Rheumatoid Joint Pain

(Rheumatoid Arthritis)

When any of your joints ー the vertebral joints, the joints of the fingers and the hand, or even the knee and the ankle joints ー begin to signal aching pains that come and go, and every time these pains stay longer, the first thought that should occur to you is: "My body is severely short of water." This initial assumption is a "cardinal must." My published clinical and scientific research show that chronic pains of the body are indicators of chronic dehydration. 

  We lose our thirst sensation at a steady rate from the age of 20 onward. As a result, our bodies becomes chronically dehydrated without being able to recognize the gradually increasing water shortage. 
The human body has no water storage system to draw on in times of need. If the body needs to shift water for a particular function, initially it draws the water volume that is inside the cells. Any pure water that you drink will also try to get into the cells. That is to say, it leaves the blood circulation and gradually works its way into the cells. 

HOW TO DEAL WITH BACK PAIN & RHEUMATOID JOINT PAIN.

 About the Author
  Dr. Fereydoon Batmanghelidj ( "Batman-ge-lij" ー who did not wish to be licensed for "practice of pharmaceutically oriented and invasive medicine in the U.S.") received formal medical training at St. mary'd Hospital Medical School (London University). He research into the phenomenon of pain and water metabolism of the human body has dictated a paradigm change in the basic understanding of science applied to the practice of medicine. His views are published in scientific journals. The underlying principles of the recommendations in his treatment procedures are the most current knowledge of anatomy and the science of physiology.
    Since a highly significant and basic paradigm change is the practice of medicine, in the face of very stiff commercial and professional resistance, will be difficult to institute unless there is a concurrent public educational program to force the change, it has become necessary to begin a highly coordinated public awareness program. The author believes: " To end major diseases in earth within two decades is now a possibility. A paradigm change in the science of medicine will do it, but the public must demand the change. the time to act is now." - 1991, F. Batmanghelidj.

  For production of educational materials for public, under legal advisement, it became necessary to establish Global Health Solutions Inc.*, a legally independent enterprise. This self-treatment manual, How to Deal Simply with Back Pain & Rheumatoid Joint Pain, and the videotape How to Deal with Back Pain  are the first of these educational products. 


*NOTE: About Us: Global Health Solutions
Global Health Solutions, GHS, a worldwide publishing house, founded and developed by F. Batmagnhelidj, M.D., the world's foremost medical researcher on the medical properties of water, is a center of education for those who prefer to adhere to the logic of the natural and the simple in medicine.
GHS is dedicated to spreading the information of new science in medicine and promoting the public awareness of the hidden wonders of natural, simple, pure water in improving the public health and well-being.
GHS publishes Dr. F. Batmanghelidj¡'s pioneering work on dehydration that identifies different health problems caused by persistent dehydration of the human body - a totally different perspective to the cause and cure of many human diseases until now thought to be incurable.
Dr. B's two decades of research revealed a simple truth that unintentional chronic dehydration can cause diseases; it also demonstrated that many of the chronic degenerative diseases are preventable, and some of them can even be cured by increasing daily water intake. Dr. B's groundbreaking work provides new knowledge and new possibilities for improving and maintaining good health that the public need and deserve to know.
GHS is proud to be the publisher of all of Dr. B's six books in the series of You're Not Sick, You're Thirsty, as well as some of his most informative and inspiring public lectures and seminars in audio-visual formats.
GHS is committed to fulfilling Dr. B's mission - a mission to educate the public about the truth of dehydration so that we will not become unnecessarily over-drugged; to promote the public awareness of the healing powers of water so that we can become healers of our own bodies; to transform the expensive sick-care system so that we can have a more nature-friendly, people-friendly health care system.

LOOK INSIDE THE BOOK, CLICK HERE. 

How to Deal with Back Pain and Rheumatoid Joint Pain is a practical manual based on the author's many years of research and numerous clinical observations. The book introduces a new medical technology to treat and prevent back pain and rheumatoid joint pain. 

* Learn the vital information on the mechanics behind your spinal column, the role of the disc and its needs for water. 

* Learn the simple body movement that will promote fluid circulation in the disc spaces that will result in relief of the back pain and sciatic pain. 

* It is simple, safe and inexpensive. 

Don't hate yourself for missing out on this information.

The Cell
Let us take a  look at the most basic life-generating element in the human body, the cell. The cell is  surrounded by a very thin outer "skin" or membrane that protects it from being flooded by unregulated entry of water, salt, sugar, fats and many other elements that constitute the serum solution that is outside the cell wall.
  Since the cell is constantly bathed in serum solution, it regulates its intake and output by means of many, many small pumping units. Fluid inside the cells should be neutral, neither too acidic nor too alkaline; it has a pH of 7.4 under normal circumstance. The way this neutral pH maintained is very simple : the cation (cat-i-on) pumps constantly pump out hydrogen ion, which is the acid substance not used by the cell. The entire human body ー nerve tissue, bone, cartilage, ligament, muscle, blood, brain, you name it ー is made up of these tiny cells, each performing this regulation of intake and output of elements to maintain function. Each cell is just like an underwater city, with canal systems and waterways; outside of it, arteries and veins are its highways. 

Earthing : A Natural Blood Thinner?

As the expression goes, blood is thicker than water. But thick, inflammatory clumpy blood, typical in patients with cardiovascular disease and diabetes, isn't a good thing. That's why there are some very expensive drugs on the market to help us thin our human blood. 

  Here is the good news. In a 2009 pilot study by cardiologist Dr. Stephen Sinatra and DR. Gaeten Chevalier ( published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine in the spring of 2013) , it was found that grounding, even for a very short period of time (two hours), dramatically altered the zeta potential of a cell by an average of 270 percent. 






The zeta potential relates to the degree of negative charge on the surface of a red blood cell. The higher the zeta potential the more likely the blood is to be thin and flow freely, which means a much lower risk of clotting. 

  While more studies are needed, this study suggest what we've seen time  and again: you literally get healthier by plugging into the earth, even for brief periods of time such as your barefoot walks. In this case, your blood gets thinner and healthier; helping it flow better. And it means, in Dr. Chevalier's words, " If Earthing affects blood as we have seen in this pilot investigation, that means Earthing really affects the metabolism of the entire body at the cellular level. This further supports our hypothesis that grounded people have a different physiology than people who are ungrounded. As more research rolls out, we may find that we need to rewrite physiology books!"

  In Michael Sandler's case, with barefoot walking he was on the world's  largest dose of anti-inflammatory and healing drugs, all in one, just by plugging into the ground.

  It turns out that planet Earth has a frequency, or a heartbeat, called the Schumann resonance, of approximately 7.83 hertz (Hz). This number 7.83 is important because it's approximately the same frequency our human brain use. In other words, we exist to vibrate at the same frequency or heartbeat as our planet earth does.
  
We vibrate in sync with the world around us. When our environment is out of sync, we're out of sync too, which can have significant harmful effects on our bodies and minds. Studies are showing that when our environment is not vibrating at approximately 7.83 hertz ー for instance, in an environment bombarded by cell phone signals and electromagnetic waves from all sorts of other devices (which some call "electro-pollution"), human brain wave function can be disturbed, causing ADD-like symptoms, depression, and other psychological conditions along with a number of medical conditions. Unfortunately, as cell phone use becomes more ubiquitous , found everywhere, electro-pollution continues to rise, as do corresponding health risks. We're not even safe in our beds at home; we're still bombarded by electrical radiation as we sleep , from cell phone signals, household electrical appliances, the hidden wiring in the walls behind our beds, and even microwave towers miles away. 

  While the earth's frequency averages 7.83 hertz, it cycles throughout the day, peaking twice, around 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. wherever you are in the world. 





These peaks help keep our bodies in tune with the twenty-four -hour cycle of the planet. Since our bodies and minds are in tune with the earth, these cycles give us our circadian rhythm or internal twenty-four-hour clock, helping us naturally know when to rise and when to sleep. However, when our environment's overload with artificially created electromagnetic radiation, we're thrown out of sync with the natural circadian rhythm.
  Being barefoot for just a few minutes a day may not be enough to bring you back to sync. It's not just a matter of dissipating the charges, but of re-synchronizing ourselves with the cycles and vibration of the earth. This takes time, such as long barefoot walks, runs, or hikes daily ( or even twice daily, following the cycle of the earth).

  Additionally, being barefoot for a few minutes each day doesn't protect us from the harmful electromagnetic frequencies we're virtually swimming in. To protect ourselves, we must be grounded. 

Earthing: The Most Important Health Discovery Ever?

Earthing: The Most Important Health Discovery Ever?
By Martin Zucker – Townsend Letter, May 2010

 The old people came literally to love the soil. They sat on the ground with the feeling of being close to a mothering power. It was good for the skin to touch the Earth, and the old people liked to remove their moccasins and walk with their bare feet on the sacred Earth. The soil was soothing, strengthening, cleansing, and healing.
 Ota Kte (Luther Standing Bear)
 Lakota Sioux writer, educator, and tribal leader

Throughout evolution, humans walked barefoot and slept on the ground and received from the Earth a natural, nurturing, and gentle electric energy. You likely have experienced this form of energy yourself some time or another. Maybe while on vacation and walking barefoot on a sandy beach, you felt some tingling or some warmth in your feet. A sense of well-being. That sensation is the ground's electric energy rising up into your body, the result of the skin of your conductive body making contact with the "skin" of the conductive Earth.

Modern lifestyle has increasingly separated humans from this flow of subtle omnipresent surface energy. We wear insulative rubber or plastic soled shoes that block the flow. Obviously, we no longer sleep on the ground as we did in times past.

Research is now revealing that this energy creates a distinct and uplifting shift in the physiology. It promotes health, vitality, and better sleep; harmonizes and stabilizes the body's basic biological rhythms; knocks down (and even knocks out) chronic inflammation; and reduces and eliminates pain. The disconnect from this natural resource right under our feet may likely be a totally overlooked – and major– factor behind the alarming rise of chronic disease in recent decades, and inflammatory-related conditions in particular.

These revelations are central themes of a new book, Earthing (Basic Health Publications), that I have had the privilege to write. My coauthors are Stephen Sinatra, M.D., the well-known integrative cardiologist, and Clint Ober, a most amazing individual who discovered the health benefits of reconnecting to the Earth. 

Dr. Sinatra describes this discovery as the most exciting health breakthrough that he has
encountered in his 30-plus years in medicine. He sees it as a profoundly simple, practical, effective, and cost-cutting way to combat common illnesses and pain problems, and make people healthier. In his own field of cardiology, he says it has great promise for improving arrhythmia, blood pressure, blood viscosity and flow, and energy production of heart cells. He recently completed a pilot study of the electrodynamics (zeta potential) of blood which indicates that Earthing improves viscosity and flow. The study was inspired by an informal experiment which he conducted utilizing darkfield microscopy that produced dramatic changes in blood cell aggregation after only 40 minutes of Earthing. The changes are seen in the images in Figure 1 (next page). 

Here are some of the main points in our book:

• Earthing, or grounding, as we alternatively call it, refers to the discovery of significant health benefits resulting from contact with the Earth's natural surface electric energy. Contact is as simple as walking barefoot outside, or sitting, working, or sleeping indoors connected to conductive devices that transfer the outside ground energy inside to you.

Page 2 – Earthing: The Most Important Health Discovery Ever?

Fig 11-1. The reproductions above represent dark-field microscope images of blood taken from three individuals in attendance at Dr. Sinatra house just before and after forty minutes of grounding. The before image is on the left side, the after on the right. The pictures clearly show a dramatic thinning and decoupling of blood cells.

• These indoor devices are connected via a wire to a properly grounded electrical outlet inside
homes, offices, and clinics, or to a ground rod outside. They incorporate carbon or silver mesh to
conduct the Earth's energy. The devices include special cotton sheets or pads allowing you to
sleep "grounded" in your bed; floor or desk pads allowing you to work or relax grounded; and
Velcro body bands and standard medical EKG patches, with a grounding connection, applied to
body parts to address local pain and inflammation. The patches have been used repeatedly in
Earthing research and have excellent potential for use in clinical settings.

Page 3 – Earthing: The Most Important Health Discovery Ever?

• Thousands of people – adults and children – have benefited from these devices for more than a
decade. Their experiences, as documented in the book, are extraordinary. Victorious American sponsored cycling teams at recent Tour de France competitions used Earthing "sleeping bags" to
recover dramatically faster than normal from injuries and grueling competition.

• We all live and function electrically on an electrical planet. We are each of us a collection of
dynamic electrical circuits. In the living matrix of our complex bodies, trillions of cells constantly
transmit and receive energy in the course of their programmed biochemical reactions. The
movement of nutrients and water into the cells is regulated by electric fields, and each type of cell
has a frequency range in which it operates. Your heart, brain, nervous system, muscles, and
immune system are prime examples of electrical subsystems operating within your "bioelectrical"
body. The fact is, all of your movements, behaviors, and actions are energized by electricity.
Earthing research demonstrates that connection to the Earth initiates an immediate electro-physiological shift inside your body indicative of improved blood, nervous system, immune system, and muscular function.

• In electricity, all electrical systems are "grounded"; that is, stabilized by the electrical energy of the Earth's surface. Without a ground, appliances or sophisticated medical devices would not work
properly. Similarly, when connected to the Earth, the body receives an electric signal that
normalizes and stabilizes its many biological systems and mechanisms. This signal also appears
to be the source of negatively charged free electrons, present in unlimited quantity on the surface of the Earth. The hypothesis put forward by scientists involved in Earthing research is that the
transfer of electrons into the body quenches or neutralizes positively charged, electron-seeking
free radicals that drive chronic inflammation activity at the core of many common diseases. We
suggest that the mightiest anti-inflammatory on the planet may be the very planet itself! We
further suggest that destructive chronic inflammation may be the result of an electron deficiency that is remedied by contact with the Earth's infinite reservoir of free electrons.

• Just as sunlight provides us with vitamin D, the Earth provides us with another essential
ingredient. Call it vitamin G: G for ground. We regard it as an overlooked factor in disease
causation – a missing link. Gary Schwartz, Ph.D., a professor of psychology and medicine at the
University of Arizona, suggests that "Earthing may be as fundamental as sunlight, air, water, and
nutrients."

Earthing's Fascinating Discovery
Throughout the history of civilization, cultures around the world honored connectedness to the Earth and described the energy of the Earth in different ways. Some may be familiar to you, such as Earth
Qi in Traditional Chinese Medicine and Prana in Ayurveda.
Until now, however, the distinct health benefits of this energy have remained largely unknown.
Thanks to the curiosity and persistence of Clint Ober, a pioneer of the cable TV industry, the benefits are surfacing. At one point, Ober headed the largest cable TV installation company in the US. In
1993, at the age of 49, at the height of success, he became deathly ill – the result of an abscess that nearly destroyed his liver. Ober recovered from the ordeal and decided to shed his possessions and
look for a higher purpose in life. He traveled throughout the US for four years in an RV, looking for, as he put it, "my mission". He found it one day in Sedona, Arizona, on a park bench, while watching
the passing tourist parade. He became aware that almost everybody wore synthetic soled shoes. He
wondered if such footwear, which had increasingly replaced leather since the 1960s, could have an
effect on health.

Page 4 – Earthing: The Most Important Health Discovery Ever?

It occurred to him rather innocently that he and most everyone else around him were insulated from the electrical surface charge of the Earth. His thoughts went back to his years in television and cable.
Before cable, you may remember, TV images were commonly afflicted with flecks, "snow," or disturbing lines from electromagnetic interference. In the cable industry, systems in every home are grounded and shielded to prevent outside signals and fields from interfering with the transmission carried through the cable. The cable consists of an inner copper conductor, an insulating layer, and
an outer shield. The shield is electrically connected to the Earth – to a ground rod. This is the principle of grounding – connecting electrical systems in homes, buildings, and industry to the 
Earth's energy field in order to provide electrical stability and protect them from errant electrical charges.
Could this energy field also protect the body from ubiquitous environmental electrical charges (EMFs)
thought by many to be an insidious health hazard? Could it provide stability to the body? These
were questions that Ober raised. He knew that the body is conductive; that is, it conducts electricity.
So he performed a simple experiment on himself. He rigged up a crude conductive grid to fit on his
bed. He took an alligator clip and attached it to the grid, connected a wire to it, ran the wire out 
the window, and fastened it to a ground rod outside. He then lay down on the grid and measured the
voltage on his body. He found that when he was "grounded," the EMFs on his body had
disappeared. The voltage of his body was near zero, the same as the voltage, or potential in
electrical terms, as the surface of the Earth. The next thing Ober knew, it was morning. He had
fallen asleep and slept soundly for the first time in years – and without a pill. This was a big deal for
him. He suffered with constant back pain and disturbed sleep. He took painkillers to sleep at night
and again in the morning to get through the day.
He repeated the experiment every night for a week. Same results. Moreover, he noticed that his
pain had decreased significantly. He then decided to tell some friends about his little experiment.
They asked if he would make them a grid for their beds. He did. They had similar results: better
sleep and less pain.
Ober contacted university sleep researchers looking for an explanation. Nobody knew anything 
about this. Nobody was interested. So he decided to find out himself. Armed with tips he received from
friendly undergraduate research students, he set off, a nonscientist, on a scientific odyssey. Twelve
years later, he is still at it. He has inspired and brilliantly organized a dozen studies with scientific
experts that have thoroughly validated his initial personal observations of better sleep and reduced
pain. They clearly show that Earthing has a powerful influence on the delicate balance between
health and illness, and the prospect of living longer and better. During this time, he continually
developed and refined indoor Earthing systems for use in studies and to make available to interested
individuals. He found that after someone experiences less pain and better sleep from 
sleeping grounded, they want all their relatives and friends to experience the same thing.

Earthing Triggers Physiological Normalization
For me, the concept of reconnecting to the Earth has revealed one of Nature's great healing secrets.
On a personal note, I experienced an immediate cessation of annoying restless legs syndrome when
I started sleeping grounded two years ago. I sleep grounded now whether I am at home or traveling.
Over time, the also annoying need to get up at night to pee, typical of men my age (72), has
substantially abated. Some nights I get up once. Others not at all. A couple of my friends have had
the same results. My wife has less pain from substantial musculoskeletal issues as a result of sleeping grounded and
using grounded EKG patches during the day. One woman who transcribes for me wanted a
conductive bedsheet after hearing and transcribing some of the interviews of doctors and patients ...

(Page 5 – Earthing: The Most Important Health Discovery Ever?)

... that I did for the book. After she started sleeping grounded, she told me that she was "absolutely
amazed." Not a single flare-up of her fibromyalgia pain.
To quickly experience Earthing yourself, just walk or sit barefoot on grass, sand, gravel, or unpainted
concrete – ground surfaces that conduct energy. Wood, asphalt, and plastic do not conduct. Stay 
for at least a half-hour or so and at the end of that time you will notice you are calmer, and if you 
had pain to begin with, it will be less, or maybe even gone.

Biophysicist James Oschman, Ph.D., a leading expert and author on energy medicine, sums up 
Earthing this way: "The moment your foot touches the Earth, or you connect to the Earth through a
wire, your physiology changes. An immediate normalization begins. And an anti-inflammatory 
switch is turned on. People stay inflamed because they never connect with the Earth, the source of free
electrons which can neutralize the free radicals in the body that cause disease and cellular
destruction."
Please read the book to learn the full story, the research details, and the dramatic feedback from
doctors and patients. There is much in the book that will interest sophisticated, open-minded
practitioners and health-oriented readers of this publication. You will be amazed, as I was, by the
primordial power and promise of this concept.

The Benefits of Earthing
For more than ten years, Earthing research and feedback from individuals who have grounded
themselves, primarily while sleeping at night, demonstrate a multitude of benefits. Here is a 
short list of them:
 • improvement or elimination of the symptoms of many inflammation-related disorders
 • reduction or elimination of chronic pain
 • better sleep and faster to sleep
 • increased energy
 • lowered stress, more calmness by cooling down the nervous system and stress hormones
 • normalization of the body’s biological rhythms
 • thinner blood, improved blood pressure and flow
 • muscle tension and headache relief
 • lessened hormonal and menstrual symptoms
 • dramatically faster healing and reduction/prevention of bedsores
 • reduction/elimination of jet lag
 • protection against potentially health-disturbing environmental electromagnetic fields (EMFs)
 • accelerated recovery from intense athletic activity

Earthing Research
The studies to date on Earthing provide proof of concept for the Earth’s surface energy having
significant physiological and health benefits. They include the following:
Sleeping grounded normalizes cortisol level and improves sleep. Ghaly M, Teplitz D. J Alt Comp Med. 2004;10(5)767–776.

Cortisol Levels Before and After Grounding
In unstressed individuals, the normal 24-hour cortisol secretion profile follows a predictable 
pattern –lowest around 12 midnight and highest at 8 a.m. (Graph A). The pregrounding chart (Graph B) shows ...

(Page 6 – Earthing: The Most Important Health Discovery Ever?)

... wide variation of patterns among 12 Earthing study participants. Graph C represents altered pattern
after six weeks of Earthing, showing a significant stabilization of cortisol levels. (Data adapted from
the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2004.)
Applewhite R. 

Electrons move from the Earth to the body when the body is grounded and grounding
powerfully reduces EMFs on the body. Euro Biol Bioelectromag. 2005;1:23–40. Chevalier G et al. 

Earthing produces unique electrical function in brain and muscles. Euro Biol Bioelectromag. 2006;600–621. Chevalier G et al. 

"Expressways" of electron transfer from the Earth into the body run through highly conductive water-control meridians (involving K-1 and UB). Subtle Energy & Energy Med. 2007;18(3):11–34.
Chevalier G. 

Electrophysiological measurements indicating more efficient cardiovascular, respiratory, and nervous system function. J Alt Comp Med. 2010;16(1):81–87. Brown R et al. 

Less inflammation, faster recovery from exercise-induced delayed onset muscle soreness. J Alt Comp Med. March 2010.

Preliminary results from in progress animal study show significant improvement of biochemical factors associated with metabolic syndrome in humans. For a scientific description of electron transfer in the body, see Oschman JL.
 Can electrons act asantioxidants? – a review and commentary. J Alt Comp Med 2007;13(9):955–967.

For additional information, refer to Earthing (the book) and visit the website
www.earthinginstitute.net.
About the author: Martin Zucker has written or coauthored fifteen books, including Earthing, Move Yourself (Wiley), Reverse Heart Disease Now (Wiley), and Natural Hormone Balance for Women
(Atria/Pocket Books). He is a former Associated Press newsman.

http://www.townsendletter.com/May2010/earthing0510.html

Clint Ober, the Father of Earthing

Clint Ober is a true pioneer in the field of grounding, or what he termed "Earthing." A former cable television network expert, he lost his health and nearly his life after an infection from a root canal compromised 80 percent of his liver. The infection spread throughout his entire body and he was given just months to live. However, after experimental surgery his liver grew back to its original size. 

During the healing process, he experienced a paradigm shift. In his book Earthing (click here to look inside the book) : The Most Important Health Discovery Ever?. 


he wrote, "A stark realization came over me that I did not really own my home and the mountain of possession I had. Rather, they owned me." He sold his possessions and business, bought an RV*, ( A recreational vehicle (RV) is, in North America, the usual term for a motor vehicle or trailer equipped with living space and amenities found in a home. ), and spent four(4) years driving around the country in search of his purpose in life. In meditation, he thought, " I want to do something different. Whatever time I have left I want to dedicate it to something worthwhile and with purpose."







  One day he sat on the bay in Key largo, Florida, and asked for guidance. When he returned to the RV, he hear these words: " Become an opposite charge." Years later, thinking about static electricity ( which caused "snow" and white lines on TV) he wondered if being insulated from the ground in footwear would have an effect on people' health. He realized that electronic and electrical equipment had to be grounded and thought perhaps humans do too. 

  And thus began his quest. First he developed a grounding pad that could connect someone with the earth when indoors ( he simply calls it an " extension cord" for the earth). He performed a humble study showing that of the people who used the grounding pad,  


Grounding Pad ⇧

85 percent went to sleep more quickly, 
93 percent reported sleeping better throughout the night, 
82 percent experienced a significant  reduction in muscle stiffness. 74 percent experienced elimination or reduction of chronic back and joint pain, 
100 percent reported feeling more rested when they woke up, and 
78 percent reported improved general health. This was just the beginning of a long career in research on the effects of grounding.

  Clint Ober's research is a major reason we now have science starting to catch up with what we intuitively know: that getting grounded is good for us. 

  When you touch the ground, barefoot or barehand, something special, almost magical happens. Or perhaps we should say that something electrical happens. Because when you touch the ground, you're connected electrically with the earth.



  Look at it this way: the earth is a giant negatively charged electrical battery. That's why our electronic equipment is grounded and why electrical plugs have a third, grounding prong.





  Anything disconnected from the earth tends to hold a positive charge (which is why there are electrical storms or why your hair stands on end, particularly in the winter). How many times have you shuffled across the carpet and then zapped someone? Shocking!

  That static charge is harmful. For example, computer chip makers avoid static electricity because it can fry a circuit board. Anyone who works around gunpowder or fills up at gas stations knows the danger of stray sparks causing an explosion.
  Those charges build up in our human bodies. The earth was always there to take the hit, so to speak. But along the way, we became disconnected from Mother Earth. Not grounded directly. Our ancestors walked barefoot or in leather-soled sandals. Leather soaked with sweat is a good conductor. They slept on the earth, tilled the earth with bare-hands, and, in a very real sense, were one with the earth.
  Not so today. Because we're insulated from the ground, that static electricity charge builds up ー with no place to go.
  When you slip off your shoes at the end of a day work, walk barefoot through the grass, or squish your toes on a sandy beach, you're not just draining tension away, you are off-loading the excess positive charge clinging onto and in your body. You're plugging back into the earth, getting grounded, and getting your  dose of vitamin G. we call it vitamin G for "Ground," but maybe we should call it vitamin G for "Good."

  Here's some more good stuff. When it comes to injuries and disease, the number one word you'll hear doctors use is inflammation. It's linked to high blood pressure, heart disease, various cancers, diabetes, autoimmune diseases, and plenty more of our modern ills.
  And where does this inflammation come from? One major source of inflammation is free radicals, those pesky little electrically charged buggers we're all trying to get rid of by taking antioxidants such as vitamins A, C, and E.
  Think of free radicals as electrically imbalanced or electrically unstable charged particles in your human body. They are a by-product of metabolism and are also produced by your immune system (specifically by white blood cells) to go hunting for problems.



Trouble is, when they don't find something unhealthy to latch onto and clean up, or a way to be drained (grounded) from the body, they build up, creating inflammation and latching onto healthy tissue, causing damage. 

  Studies reported in the book Earthing: The Most Importance Health Discovery Ever? and in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine show that going barefoot reduces your excess charge, and voilà ― bye-bye free radicals, hello reduced inflammation, blood pressure, cortisol levels, stress, pain, and muscle tension. 






 Why Walking Barefoot Might Be an Essential Element of Good Health 

Story at-a-glance

• Walking barefoot outside or using conductive systems that transfer the Earth's electrons from the ground into your body, known as Earthing or grounding, is emerging as an essential element to good health
• Going barefoot allows you to “ground” with the Earth and absorb free electrons directly through the soles of your feet; this type of grounding has one of the most potent antioxidant effects we know of and may also reduce inflammation throughout your body
• Research shows grounding may play a profoundly beneficial role in sleep disturbances, stress relief, pain relief, heart rhythm, immune response and much more
• If you can’t walk outside barefoot due to weather or during air travel, a grounding pad can be used to harness the benefits of the Earth’s electrons even if you’re indoors

By Dr. Mercola

When's the last time you kicked off your shoes and reveled in the feeling of the Earth under your feet?

Been awhile?

It may sound hard to believe, but engaging in this simple pleasure could give your health a much-needed boost.

Often it is the case that engaging in activities that feel good on an intrinsic level really are good for your health -- like the feeling of the afternoon sun warming your bare skin.

Walking barefoot outside, with the soles of your feet free to mesh with the surface of the Earth – an activity known as Earthing, or grounding -- is another such case.

I have been personally intrigued with grounding for nearly seven years and have been seeking to ground myself most of the time.

This is a fascinating leading-edge concept, and I would strongly encourage you to carefully read the featured article for more details.

You are an Electrical Being, and the Earth's Surface is Electrically Conductive

You are an electrical being -- your body regularly produces positive charges, which can oxidize and harm you if it is excessive..

The Earth's surface is electrically conductive; it maintains a negative charge with its free electron supply continually replenished by the global atmospheric electrical circuit.

As such, as reported in the Journal of Environmental and Public Health:

"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. 

… Mounting evidence suggests that the Earth's negative potential can create a stable internal bioelectrical environment for the normal functioning of all body systems. Moreover, oscillations of the intensity of the Earth's potential may be important for setting the biological clocks regulating diurnal body rhythms, such as cortisol secretion."

There is growing research showing that this connection to the Earth's surface plays a vital role in preventing disease and offers a host of benefits from improved sleep to pain relief. The problem, of course, is that while humans have historically spent much of their days with their bare skin next to the Earth (both while walking and sleeping, including on animal skins, which still allow electrons to enter the body), today this vital connection has been lost.

Researchers continue:

"Throughout history, humans mostly walked barefoot or with footwear made of animal skins. They slept on the ground or on skins. Through direct contact or through perspiration-moistened animal skins used as footwear or sleeping mats, the ground's abundant free electrons were able to enter the body, which is electrically conductive. Through this mechanism, every part of the body could equilibrate with the electrical potential of the Earth, thereby stabilizing the electrical environment of all organs, tissues, and cells.

Modern lifestyle has increasingly separated humans from the primordial flow of Earth's electrons. For example, since the 1960s, we have increasingly worn insulating rubber or plastic soled shoes, instead of the traditional leather fashioned from hides… Obviously, we no longer sleep on the ground as we did in times past."

What Happens When You Absorb Free Electrons from the Earth?

The scientific theory behind the health benefits seen from this simple practice is that since the Earth has a greater negative charge than your body, you end up absorbing electrons from it. This is, in my understanding, one of the most potent antioxidants we know of and may have an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effect on your body. As written in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine:1

"It is well established, though not widely known, that the surface of the earth possesses a limitless and continuously renewed supply of free or mobile electrons as a consequence of a global atmospheric electron circuit. Wearing shoes with insulating soles and/or sleeping in beds that are isolated from the electrical ground plane of the earth have disconnected most people from the earth's electrical rhythms and free electrons.

… A previous study demonstrated that connecting the human body to the earth during sleep (earthing) normalizes the daily cortisol rhythm and improves sleep. A variety of other benefits were reported, including reductions in pain and inflammation.  Subsequent studies have confirmed these earlier findings and documented virtually immediate physiologic and clinical effects of grounding or earthing the body."

To put it simply, it's thought that the influx of free electrons from the Earth's surface will help to neutralize free radicals and reduce both acute and chronic inflammation, which is at the root of many health conditions and accelerated aging.

A Review of Earthing Research Shows Significant Benefits

In a new article published in the Journal of Environmental and Public Health2, researchers reviewed the Earthing research, revealing an impressive impact on a variety of health conditions. Most of the studies involved indoor testing methods that simulated being barefoot outdoors. This was found to offer improvements in the following conditions:

Sleep disturbances, including sleep apnea	Chronic muscle and joint pain, and other types of pain	Asthmatic and respiratory conditions	Rheumatoid arthritis
PMS	Hypertension	Energy levels	Stress
Immune system activity and response	Heart rate variability	Primary indicators of osteoporosis	Fasting glucose levels among people with diabetes

Another invaluable benefit is this: when your body is grounded, researchers write, "its electrical potential becomes equalized with the Earth's electrical potential through a transfer of electrons from the Earth to the body." This, in turn, offers an "umbrella" of protection against the electromagnetic fields that are now ubiquitous in our environment. The paper continues:

"The study confirms the 'umbrella' effect of earthing the body explained by Nobel Prize winner Richard Feynman in his lectures on electromagnetism. Feynman said that when the body's potential is the same as the Earth's electric potential (and thus grounded), it becomes an extension of the Earth's gigantic electric system. The Earth's potential thus becomes the "working agent that cancels, reduces, or pushes away electric fields from the body."

Most of the scientists working in this area now believe that the beneficial effects are mediated through reduction in inflammation and a thinning of the blood. In fact the blood thinning effect is so profound that if you are taking blood thinners it is recommended to immediately consult with your doctor, as most likely your blood thinner will need to be lowered.

Two Ways to Make Sure You Stay Grounded

The effects of grounding appear to be so profound that researchers suggest health practitioners prescribe outdoor "barefoot sessions" as the weather permits. This is as simple as it sounds – you kick off your shoes and socks and walk barefoot on the grass, the dirt, the sand or whatever "Earth" is available to you. Studies suggest that benefits such as pain relief and stress reduction may occur in just 30-80 minutes of barefoot time a day.

This can obviously be a challenge during the winter, or if you live in an urban area without easy access to parks or other barefoot-friendly surfaces, so the other option is to use a grounding or Earthing pad, which allows you to get the benefits of the Earth's electrons even if you're indoors, especially when you're sleeping. I've been using one for several months now, especially when I travel by plane, as air travel is a suspected cause of weakening bio-electric currents.

So, like access to regular sun exposure, walking barefoot outside is a grossly neglected foundational practice that you can easily correct. In the Journal of Environmental and Public Health, researchers concluded:

"Emerging evidence shows that contact with the Earth—whether being outside barefoot or indoors connected to grounded conductive systems—may be a simple, natural, and yet profoundly effective environmental strategy against chronic stress, ANS [autonomic nervous system] dysfunction, inflammation, pain, poor sleep, disturbed HRV [heart rate variability], hypercoagulable blood, and many common health disorders, including cardiovascular disease.

The research done to date supports the concept that grounding or earthing the human body may be an essential element in the health equation along with sunshine, clean air and water, nutritious food, and physical activity."