Does earthing (grounding) actually work for your health?

Earthing (or 'grounding') means direct physical contact with the earth's surface -- for example, walking barefoot or sleeping on a conductive system. Several small studies and reviews report reductions in inflammatory markers, pain and sleep problems, along with improved mood and higher energy levels. The strongest study in this collection is a small double-blind RCT involving sixteen massage therapists: four weeks of 'grounded' working and sleeping produced significant improvements in fatigue, pain and physical functioning compared with the ungrounded period. Some effects were still present a month after the study ended.

Yet this body of research has a clear problem: its foundation is narrow. Sixteen participants is too few to draw firm conclusions, and most of the reviews come from the same research group that also promotes the proposed mechanisms. Independent large-scale studies are entirely lacking.

In the laboratory, grounded energy factories within cells (mitochondria) showed 5 to 11 percent greater energy production and 22 to 33 percent less harmful waste products. That is a striking finding, but it comes from a test conducted outside the body. Whether this also occurs in living humans has not yet been investigated.

For Alzheimer's disease and cardiovascular health, the evidence remains at the level of theorising. The authors themselves acknowledge that no clinical trials have been conducted in Alzheimer's patients at all. Some of the available reviews were also published in a special themed issue on earthing, which increases the likelihood that positive results have been over-represented.