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I Have confirmed that earthing does improve HRV (and vagal tone) instantly.

serg1942

Senior Member
Messages
543
Location
Spain
Hi everybody,

After reading 2 studies where grounding (to the electric outlet) adults and preterm babies did clearly improve their HRV (heart rate variability), I decided to try it myself.

I have taken 7 blinded measures on my partner and I (we are both bedridden from severe ME/CFS) and our HRV does invariably increase when grounded, around a 20-90%, depending on the measurement you compare.

This is a lot, according to studies. (I have also made this test once to a healthy person and her HRV increased around a 70-100%). The chances of these results being by chance are just 1 out of 256 (a P value of 99.6 %).

I have no idea if this could mean that grounding could be helpful for ME/CFS. But I guess that increasing the parasympathetic tone could be useful.

So far, grounding has hit the both of us pretty hard. We seem to be having a really hard detox/herxheimer reaction (it's hard to tell what's going on). Also my cortisol is trying to wake me in the morning (something unusual), and my sleep is deeper many nights.

Grounding has shown in studies to improve the cortisol cyrcadian curve, so my improvement in this area makes sense. However I don't understand the detox part.

Studies have also shown to increase microcirculation and to lower inflammation. Specifically, there's a study showing how grounding increases the Z potential of red blood cells. In other words, it augments the negative charges of RBCs, detaching this way the RBCs from each other, so making the blood thinner in the end. Perhaps this is allowing the body to detoxify better.

Supposedly, grounding gives you free electrons because you equalize to the electric potential of the earth (which is lower than ours when ungrounded), so essentially electrons move from the earth to the body (as happens with any electric circuit), and these electrons can be given where needed. For example, they could be used to quench free radicals, which lack an electron in the valence orbit. So, having an endless source of free electrons could actually have a really deep effect down the road (note that you can measure the change in voltage with a multimeter).

Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that I have found an instant way to increase my HRV instantly.

As an example, here are the results of my last measurement (lying down and 5 min test). As you can see, the "parasympathetic tone" which is indicated by the "HF" (high frequency) indicator, has increased a 70% , just after getting grounded. And, if we take a direct measurement of HRV, such as the RMSSD, we can see that it increased a 18 %.

I look forward to reading your thoughts on this, especially to knowing what you think is going on with the detox/herx reaction I am experiencing:

Ungrounded:

HF 739
LF 609
LF/HF 0.82
SDNN 49.9
RMSSD 36.9
Ln RMSSD 3.61
Average HR 70
Total Power 1348

Grounded:

HF 1259
LF 661
LF/HF 0.52
SDNN 49.2
RMSSD 43.8
Ln RMSSD 3.78
Average HR 67
Total power 1921

Thanks in advance for your inputs,

Sergio
 

Viala

Senior Member
Messages
639
Very interesting. I wonder what it could do if used for longer periods of time, like 2-4 hours daily on a regular basis. Probably the best would be direct earthing, bare feet on the grass for example, but using electric outlet is a more comfortable solution. I also wonder if it matters where one grounds, would the effect be the same when grounded in a garden outside of a city and in a highly populated area. I might try it myself.
 

Wishful

Senior Member
Messages
5,684
Location
Alberta
so essentially electrons move from the earth to the body (as happens with any electric circuit), and these electrons can be given where needed.

No, sorry, that is not true. Grounding changes the number of electrons on the surface of your skin (that's basic electrostatic physics). Those electrons do no involve themselves in chemical reactions inside the body. Check however many formulas for aqueous chemical reactions: none of them include a variable for total number of electrons in the solution. The rate in the body of quenching free radicals will remain constant whether the person is grounded, or sitting on a Van de Graff generator at millions of volts positive or negative. If the total charge of the container where the reactions take place did affect the chemical reactions, that would be a standard technique for adjusting reactions, and all commercial chemical factories would be monitoring and adjusting voltage compared to ground. You won't find it because it doesn't work.

I'm not saying that grounding can't possibly have an effect on human bodies. I'm just saying that basic physics says that it won't be by changing the number of electrons in the body or by involving themselves in chemical reactions in the body.

Humans can sense static charges to some degree, so that might have an effect. Static charges might affect the rate of dust binding to mucus membranes, or some other such phenomena that can be detected.
 

serg1942

Senior Member
Messages
543
Location
Spain
No, sorry, that is not true. Grounding changes the number of electrons on the surface of your skin (that's basic electrostatic physics). Those electrons do no involve themselves in chemical reactions inside the body. Check however many formulas for aqueous chemical reactions: none of them include a variable for total number of electrons in the solution. The rate in the body of quenching free radicals will remain constant whether the person is grounded, or sitting on a Van de Graff generator at millions of volts positive or negative. If the total charge of the container where the reactions take place did affect the chemical reactions, that would be a standard technique for adjusting reactions, and all commercial chemical factories would be monitoring and adjusting voltage compared to ground. You won't find it because it doesn't work.

I'm not saying that grounding can't possibly have an effect on human bodies. I'm just saying that basic physics says that it won't be by changing the number of electrons in the body or by involving themselves in chemical reactions in the body.

Humans can sense static charges to some degree, so that might have an effect. Static charges might affect the rate of dust binding to mucus membranes, or some other such phenomena that can be detected.

Isn't voltage just a difference in the concentration of negative/positive charges?Then, if an alternating magnetic field acts on our body it creates an alternating electric field in our cells, and an alternating voltage is created, which can be easily meassured with a voltimeter. It can vary from around 1 to 6 volts.

(note that the number of electrons are changed in the tissues, not just the skin. This is true at least for magnetic fields. Probably not for electric fields).

When you touch the earth, this potential drops to almost cero. In other words, our body equals to the potential of the earth, meaning that the negative charges move from earth to our body. This negative charges will prevent the initial magnetic field from inducing a voltage in our body. The only way I know of doing this is by increasing the negative charges of the body.

Also, electromagnetic fields do create free radicals in the body by opening the calcium voltage gated channels. By doing so they are increasing the body voltage in the tissues (not just the skin), and by doing so the number of positive charges in the body increase. I can give you the references if you want.

But, besides the exact mechanism, a very interesting study showed a higher membrane potential of RBCs induced by grounding. This actually means a higher potential difference between the RBCs membrane and the blood. I guess this must be due to a higher number of electrons or else I don't really know how to explain it.

Another difficult to explain phenomenom is the antiinflammatory effect. Grounding lowers the number of lymphocytes and neutrophils after exercising. Well, perhaps this is also related to less oxidative damage due to the more negative electric potential.

In any way, the HRV improves significantly, whatever the specific mechanism...,

EDIT: I forgot to comment that static electricity occurs when electrons are transfered from one surface to another. It is a sort of direct current. So electrons move from one atom to another, whatever the tissues or cell or molecule they belong to...
 
Last edited:

serg1942

Senior Member
Messages
543
Location
Spain
Very interesting. I wonder what it could do if used for longer periods of time, like 2-4 hours daily on a regular basis. Probably the best would be direct earthing, bare feet on the grass for example, but using electric outlet is a more comfortable solution. I also wonder if it matters where one grounds, would the effect be the same when grounded in a garden outside of a city and in a highly populated area. I might try it myself.
The only problem I have with grounding in the outlet is that if there is a high electric potential in your surrounding, your body voltage gets very high, and when you get grounded there's an actual current flowing from your body to earth, that can reach 2-3 microamps. This is not much, but as low as 12 microamps have been linked to cancer, so I'm not really comfortable in this context.

Other than this I don't see much of a difference. However, if you try it, please go slow, because the effects are impressively intense...
 

serg1942

Senior Member
Messages
543
Location
Spain
Grounding as in laying on the ground (physical contact with the earth)?
Yes, or it can be emulated by touching a surface that is connected to the earth prong in the outlet, such a conductive mat, sheet, bracelet, etc.
 

livinglighter

Senior Member
Messages
379
Grounding has been recommend a few times by ME specialists. I’m glad it’s working for you. I dismissed the idea at first but now I’ll give it a go given your results.
 

Boba

Senior Member
Messages
332
Grounding has been recommend a few times by ME specialists. I’m glad it’s working for you. I dismissed the idea at first but now I’ll give it a go given your results.
Reminds me of the proprioception measure of sleeping on hard surface.
 

Viala

Senior Member
Messages
639
Sounds a bit like homeopathy...

You can actually see the difference if you measure your body voltage before and after grounding. I did such measurements myself and the difference was obvious. Whether it affects the body long term and if it can be helpful, or detrimental, that's a different thing.

I think it can be helpful though, considering that humans in their history were grounded most of their life, shoes were entirely made of natural leather and there was not many insulating materials. Nowadays in the urban environment that's pretty hard unless we walk barefoot on the grass. So from that perspective we can say that the fact we are not grounded is something new and possibly can work against us, especially now that we have so much electronics around us. There are also other terms like dirty electricity, so this topic is a bit more complicated, there are other factors as well. But many processes in our bodies are electrical, we have our own electric fields, so being not grounded may not be a neutral thing.

There are couple of grounding sets that you can buy, but basically it will work with any electroconductive wire as long as it is grounded, connected to a rod placed in the ground or anything in your house that is grounded like some electric outlets or some pipes. You only need to touch that wire or a grounding mat if you use a grounding set. A word of caution if anyone would want to try that at home, please know well what you are doing before you try it, especially if someone wants to use an electric outlet.
 

Viala

Senior Member
Messages
639
The only problem I have with grounding in the outlet is that if there is a high electric potential in your surrounding, your body voltage gets very high, and when you get grounded there's an actual current flowing from your body to earth, that can reach 2-3 microamps. This is not much, but as low as 12 microamps have been linked to cancer, so I'm not really comfortable in this context.

That's exactly what troubles me, a lot depends on a place where we ground. Probably smart meters can also change the outcome.

Other than this I don't see much of a difference. However, if you try it, please go slow, because the effects are impressively intense...

Very good point! I wonder, which device did you use to measure your HRV?
 

serg1942

Senior Member
Messages
543
Location
Spain
How do you do that when being bedridden?
We are both bedridden 98% of the time. We can get up to go to the bathroom and to do some easy tasks at home though. So l should've said that we are house-bound and mostly bedridden.

Anyway, we are getting grounded by touching a mat that is on the bed, so it's not demanding (I wish we could go outside! :))