Get your free electrons here! Bare feet on bare ground … nothing cheaper for balancing your body voltage. Oh, by the way, electrons are reducing agents – a term that has been convoluted for public consumption under the newish descriptor, antioxidant. Everything good about your health depends on your redox (reduction-oxidation) state, which is fueled by – you guessed it! – electrons. Here is what you should know about these phenomenal little subatomic particles that just may surprise you. You will certainly want to get your share of ‘free’ electrons after you read this.

Yes, Electrons Can Be Free

Earth is charged by electrons from lightning strikes that hit the ground about 100 times per second, or as much as 8 million times per day worldwide. When you are grounded – i.e., connected to the ground – this is the source of electrons that can balance out your redox state.

If you have heard about the evils of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that damage your body, then you will understand why it is so important to have a cadre of antioxidants standing by to cancel them out. Our bodies even make some of these antioxidants – glutathione and super oxide dismutase being two of the better known ones. Supplemental vitamin C and E, flavonoids from plants, lycopene from tomatoes, resveratrol in red wine (yes!), fish oils, and lots of goodies in food add to the list.

Sometimes all these wonderful ingredients are referred to as anti-inflammatory. This is sensible, since virtually all Diseases of Civilization are based on chronic inflammation.

If we look at the chemistry of antioxidants (i.e., reducing agents) we realize that they all donate electrons to quench nasty oxidants (inflammatories) somewhere. Getting electrons from food and supplements is fine, even necessary.

However, getting them from the most abundant and available source on Earth – the Earth itself – is even better. And all you have to do is get grounded to soak them up. Standing barefoot on bare ground is all it takes to take in all the free electrons you can handle.

A Peek at Some Research

Our ancestors were grounded all the time … either going barefoot or sleeping on the ground or wading and swimming (especially in super-conductive sea water). Unfortunately, modern inventions such as rubber-soled shoes and insulated flooring have removed us from the ground. This disconnect has created a redox imbalance, which in standard English means chronic inflammation.

That is the theory, anyway. Only relatively recently, however, have researchers been looking at the seemingly obvious links between grounding and good health.

An entire new industry has grown out of this topic, probably best outlined in this book, Earthing: The Most Important Health Discovery Ever? (The term ‘earthing’ is the new-agey way to refer to ‘grounding’. Same thing.)

Now you can do much more than stand barefoot on bare ground to get grounded: you can sleep on grounded sheets, wear grounded shoes, use grounding mats at your desk or while watching TV, sit on grounding mats while your drive, wear grounded patches, etc., etc.

Regardless of how you do it, the simple message is just to connect with the ground.

Modern research is catching up. The leader in the field (pardon the pun) seems to be The Earthing Institute, where you can find an impressive list of studies with links to them here: Earthing Research Studies.

Research is still emerging on the health benefits of grounding. Nevertheless, so far the list includes the following:

• Reducing inflammation
• Reducing chronic pain
• Improving sleep
• Increasing energy
• Lowering stress and promoting calmness by reducing stress hormones
• Normalizing biological rhythms including circadian rhythm (CRUCIAL!)
• Improving blood pressure and blood flow
• Relieving muscle tension and headache
• Lessening menstrual and female hormone symptoms
• Speeding up healing (used in some places to prevent bed sores)
• Eliminating jet lag
• Protecting the body from non-native Electro-Magnetic Fields (which are everywhere!)
• Shortening recovery time from injury or athletic activity
• Reducing or eliminating snoring
• Supporting adrenal health

Let’s take a look at just a couple of these to see what some of the the truly thoughtful medical folks have been discovering.

Some days it seems that almost everyone I know is suffering from inflammation of some kind and is taking drugs to counteract it. Drugs that are absolutely unnecessary when you get enough electron power!

Reducing Inflammation and Chronic Pain

Inflammation often goes hand in hand with pain, especially in joints. One of the most impressive benefits of grounding is eliminating joint pain. Pictures show a lot at a glance, so take a look at this image from Dr. Stephen Sinatra, one of the co-authors on the Earthing book mentioned earlier.

Think about what this means. The standard medical concept about inflammation relies on abnormal biochemistry, which does not fully account for the underlying problem. It is really an electrical problem – i.e., a deficiency in antioxidant electrons (sorry, that is redundant). Focusing on biochemical treatments for an electrical problem explains why painkillers and steroids give you absolutely no chance for healing.

Improving Blood Pressure and Blood Flow

This represents yet another issue that modern medicine explains as a problem of abnormal biochemistry. As with inflammation, however, it is really an electrical problem. If blood cells hold sufficient negative charge, they will repel one another enough to improve blood flow. The image below also comes from Dr. Sinatra (a cardiologist, by the way).

If you have ‘sticky’ blood cells, your blood flow is more like that of ketchup and you may be prone to clot formation. The biochemical treatment usually consists of blood-thinning drugs. However, that won’t do anything for correcting the underlying deficiency of electrons.

Anti-Grounding Culprits

Most of us spend the bulk of our time insulated from Earth’s electrons. If you wear modern shoes all day, live in a house with wood or carpeted flooring, work in an office just about anywhere (esp. above the first floor), sleep in an elevated bed (who doesn’t?), spend any time at all with modern technology (e.g., computer, cell phone), eat much in the way of carbs (ultra-low in electron power) or generally just fail to connect with the Earth … your redox state is far too oxidative.

That is a fancy way to say you’re far from healthy and in need of a good, regular dose of electrons directly from the Earth around you.

Now What?

There are so many ways to get the electrons you need that are truly cost-free.

Live long and prosper … with the best antioxidant on Earth.

Now go out and stand on your lawn barefoot for few minutes! Besides getting all the goodness for your health, you might even enjoy it!

All the best in electronic health,

Dr. D