De Flora et al. wrote the following: “Since the late 20th century, chronic degenerative diseases have overcome infectious disease as the major causes of death in the 21st century, so an increase in human longevity will depend on finding an intervention that inhibits the development of these diseases and slows their progress” [ 33].

Earthing continually during rest and physical activity over a 72-hour period decreased fasting glucose among patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. Patients had been well controlled with glibenclamide, an antidiabetic drug, for about 6 months, but at the time of study had unsatisfactory glycemic control despite dietary and exercise advice and glibenclamide doses of 10mg/day.

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Pain reduction from sleeping grounded has been confirmed in a controlled study on DOMS. Earthing is the first intervention known to speed recovery from DOMS [ 21]. Painful conditions are often the result of various kinds of acute or chronic inflammation conditions caused in part by ROS generated by normal metabolism and also by the immune system as part of the response to injury or trauma. Inflammation can cause pain and loss of range of motion in joints. Inflammatory swelling can put pressure on pain receptors (nocireceptors) and can compromise the microcirculation, leading to ischemic pain. Inflammation can cause the release of toxic molecules that also activate pain receptors. Modern biomedical research has also documented a close relationship between chronic inflammation and virtually all chronic diseases, including the diseases of aging, and the aging process itself. The steep rise in inflammatory diseases, in fact, has been recently called “inflamm-aging” to describe a progressive inflammatory status and a loss of stress-coping ability as major components of the aging process [ 32]. According to the book, being grounded means that you feel physically and emotionally stable, calm, relaxed, content, creative, intuitive, and focused. This is an excellent book to give you a deeper understanding of the practice of grounding. More importantly, what it feels like to be grounded. It is one thing to know what to do, and it is even better when you can learn to understand and become tuned into the effects that it is having on you. Of the earthing books on this list, this one gives you the most in-depth understanding of the practice. In Summary Illnesses do not come upon us out of the blue. They are developed from small daily sins against Nature. When enough sins have accumulated, illnesses will suddenly appear.” Environmental medicine focuses on interactions between human health and the environment, including factors such as compromised air and water and toxic chemicals, and how they cause or mediate disease. Omnipresent throughout the environment is a surprisingly beneficial, yet overlooked global resource for health maintenance, disease prevention, and clinical therapy: the surface of the Earth itself. It is an established, though not widely appreciated fact, that the Earth's surface possesses a limitless and continuously renewed supply of free or mobile electrons. The surface of the planet is electrically conductive (except in limited ultradry areas such as deserts), and its negative potential is maintained (i.e., its electron supply replenished) by the global atmospheric electrical circuit [ 1, 2].

Another example is provided by voltage-gated ion channels, which play critical biophysical roles in excitable cells such as neurons. Local alterations in the charge profiles around these channels can lead to electrical instability of the cell membrane and to the inappropriate spontaneous activity observed during certain pathological states [ 31]. At first, Ober’s idea was not well-received by the medical community. His experience was as a cable installer. He knew that to get a clear signal, you had to place a ground wire in the Earth so that the system and the Earth would exchange ions and reach a steady state. Ober also knew that as soon as the system reached a steady-state, the static would clear up. The theory is if humans ground in the same way that you ground a cable system, that we might be able to stabilize our electrical field and receive benefits. He knew that this principle had worked for him, and he conducted a roughly designed research study that also supported the principle. However, this was not enough to convince his early critics. I first heard about "Earthing" about a year ago when I read a very interesting article about the subject. I finally decided to buy the book and am delighted that I did. While some may say there isn't enough scientific evidence yet to conclude that being grounded to the Earth provides health benefits, the authors do share quite a bit of clinical data that supports their claims. To me it just makes intuitive sense that the Earth, with its wealth of negative ions that constantly stream from its surface, can be of healing benefit to human beings whose bodies constantly create positive ions (i.e., free radicals) as a result of the various chemical processes occurring within them 24/7. The real-life stories shared by people who have received healing benefits from being grounded are very interesting, and clearly suggest there is merit to this entire grounding concept. Look at what you put on your feet on a daily basis. Most of you wear one form or another of footwear that evolved from simple foot coverings designed to protect against chilly and challenging ground conditions. You are likely wearing something much more elaborate, a statement reflecting your culture, fashion, behaviour.. etc.. You habitually wear shoes even when they do not serve any practical purpose.” When we connect with the Earth, our body “becomes suffused with negative-charged free electrons abundantly present on the surface of the Earth.” Our modern way of life has created an electron deficiency in our bodies, thus disturbing both our immune system and all other body systems.I am suspicious when a book is also trying to sell a product like these grounding mats, and then they anecdotally tell you how terrific they are for healing the world using the mats they profit from. Hmmm. Grounding isn't the whole answer to regaining health or preventing illness but it does seem like one very important or even essential part of the bigger picture. It should not be ignored or dismissed out of hand without proper open-minded investigation, particularly as the risk and cost is so very low. Please actually read this book before making up your mind. Clinton Ober and a medical doctor have put together a great, easy to read book on the physical benefits of being grounded. They look at a variety of modern life challenges from depression to heart disease and how the process can help to alleviate and speed up the cure process. Since grounding produces changes in many electrical properties of the body [ 1, 15, 19, 28], a next logical step was to evaluate the electrical property of the blood. A suitable measure is the zeta potential of red blood cells (RBCs) and RBC aggregation. Zeta potential is a parameter closely related to the number of negative charges on the surface of an RBC. The higher the number, the greater the ability of the RBC to repel other RBCs. Thus, the greater the zeta potential the less coagulable is the blood.

The rapid change in skin conductance reported in an earlier study led to the hypothesis that grounding may also improve heart rate variability (HRV), a measurement of the heart's response to ANS regulation. A double-blind study was designed with 27 participants [ 27]. Subjects sat in a comfortable reclining chair. Four transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) type adhesive electrode patches were placed on the sole of each foot and on each palm. use of a ground tool or specially designed wall plug to connect to “conductive floor mats, chair pads, sheets, mattresses, and common electrode patches to earth individuals indoors while sleeping or sitting”. All the same, because our detrimental system pushes us to be encased in a graveyard you can try Clint Ober’s products (sheets, mats, patches) here: My rule for alternative and wholistic medicine protocols is: If it can't hurt but it may help I'm willing to give it a try. I look at the risk/benefit ratio and make my decision. Ten relatively healthy subjects participated in the study [ 29]. They were seated comfortably in a reclining chair and were grounded for two hours with electrode patches placed on their feet and hands, as in previous studies. Blood samples were taken before and after.The mats are okay to use and only mildly annoying on occasion, such as when I scrunch them up in my sleep, but most of the time I don't even notice they are there. The prices are pretty good for grounding products although I do have some concern about how you know when they need to be replaced in years to come. People cut off from the electrical current of the earth for long periods of time develop all sorts of problems which are reversed by grounding, and studies have show the positive effects it has on sleep and also on red blood cells. The red blood cell before and after photos in the book are amazing as are the thermography images. At least some of the studies done were double blind as well. I'm still too ill to go into all the science and theory here, and you really need to read the whole book to fully understand it all anyway, but this is a brief sample of what the book contains.