Why Earthing or Grounding Helps You Sleep Better and Fight Off Inflammation

It’s no news that a day out in nature has great benefits on our sleep and our mood. Just spending time outdoors in green spaces away from our stressors is tremendously calming and relaxing. Think of how easy you can drift off into dreamland after a long walk in the woods or along a beautiful beach.

So we all know that the sun’s energy is crucial for our health. But did you know that the earth energy is too? Recent scientific research has revealed a surprisingly positive and overlooked environmental factor for health: physical contact with the electrons on the Earth’s surface also known as earthing. 

What is earthing or grounding?

Earthing (or grounding) refers to the health benefits—including reduced pain, feeling more energetic, and getting better sleep —from walking barefoot outside or sitting or sleeping indoors while being connected to conductive systems that transfer the Earth’s electrons from outside into the body. 

It’s said that our Earth has natural analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and stress-reducing properties. When we make direct contact with the Earth, our bodies receive a charge of this energy that makes us feel better and can even heal us.

But most of us are missing out on this free, natural healing resource because we are most of the time not directly connected to the Earth. Even more so, not being grounded could be the culprit of many health problems based on chronic inflammation.

I know, it all sounds too good to be true, but even scientific research suggests that a simple routine like touching the Earth could be one of the biggest keys to eliminating issues with chronic inflammation.

How does earthing exactly work?

On the surface of the entire Earth, there is an invisible and limitless stream of free or mobile electrons that gives the surface a negative charge. That means the Earth’s surface on which we walk is electrically conductive, and its negative potential feeds all planetary life, including humans, animals, and plants.

The reason is that the natural flow of electrons and the associated electric field also exists on the surface of all objects that are in physical contact with the Earth. Although most of the time, we don’t realize this – except when you get a “shock” by touching an object because you accumulated static energy – our bodies are highly conductive too. We, like the Earth, work with electromagnetic energy, and continuously give off and receive energy.

As long as we are in direct contact with the Earth, we maintain a healthy balance with the electrical potential of the Earth by the natural exchange of electrons. In other words, the Earth’s negative potential creates a stable internal bioelectric environment for us because the abundant free electrons of the surface can enter our electrically conductive bodies. 

This mechanism stabilizes the electrical environment of all of our organs, tissues, and cells and helps to ensure the normal functioning of all bodily systems.

Humans were naturally grounded before modern times

Throughout history, people were absorbing earth energy naturally. Our ancestors were always in direct contact with the Earth’s surface when hunting, collecting food, or relaxing. They walked barefoot or later in shoes made of animal skin or papyrus and slept on the floor on sleeping mats made of skins. Almost everything they did was in direct connection with the Earth. 

And we don’t even need to look back that long in history. Did you know that until the 1960s, most shoe soles were still made of leather? This natural material might not be as practical as a synthetic material. Still, it allows your feet to breathe and to let the free electrons of the Earth’s surface enter your electrically conductive body. 

Why aren’t we grounded anymore?

In today’s world, we live most of our lives indoors using a lot of great technology, but without directly connecting to the source of all this technology – the Earth. Also, most of us don’t sleep on the floor as we used to. 

And even when we do go outside, we usually wear insulated shoes with soles made from synthetic material, preventing us from connecting with the Earth’s energy. We rarely touch the ground, rarely touch a tree, and rarely touch the source that every cell in our body creates. 

The insulation from the Earth by non-conductive materials such as synthetic flooring and carpets in our houses, as well as rubber and plastic in our shoes, makes us unhealthy. As a consequence, we often feel drained and achy because we go days, weeks, or even years without touching the Earth. 

What’s so problematic living mainly indoors?

Another issue is that when being indoors in our home or at work, our bodies are chronically exposed to the usual 50-60 Hz electromagnetic fields (EMFs), which continuously emanate from electric wires and plugged cables. 

When your body is isolated from the Earth and close to an electromagnetic field, your body turns into an antenna that measurably attracts the lines of force of an electric field. The known effect of an electric field on the body is that it disturbs electrons in the body and increases the concentration of free radicals, which is why it can cause harm to your body.

 

However, being exposed to 50-60 Hz electromagnetic fields wouldn’t be such a problem if we would live like our ancestors. But as we spend most of our time today in environments that isolate our body from the Earth, the body is no longer under the protective roof of the Earth’s electrical direct current field, and free radicals can flourish.

Why is earthing so beneficial for our health?

In recent decades, chronic diseases, immune disorders, and inflammatory diseases have increased dramatically. While the impact of environmental factors such as bad air, contaminated water, or toxic chemicals on our health is widely understood and accepted, the possibility of our separation from the Earth’s surface as cause of ill health, especially chronic inflammation, is still often overlooked.

Chronic inflammation is a result of oxidative stress, an imbalance of free radicals and antioxidants in our body, which can lead to cell and tissue damage. It is believed that the influx of free electrons into the body through direct contact with the Earth is likely to neutralize free radicals and reduce acute and chronic inflammation.

What exactly is the connection between earthing and inflammation?

Our normal inflammatory response is an outbreak of free radicals produced by the immune system in response to injury or infection. The way it works is that white blood cells called neutrophils deliver reactive oxygen species (ROS), also known as free radicals, to the site of infection to kill the invading microbes. 

Inflammation is, therefore, nothing disastrous, but a natural process of the production of free radicals preventing infections and promote healing. Also, we are dealing with cell damage daily, simply by the nature of life. We have damaged heart cells, liver cells, muscle cells, etc. that all trigger an oxidative outburst of free radicals. This is part of our natural chemical processes in our body and not a problem as long as these free radicals are neutralized. 

Continuous overproduction of free radicals leads to inflammatory diseases

The real problem arises when the free radical activity gets out of control and isn’t neutralized. Then some of these free radicals can affect the surrounding tissue and damage healthy cells – something we are dealing with when we have chronic inflammation. 

Chronic inflammation, therefore, means a constant overproduction of free radicals that can lead to diseases such as arthritis, arteriosclerosis, type II diabetes, heart attack, lupus, MS, asthma, and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). 

To stop the attack on healthy cells and heal these conditions, it’s crucial to stabilize the excess of electrically charged free radicals in the inflammatory area.

What can stop the excess outbreak of free radicals?

It is the electrons from antioxidant molecules that neutralize reactive oxygen species (ROS) or free radicals that are involved in the body’s immune and inflammatory responses. So the goal is to reach a healthy balance with these antioxidants that carry free electrons to neutralize the free radicals and stop oxidative damage.

One way to increase antioxidants is by eating healthy foods packed with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. I’m sure you’ve heard of nutrient-dense superfoods like goji berries, nuts, dark green veggies such as broccoli and spinach, matcha green tea, and fish. They’re all reliable sources of antioxidants. However, there are a few things you need to consider when mainly rely on nutrition antioxidants.

Why grounding is a better choice to neutralize free radicals than superfoods

While a healthy, mainly plant-based diet containing a high percentage of antioxidants is helping you a lot in preventing to become ill, they might not always affect the fight of oxidation in your favor as much as you think. The reasons for this are

• Processed food: as the antioxidants must be in the right form, traditional food processing techniques tend to remove the antioxidant effect from our food
• digestive process: dietary antioxidants must withstand the digestive process, which means they have to find their way through the gut lining into your blood.
• physical condition: your body already produces a lot of antioxidants, which are much stronger than dietary antioxidants. However, if your body is not in the right condition, it isn’t able to do this crucial work. 

So why not using the most important source of free electrons from which all our food and all life come from – the Earth itself. The Earth’s surface is full of free electrons that can be easily absorbed by the human body. Through direct contact, the free radicals in your body are neutralized, which immediately reduces acute and chronic inflammation. 

These are the main benefits of grounding for your health and wellbeing.

1. Grounding reduces the electric fields induced on the body

When the body is connected with the Earth’s direct current, the body’s electrons are protected from interference and held hostage as 50-60 Hz induced body voltage. This is also known as shielding. 

Shielding by grounding allows the body to have all its electrons available to perform their normal functions in the body, including stabilizing excess free radicals. A study published in 2005 in European Biology and Bioelectromagnetics showed that when the body is grounded, its electrical potential is balanced with the electrical potential of the Earth by a transfer of electrons from the Earth to the body. This prevented the 60 Hz mode from generating an alternating current AC on the surface of the body and disturbing the electrical charges of the molecules inside the body. 

The study confirms the “umbrella” effect of grounding, as explained by Nobel Laureate Richard Feynman. Feynman said that if our body is grounded, it becomes an extension of the Earth’s gigantic electrical system. The Earth’s potential thus becomes a “working agent that cancels, reduces, or pushes away electric fields from the body.”

2. Grounding supports tissue repair

The flow of electrons from the Earth to the body and, as a result, the reduction in inflammation has been documented using infrared imaging and white blood cell counts. It is now known that grounding helps prevent “collateral damage” to healthy tissue near an injury. 

Dr. Jeff Spencer, a Southern California-based Chiropraticor and former Olympic cyclist, was one of the first who discovered earthing to be highly efficient in reducing common injuries and fatigue among cyclists at the grueling Tour de France. Today he is helping top athletes, including football players, marathoner runners, and motocross racers, to recover from training, injuries, and surgery using earthing sleep systems and patches.

3. Grounding improves sleep

Numerous studies have shown that grounding during sleep reduces pain and stress and can dramatically improve sleep quality. In a pilot study, 22 men and 28 women who all suffered from sleep disorders and chronic muscle and joint pain, slept for one month on conductive mattress pads. Half of the pads were connected to a proper earthing cord connected to the ground, while the other half was only “fake-grounded”. 

93% of the people sleeping on properly grounded pads reported a significant improvement in their sleep, and even 100% of them felt more rested after waking up, while most in the control group did not. 

Even more importantly, grounded sleep dramatically improved the root cause of their bad sleep. Many of the grounded participants experienced significant relief from asthma, arthritis, PMS, sleep apnea, and high blood pressure during the experiment. These results showed that the effects of grounding go far beyond pain relief and sleep improvement.

4. Grounding reduces stress

As far as stress is concerned, researchers found that grounding has a measurable effect on stress reduction by shifting your autonomic nervous system from the constant fight or flight struggle of the sympathetic nervous system to the calm and relaxed state of the parasympathetic nervous system.

A study published in 2004 shows that patients who were earthed during sleep had reduced nocturnal cortisol levels and a general normalization of cortisol secretion during the day. Remember, cortisol is the archenemy of sleep. If your cortisol levels are getting high at night, your sleep will be interrupted. 

5. Grounding helps to overcome jet lag

Another benefit of grounding is that it helps synchronize your body’s circadian clock with the Earth’s standard diurnal patterns. Therefore, it is wise to get grounded after flying to a new time zone by kicking off your shoes to make direct contact with the Earth’s surface or by using your grounding device. This will help to revitalize and overcome jet lag much faster.

How to get grounded?

Grounding is easy – you can start earthing right away by walking barefoot outside – the more time, the better. This alone can be life-changing. And it’s free! 

If going outdoors isn’t an option, you can do earthing indoors too. Today there are several well-thought-out grounding products, including desk-top grounding mats and earthing sheets for your bed that bring the benefits of earth energy directly into your home. You connect these products to an earthing rod outside your home or simply to the grounded wall outlet in your home or the office. Then all you have to do is to touch the earthing product with your body. This connection lets you receive safely and conveniently the free electrons from the Earth.

I use a grounding mat under my desk and have been sleeping on grounding sheets for about two years. Using an earthing sheet on your bed is a no-brainer. You conveniently ground while asleep, which lets you sleep deeper and leaves you feeling more refreshed in the morning. Click here to discover really useful earthing products.

Bottom line

Grounding is a shockingly simple way to reduce inflammation and improve sleep. The effects of the electron transfer from the Earth’s surface into the human body are well studied, and the impact on healing, performance, and overall health is profound.

Remember, whether you choose to take advantage of the latest grounding technology or not, it is essential to keep your body in regular contact with the Earth to absorb free electrons to improve your regeneration, heart health, and hormones; and, most importantly, to get a good night’s sleep.

Do you have any questions about how to implement any of the techniques I’ve introduced? Ask me in the comments section below!