Flux Health Forum

Grounding or Earthing veracity

Attn: Dr. Bob, your thoughts on earthing/grounding?

When the body and the Earth’s surface come in contact, their potential equalizes. Since the Earth’s surface is the most negatively charged of the 2 conductors, electrons are transferred from the Earth’s surface to the body. Maintaining the contact between the 2 conductors results in a constant exchange of low frequency electromagnetic fields and electrons that prevent external electromagnetic field to penetrate the body (this is especially true for external low frequency electromagnetic fields, i.e. less than 100,000 Hz) thus maintaining the internal electrical condition of the body into a homeostatic electrical state stabilizing our body’s internal electrical environment. This is the Faraday cage effect.

Some critics have absurdly claimed that it is harmful to ground yourself in the presence of EMFs or that the EMFs will interfere with the grounding process. They say that your body will act as an antenna and draw these EMFs into your body. First of all, there is no such evidence for any of this. Quite to the contrary, the grounding studies have been conducted in homes, offices, and facilities where EMFs were present. Two studies (references 20 and 21) show that grounding significantly reduces voltage induced on the body from EMFs. The first, the Applewhite study from 2005, showed a voltage reduction by a factor of at least 70. The Brown study, conducted in 2015, showed that even being close to a monitor, desk lamp, scanner and wireless phone, the AC current generated though the body of a grounded person from their combined EMF emissions is less than 1,800 the minimum perceptible current (1 milliampere) at a distance of 3 feet and less than 380 times while touching the lamp. Such a current is absolutely negligible. Not one of the 50 subjects who participated in the study felt anything.

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I am not an expert, but my general thoughts on grounding are quite favorable. I think grounding is very helpful, it helps me in a noticeable way (much better steady calmness).

My general thoughts on (most) internet critics and opinion leaders: as we all know, there are way too many people on the internet who pretend to know things, who are really pretty ignorant, but they need attention and a place to make noise. Keep in mind: it only takes a few seconds to tell a lie or to spin a BS story, but it generally takes a few million dollars and a decade or more to discover and prove any truth that relates to health or biology.

Probably the best strategy is to view anything you hear on the internet as “entertainment”, and if you hear anything interesting or important, you should promptly seek contrary opinions. DO NOT SEEK CONFIRMATION or you will get sucked into the vortex of confirmation bias. Seek intelligent opinions that challenge what you want to hear. Check the credibility of sources.

It takes real work to really know real things.

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I’m not Bob obviously but I also have a grounding mat on my cushioned rocking chair that I sit on every evening about 4-5hrs each evening. I usually have my C5 on me, and occasionally a small tens pad-based Rife machine from Iceland about the same size as the C5. I use all simultaneously while reading, working on the computer or watching TV. I feel a significant boost and recharge at the end of each day.

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@OptimalHealth noticed an increase in HRV / decrease in Garmin stress score (which is based on increased HRV) and has shared multiple posts on grounding/earthing on this forum. I have noticed my HRV (as measured by an Apple Watch) indeed significantly increasing (>20%) after several weeks of using a grounding/earthing mat when sleeping. My personal experience of feeling calmer seems to jive with @Bob saying he experiences much better steady calmness.

Thanks to @OptimalHealth for suggesting that correlation or even possible causation. I’ll keep tracking my stats and provide an update several more weeks out.

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glad to hear you are finding numbers that correlate with grounding similar to my results!

great vid about grounding