing got anything with an ability to “dowse”?…find water sources underground using bent sticks or metal rods?
Because I have been able to do it since childhood, and my father showed me how. I don’t have to be barefoot, although the response of the “dowsing rod” is always more brisk when I am, and I can use wire hangers, rebar, or sticks. My sisters and brothers never could do it. I can’t explain it, but it always seemed to work for me.
I had forgotten about it until a year or two ago, when lightning took out the electrical line to our well. Heck, why not try it? I dowsed the location of the water line, but it ran through the garden in a totally different place from where I expected it to be. I really didn’t think it could be there. I marked it with some rocks just to see what the well guys would find.
The well guys came and used an electronic device to locate the line, and lo and behold! it was the very same place I had dowsed. They dug down just out of curiosity and confirmed it. The guys said the owner of the business, dead these many years, had been able to “water-witch”, and had tried to teach them to no avail.
It had been years and years since I had tried it…and I still had it. So am I grounded, or what? (Be kind with the comments on the what part, please.)
What!? That’s just so awesome! Wish I had that ability. Some people truly are x-men… maybe not as awesome as the ones in the movies but still =)
Intrigued to read the book, warts and all.
Skepticism is always healthy but science doesn’t have all the answers because it often isn’t looking in the right places.
Physics has revealed to us that everything is energy. Our bodies, too. So, yes, we’re living in an electrical matrix.
I’m a Polarity therapist, which means I’m one of those strange ones who can “feel” energy moving. Except not so strange because we all come equipped with the tools; we’ve just never been taught the awareness.
“Grounding” has been a primary component of numerous meditation and healing systems for eons; grounding the energy of the tail of our spine into the earth.
Look at Tai Chi, Qigong and others. The Native Americans have a “Mother Earth, Father Sky” meditation.
The idea, and practice, isn’t new. Whether or not the authors pulled together all the pieces and adequately substantiated them or not, I would hope this community – especially – would keep an open mind and check it out.
Learning to ground is a key to my health.
Peace.
Hi Marsha
We don’t think in any sense that Earthing, as we describe it, is new. It is simply a revival of knowledge that has been around for who knows how long. What has been done here is an attempt to explain a significant and overlooked phenomenon in modern scientific and bioelectrical terms. The research is in a very early stage but if you take a good, open-minded look at it, with all the warts, as you say, you will find some very intriguing and promising information. Some are disturbed or turned off by the information. Most won’t bother looking at it and fall back on knee-jerk dismissal. But those who read it, and better yet, those who apply the information, are often very surprised and gratified. The unsolicited emails I see from people all over the world on a daily basis are so, so gratifying, and indeed bespeak of a remarkably simple, natural, and profound healing factor right beneath our feet.
Martin Zucker, co-author of the Earthing book
and all of those who bought the book and equipment for whom the stuff didn’t work? Beware to take happy emails as evidence.
There may well be an amount of truth in the idea but the question surely isn’t so much about whether there is such an effect, but rather how much it affects us?
Personally I think it’s likely to be far, far less (to the point of insignificance) than the much more obvious proprioceptive/sensory benefits of going barefoot. I too spend the majority of my time barefoot and it stands to reason that on a daily basis my brain gets more feedback about my environment than the comparatively unchanging feedback that comes from the inside of a pair of shoes.
wow mark, you really stirred up a hornet’s nest of wannabe philosophers and pseudo-intellectuals. the only posts that actually say anything of substance besides the ones telling personal stories of their love for the barefoot way, are the jokes. science is art i guess in a way and if you put a painting in a room of 20 people and ask them to interpret it, you’ll have 20 equally stupid answers!!!! lol thanks for the laugh, i really needed it.
This sounds very “Woo” to me but then I don’t really need another reason to barefoot.
I’m more inclined to accept the notion that barefooting might confer some health benefit because the human foot is littered with very sensitive nerve endings–nerve endings that evolved to be in contact with the ground more than the inside of a padded, heeled shoe. When we’re barefoot, we get the feedback from the enviornment that our brains crave. When swaddled in constraining shoes, we rob our brains of that input. In other words, on both a concious and subconscious level, it simply feels good for our feet to be in contact with the earth. Our nervous system is going to respond to that in a positive way, which in turn effects every other system of the body. And that has to be good for your health. No vaguely supported physics explanations or hype of already over-hyped free-radicals needed.
Mother Earth needs some way to communicate with us. What better way than thru the commonality of “electrical” or grounding? Take your shoes off, people, and “listen” to what She’s telling you!