[www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]

For a variety of reasons, many individuals are reluctant to walk outside barefoot

One of the first published grounding studies examined the effects of grounding on sleep and circadian cortisol profiles.5

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.

mobile electrons from the Earth enter the body and act as natural antioxidants;3 they are semi-conducted through the connective tissue matrix, including through the inflammatory barricade if one is present;23 they neutralize ROS and other oxidants in the repair field; and they protect healthy tissue from damage. The fact that there are fewer circulating neutrophils and lymphocytes in the grounded subjects may be advantageous because of the harmful role these cells are thought to play in prolonging inflammation.24

water plays crucial roles in enzymatic activities and semi-conduction. Hydrated proteins actually are semiconductors

Ground substance polyelectrolyte molecules associated with the collagenous connective tissue matrix are charge reservoirs (Figure 12). The matrix is therefore a vast whole-body redox system. The glycosaminoglycans have a high density of negative charges due to the sulfate and carboxylate groups on the uronic acid residues. The matrix is therefore a body-wide system capable of absorbing and donating electrons wherever they are needed to support immune functioning.44

These considerations also imply anti-aging effects of earthing or grounding, since the dominant theory of aging emphasizes cumulative damage caused by ROS produced during normal metabolism or produced in response to pollutants, poisons, or injury.46 We hypothesize an anti-aging effect of grounding that is based on a living matrix reaching every part of the body and that is capable of delivering antioxidant electrons to sites where tissue integrity might be compromised by reactive oxidants from any source.47,48

our findings suggest that this classical picture of the inflammatory barricade may be a consequence of lack of grounding, and of a resultant “electron deficiency”.

The disconnection from the Earth may be an important, insidious, and overlooked contribution to physiological dysfunction and to the alarming global rise in non-communicable, inflammatory-related chronic diseases. A lack of electrons can also de-saturate the electron transport chains in mitochondria, leading to chronic fatigue and slowing the cellular migrations and other essential activities of the cells of the immune system.64