Why Evidence for Grounding and Inflammation Remains Limited

Okay, so this next question I'm kind of happy to address because there's a lot of hype around it. And this question was submitted by Gary Turner, and Gary says, "What are your thoughts around all this hype about grounding?" And you know, I've had a lot of people ask me that, and sort of my gut reaction is, oh, there's maybe there could be something to it, but I really don't. I do think there's probably a lot more hype to it. So grounding is, it's also known as earthing. Earthing, it's a practice that's used to make physical, like direct physical contact with the earth. So you're basically connecting electrically with the earth. Like that's sort of the theory behind it.

And proponents of grounding claim that it offers a variety of health benefits, including reduced inflammation, improved sleep quality, decreased pain, just enhanced overall mood and wellbeing. A lot of very strong claims here. And you know, these claims have really, I think attracted a lot of enthusiasm, certainly a lot of attention, but the scientific evidence supporting these health claims around grounding is extremely limited, and it really does require, I would say, critical examination. So at the core of grounding, the hypothesis is that the earth possesses a mild negative charge, and that by connecting with the earth's electrons, the human body can sort of balance positive charges, particularly what are called free radicals. So these are associated with oxidative stress.

They're associated with inflammation. These things can play a role in exacerbating and accelerating a variety of diseases, right? So this concept suggests that grounding could potentially and theoretically neutralize this oxidative stress in the body, and then you get a variety of health benefits because of the neutralization of these free radicals, which, by the way, this is what things like polyphenols do, antioxidants, sulforaphane, right? So the idea is that somehow contacting with the negative charge in the earth is going to do something similar.

And there's been some studies that have explored the potential effects of grounding on health, but there are so many methodological limitations in these studies that I would say you really cannot make very— you can't make these claims that grounding is improving all these things, in my opinion. So for example, the biggest problem is that, you know, you'll see, of course, these studies are not randomized, right? And they're based on what are called subjective markers rather than biomarkers. So, you know, for example, inflammation's improved. Well, why don't you measure inflammatory biomarkers? That would be actual data to show inflammation is improved. Instead, it's based on, oh, someone with arthritis feels better.

They feel like they can walk more and they're feeling— it's a very subjective measure that is very, very prone to, for one, the placebo effect. But honestly, you know, anything that's directly affecting oxidation, which is what the claim is here, is very easy to prove or disprove with data, right? Because there's a lot of things that you can measure in blood that measure oxidative status and inflammatory status. So I would say my conclusion is it's still a very early field in terms of potential. It could be that people just don't have enough funding to do all the right types of tests, or I don't really know.

But right now, honestly, the data does not support that grounding is like— if you're wanting to reduce inflammation and oxidative stress, I mean, I can rattle off many more things that are way more powerful and potent and evidence-based than grounding, right? So omega-3 fatty acids, one of the most potent inflammatory mediators that we have. Exercise as well. I mean, exercise is very anti-inflammatory and also improves oxidative markers as well. You know, sulforaphane is another one, really improves oxidative stress biomarkers. Time and time again, studies showing that. So I just don't— I just don't know that grounding would be something that I would put high on my list in terms of improving oxidative stress and inflammatory biomarkers.