Have you ever walked barefoot on a warm sandy beach? Or kicked off your shoes and raked your toes through the grass on a dewy morning? There’s something inherently rewarding about the feeling of your skin in direct contact with the Earth, your bare hands in the soil working your garden, for instance.

This rewarding feeling isn’t happenstance; it’s the result of electrically conductive contact of your body with the surface of the Earth,  a phenomenon known as grounding or earthing.

The Earth carries an enormous negative charge. It’s always electron-rich and can serve as a powerful and abundant supply of antioxidant and free-radical-busting electrons. Your body is finely tuned to “work” with the Earth in the sense that there’s a constant flow of energy between your body and the Earth.

When you put your feet on the ground, you absorb large amounts of negative electrons through the soles of your feet. The effect is sufficient to maintain your body at the same negatively charged electrical potential as the Earth.

This simple process of grounding is one of the most potent antioxidants we know of. Grounding has been shown to relieve pain, reduce inflammation, improve sleep, enhance well being, and much, much more. Unfortunately, many living in developed countries are rarely grounded anymore.

James Oschman, who is an expert in the field of energy medicine, with a bachelor’s degree in Biophysics and a PhD in Biology from the University of Pittsburgh, noted:¹

“Subjective reports that walking barefoot on the Earth enhances health and provides feelings of well-being can be found in the literature and practices of diverse cultures from around the world. For a variety of reasons, many individuals are reluctant to walk outside barefoot, unless they are on holiday at the beach.”

More Than a Dozen Studies Confirm the Physiological Effects of Grounding

Oschman, along with a dozen other researchers, has conducted research on the physiological effects of grounding. More than a dozen studies have been published in peer-reviewed journals showing its benefit for fighting inflammation, improving the immune response, wound healing, and the prevention and treatment of chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.²

According to a review published in the Journal of Inflammation Research:³

“Grounding reduces or even prevents the cardinal signs of inflammation following injury: redness, heat, swelling, pain and loss of function… Rapid resolution of painful chronic inflammation was confirmed in 20 case studies using medical infrared imaging …

Our main hypothesis is that connecting the body to the Earth enables free electrons from the Earth’s surface to spread over and into the body, where they can have antioxidant effects.

Specifically, we suggest that mobile electrons create an antioxidant microenvironment around the injury repair field, slowing or preventing reactive oxygen species (ROS) delivered by the oxidative burst from causing ‘collateral damage’ to healthy tissue, and preventing or reducing the formation of the so-called “inflammatory barricade.”

We also hypothesize that electrons from the Earth can prevent or resolve so-called “silent” or “smoldering” inflammation.”

Interestingly, grounding research has now discovered that if you place your feet on the ground after an injury (or on a grounded sheet, or place grounding patches on the balls of your feet), electrons will migrate into your body and spread through your tissues.

Any free radicals that leak into the healthy tissue will immediately be electrically neutralized. This occurs because the electrons are negative, while the free radicals are positive, so they cancel each other out.

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