Earthing, Grounding – What Science Really Tells Us About It

Author: Lloyd Burrell, Last updated: June 07, 2015

Earthing, grounding, going barefoot.

Some love it, others hate it.

The companies selling the earthing kits and materials speak of it as some kind of ‘panacea'.

But what do we really know about earthing?

What does the science tell us?

A few days ago I came across a superb presentation on the subject.

Superb because in just a few minutes (7 minutes to be precise) with minimum mumbo-jumbo and maximum clarity it does just that.

It summarizes, clarifies, updates on what the science tells us about earthing.

The Number One Question

Laura Koniver, M.D says, “one of the most frequently asked questions I get is, ‘how much earthing do I have to do each day to make a difference'.

My answer is always, anything makes a difference. There’s no amount of earthing that is too quick or too small to make a noticeable impact on you and your body's physiology…. instantaneous is long enough. Of course the benefits continue to extend the longer you do it. I want to go over the scientific literature to tell you exactly what you're doing when you're just connecting for a second and exactly what you're doing you're connecting for years.”

Here's Dr Koniver's presentation:

Below I’ve summarized what Dr. Koniver says in her video.

What The Science Says About Earthing

Instantaneous effects

“Muscle, skin, brain changes and also levels of pain are instantly shifted:

Muscle tension immediately drops, measurable on an electromyogram
the ambient voltage of your entire body shifts,
your EEG brain waves change
your skin conductance changes.

Sustain it for a few minutes

Medical studies have shown it impacts:

your organ function
your vasculature so blood viscosity changes

Sustain it for 20 to 30 minutes

Studies that have gone on for 20 minutes/30 minutes have found that within minutes you’ve:

affected your circulatory system
affected all of the end organs that are targeted by your circulatory system
increased blood viscosity
increased your respiratory rate
increased oxygenation
stabilized your blood glucose

So you have an immediate change in the metabolic function of your entire body.

Studies that have gone into hours

Sleeping grounded for one night is all it takes to:

change your indicators of osteoporosis
affect your bones, deep into your bones
affect and change your metabolic panel – your electrolytes, your minerals, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, iron levels change
affect and change your thyroid function

With thyroid changes…..we're talking about how [your organs] interrelate with each other……about structural support with your bones…….about the hormonal support with your thyroid. Higher cortisol levels can be affected by just one night of sleeping grounded your thyroid function panel changes and shifts dramatically so that thyroid function is actually boosted just in one night.

Studies that talk about several days

If you earth and are connected to the earth for several days straight you are more resilient and more adaptable to life's stress and demands on the physical body.

In one study men were given a heavy load to lift a very stressful amount of weight and then they were grounded, just one time, and they were grounded for one, two and three days afterwards. Grounded participants were not only able to meet that one challenge with less inflammation in the body and less stress on the body but they were able to recover easier meaning their body had less inflammatory markers afterwards. They recovered quicker and they had less pain and less physiological damage after the stress……Earthing for several days, decreases inflammation markers, decreases cortisol and stress on the body decreases pain and increases our recovery.

Studies over years

Over years I anticipate:

anti-aging benefits and
anti-cancer benefits

because most of the diseases that we are confronted with as a society are from chronic inflammation. Lot’s of cancers other chronic diseases that we used to think was just a result of aging are actually just repetitive injury or repetitive inflammation and stress.

Arthritic changes, dementia changes, stroke, heart attack, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and you know cancers that were thought to just increase with age are actually just increasing with inflammation and when we increase inflammation through poor diet or stress by EMFs and that kind of thing then we’re accelerating all those conditions. When we decrease inflammation on the body and stress on the body then we are relieving the incidence of these kinds of illnesses so we understand now that there's instantaneous change.

We understand now is that there is an immediate effect an immediate benefit to you when you go out for a split second……no time is too short…..

I believe an entire lifetime is not too long to live connected to the earth and in our best most optimal optimized state of well being.”

My View On Earthing

As you can tell Dr. Koniver is a big proponent of earthing. Others, like Kariann, have experienced near miraculous benefits from earthing.

earthing when you sleep — How I like to earth in summer

I take a more balanced view.

I don't believe that earthing is good for everyone in all cases.

One of the biggest pitfalls is earthing in a ‘high EMF environment'. Another issue is stray electricity, those of you who are subscribed to my newsletter will be familiar with this.

In truth the only way to know if earthing works is to ‘suck it and see'. Start by taking your shoes off and seeing how it feels. If this works for you more elaborate ways to earth are earthing mats, earthing sheets.

Above all, listen to your body.

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Comments

Colin Buck said,

Foumd your talk very interesting.
steve said,

So, where’s the other side of the conversation concerning “earthing in an polluted EMF environment”, “becoming an antenna while earthing”, ‘sleeping on a coil spring mattress / metal frame bed that becomes an antenna and then grounds that energy through your body”

The one thing I’ve learned in my battle with ALS is, whatever subject matter a person claims to be an expert in, is that subject is the root of most problems.

The human body is infinitly more complicated than mans understanding of it yet people speek with such certainty.

Well I’m going to have my breakfast… bacon and eggs… i hear now they’re good for you….
Jane said,

Hi I have tried earthing several different times and found it did nothing noticeable for me… Contrary to what some earthing websites claim …
miraculous immediate results. I am open to it and not sceptical at all of it but I have listened to several of the experts on eletric sense website and several have claimed earthing in this day and age is dangerous esp America where one expert had tested earth all over and found stray current. If you can find a non emf environment that’s great but does that exist any more? And in some cases you can be exposing yourself to increased levels of ends by earthing (if I remember correctly). I’m more inclined to believe experts who measure cell biology and changes rather than a website simply trying to sell me stuff.
Paul Harding said,

I’m answering with this post because this article is confusing a good client that is getting excellent results with sleeping in a shielded area along with correcting her home from many wiring errors.

“Over years I anticipate”… Anticipation is not science. She talks about studies but there are none listed. .

The earth is a conductor of electricity and not some magical tool to rid oneself of harm being done due to man made electric and magnetic fields. When connecting to this huge conductor you become part of a circuit. Are there changes in the blood? Yes, but anything that effects us on a biological level can become a poison. I’ve witnessed a well known doctor die from leukemia after a year from using earthing sheets. He didn’t listen to my advice because a bunch of hippies that had no clue about electricity and making money on this fad were famous.

I consistently get results the first night just by correcting and eliminating man made fields in the sleeping area. Clients become weak while sitting in a high electric field while we conduct body voltage measurements….it means they are connected with the earth.

It’s difficult and expensive sometimes to mitigate the bedroom from emf but well worth every penny. I would never recommend people use earthing sheets, if I did I wouldn’t be successful in getting results.

There are over 20,000 studies showing biological effects from non thermal electric fields. Attaching yourself to the ground so that you can become a sponge for these fields makes absolutely no sense. Just ask a licensed electrician.
Lienke katz said,

She sounds absolutely wonderful but I have tried the grounding in my own backyard and going to the mail etc, but it did not work it actually makes me feel worse. So I have been assuming that my neighborhood is just too contaminated (as well as my house) to safely ground. Will have to try it somewhere else soon.
I am appreciative Lloyd however for your continued quest (a true quest) for helping us in regaining our health.
Be well! Lienke
Christel Martin said,

One problem for urbanites: too much stray ground current in the earth itself from eg. subways; North American electrical grounding from buildings to earth instead of wire back to Hydro station as in Europe; transformers connected to more than one house so if A has a problem, B gets it, too; if you have an electrical glitch in your own house, and plug your Earthing device into your ground receptacle, you can bring yourself far more problems than it’s worth.

I tried the plugged-into-the-wall Earthing wrist band overnight, and became very agitated, sleepless, etc. and my wrist felt irritated, prickly, and was bright red in the morning. Tried the other wrist the next night and same thing. Another friend used a computer Earthing pad and got EHS symptoms which she did not have before. Both of us plugged into the ground receptacle, not into the soil itself.

So beware: it’s best to walk barefoot, spend time in the woods or nature in general, and avoid plugging into the electrical system. Know before you start that there is no stray ground current on your property, too.
Diane C said,

Hi Lloyd, This part of this video (at about the 4:30 mark) supports your balanced view: “Arthritic changes, dementia changes, stroke, heart attack, diabetes, metabolic syndrome and cancers that were thought to just increase with age are actually really just increasing with inflammation. And so when we increase inflammation, either through poor diet or stress on the body – EMFs and that kind of thing – then we’re accelerating all of those conditions.” My own experience is that lowering my EMF environment creates a natural earthing environment that feels good. Thanks for the info!
Walt said,

I experienced strong muscle spasms and twiching when I earthed. I descided to minimise my body voltage by shielding and grounding E field sources nearby. Afterward, I grounded my body through a static wrist strap to get my body voltage to 2mv. Then I noticed muscle weakness in the arm grounding my body after an hour or two. Earthing is not for me. I feel it is important to spend my time with as little voltage impressed on my body as possiable. But my body must be out of the circuit in other words not in series with the ground. I have noticed positive benifits by minimising my exposure to e fields, EMFs, and computer generated RF exposure. Grouding and shielding sources works for me.
margaret kearney said,

I,ve been walking the dog in my bare feet. love it.
one time for five minutes only and I felt a buzz in
my calves. im getting out the sleeping bag now.
thanks. v interesting site
Rosemarie said,

Thank you Loyd! I shared this. This is much needed information.
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