Grounding -The Effects of Earthing on Human Physiology

Peer Reviewed Study Abstract The effects of grounding (earthing) on inflammation, the immune response, wound healing, and prevention and treatment of chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases as published on the National Institutes of Health website.

Description

“Grounding appears to improve sleep, normalize the day–night cortisol rhythm, reduce pain, reduce stress, shift the autonomic nervous system from sympathetic toward parasympathetic activation, increase heart rate variability, speed wound healing, and reduce blood viscosity. A summary has been published in the Journal of Environmental and Public Health.4”

Effects on sleep

“One of the first published grounding studies examined the effects of grounding on sleep and circadian cortisol profiles.5 The study involved 12 subjects who were in pain and had problems sleeping. They slept grounded for 8 weeks using the system shown in Figure 4. During this period, their diurnal cortisol profiles normalized, and most of the subjects reported that their sleep improved and their pain and stress levels declined.”

“The results of the experiment led to these conclusions: 1) grounding the body during sleep yields quantifiable changes in diurnal or circadian cortisol secretion levels that, in turn, 2) produce changes in sleep, pain, and stress (anxiety, depression, and irritability), as measured by subjective reporting. The cortisol effects described by Ghaly and Teplitz5 are particularly significant in the light of recent research showing that prolonged chronic stress results in glucocorticoid receptor resistance.6 Such resistance results in failure to downregulate inflammatory responses, which can thereby increase risks of a variety of chronic diseases. This effect complements the findings described in the “Effects on pain and the immune response” section.”

Effects on pain and the immune response

“A pilot study on the effects of grounding on pain and the immune response to injury employed delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS).7 DOMS is the muscular pain and stiffness that takes place hours to days after strenuous and unfamiliar exercise. DOMS is widely used as a research model by exercise and sports physiologists. The soreness of DOMS is caused by temporary muscle damage produced by eccentric exercise. The phase of contraction that occurs when a muscle shortens, as in lifting a dumbbell, is referred to as concentric, whereas the phase of contraction as a muscle lengthens, as in lowering a dumbbell, is referred to as eccentric.”

“Eight healthy subjects performed an unfamiliar, eccentric exercise that led to pain in their gastrocnemius muscles. This was done by having them perform two sets of 20 toe raises with a barbell on their shoulders and the balls of their feet on a 2-inch × 4-inch wooden board.7”

“All subjects ate standardized meals at the same time of day, and adhered to the same sleep cycle for 3 days. At 5.40 pm on each day, four of the subjects had conductive grounding patches adhered to their gastrocnemius muscles and the bottoms of their feet. They rested and slept on grounding systems such as that shown in Figure 4. They remained on the grounded sheets except for visits to the bathroom and meals. As controls, four subjects followed the same protocol except that their patches and sheets were not grounded. The following measurements were taken before the exercise and 1, 2, and 3 days thereafter: pain levels, magnetic resonance imaging, spectroscopy, cortisol in serum and saliva, blood and enzyme chemistry, and blood cell counts.7”

Pain was monitored with two techniques. The subjective method involved morning and afternoon use of a Visual Analog Scale. In the afternoon, a blood pressure cuff was positioned on the right gastrocnemius and inflated to the point of acute discomfort. The pain was documented in terms of the highest pressures that could be tolerated. The grounded subjects experienced less pain, as revealed with both the analog soreness scale (Figure 5) and by their ability to tolerate a higher pressure from the blood pressure cuff (Figure 6).7 “Read more…

See the full study abstract here.

…and there are Many other studies that show the benefits of earthing/grounding.