My Blog Log

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Importance of Earthing or Grounding

     I took a little hiatus from my blog and from triathlon over the winter. I took a long term teaching assignment and spent many hours preparing and focusing on that. Currently, I am training and preparing for some tri's late this summer. I have an Olympic distance in September and Half Iron distance coming in October. Taking a break from things we love is okay and sometimes even healthy. My neighbor even said, "We can't be into everything at all times." I think balance in life and in hobbies is really important.
     Speaking of balance, one of the things I like to blog about is nutrition and healthy living. I recently was doing some online research to find out some information on how to eat and stay healthy as an athlete during pre-menopause. I am a forty something approaching fifty. As I age it is important to me to stay as natural as possible. Many doctors feel that medication is the answer to many of our health issues. I believe in more of an Eastern philosophy where diet, exercise, and herbal supplements play a large roll in health. As I was surfing around looking for answers to women's aging health issues I discovered something called grounding or earthing.
     I was at the beach at the time, which later proved to be very helpful. But what is grounding or earthing? Earthing, or grounding as it is often called, simply means connecting to the Earth’s natural, negative surface charge by being barefoot outside or in bare skin contact with conductive systems indoors while you sleep, relax, or work. Connection with the Earth restores a lost electrical signal to the body that seems to stabilize the complicated circuitry of our essentially-electrical body.  Our built-in self-regulating and self-healing mechanisms become more effective.  There are head-to-toe improvements.  Better blood flow.  Less pain and inflammation.  More energy.
 Sounds simple right? Simply touching your bare feet to the ground can be beneficial.
      Dr. Laura Koniver, a general practitioner in South Carolina, has done some research on the topic and found earthing to have some science behind it. First, it is important to understand something called free radicals which are highly reactive atoms, molecules, or ions that have unpaired electrons. Free radicals are related to inflammation. According to Koniver, inflammation is linked to many diseases such as cancer, heart disease, immune dysfunction and cognitive decline. When we work out in any shape or form(even gentle activity) we are creating microscopic tears in our muscles. We are creating free radicals.
     That is very normal, but the key is to neutralize the damage. We hear a lot about antioxidants which help to neutralize the damage, but that is where earthing can help. According to Koniver the free radicals that we build up throughout the course of a day are positively charged, the earth is negatively charged. We can get healing electrons from the earth by literally touching the ground. We get our oxygen from the trees, and vitamin D from the sun, so if you think healing electrons from the ground seem crazy, think again.
     How does earthing or grounding work? The best way to get the benefits from earthing are to walk barefoot in dirt, sand, grass, or rocky areas. You may still get some benefit from paved areas, but not if the pavement has been painted, the paint acts a sealant and you won't get the electron transfer. Rubber on your shoes or flooring also separates the transfer. The best place to earth, according to Koniver, is at the beach(barefoot) on wet sand because the moisture acts as a conductor.
     According to Dr. Koniver, earthing can help with a wide variety of health problems such as arthritis, sleep disorders, depression and menopause. She is doing a study on the effects of earthing and obesity. She had a patient in 2012 that was losing ten pounds a week doing nothing more than earthing (literally walking around in the dirt, outside) for ten minutes a day. Another patient of Dr. Koniver's was suffering from menopause. The hot flashes, mood swings and hormonal imbalances were making the patient feel anxious and ill. The patient tried grounding for two months. Afterwards, she felt significantly better and had less menopausal symptoms simply by walking around on her lawn barefoot, and sitting on the ground each day reading a book for twenty minutes.
     I decided to try it while I was at the beach last month. I ran on the beach in my bare feet for that week. This used to be torture because the sand was often uneven and the slope would bother my ankles. I decided to try again and give this earthing thing a chance. I ditched my running shoes and ran on the beach during low tide when the sand was packed tighter and there was less of slope and more of a flat surface. I loved it, had no soreness, and felt more alert.  I spend hundreds of dollars each year on very cushioned running shoes. I am very conditioned to running on pavement, but still suffer from soreness. Running or earthing on the beach I had none. I also noticed that I slept better after earthing. I generally fall asleep very easily, it's the staying asleep all night that is sometimes a struggle. The week of running on the beach(barefoot) I slept through the night.
     We can't always be at the beach, but we can still walk on our lawns or dirt trails and reap the benefits. Earthing has become popular in parts of Europe where you will see groups of people walking in the wet grass early in the morning. There are also earthing products available such as bed sheets and mats that have silver in the products that act as a conductor. These products are believed to help ease sleep disorders and chronic pain issues.
     The bottom line here is that earthing is free and why not give it a try? I know there will be skeptics, but when you think about it the earth has provided us with many things and energy is something we can all use.
     For more information there is the book called, Earthing The Most Important Health Discovery Ever? By Clinton Ober,Stephen T. Sinatra MD, and Martin Zucker and is available on www.amazon.com and www.barnesandnoble.com. You can also find more information on grounding or earthing at www.earthinginstitute.net


Tri-on!
Kelly
    
    
       
    

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