What Is Grounding (Earthing) & Does It Promote Physical & Mental Wellbeing?

Grounding or “Earthing” is a theory where direct contact with the earth is beneficial to physical and mental health.  There is science behind this idea – but we know it works from firsthand experience!  Working the soil, planting seeds, and cultivating the land is therapeutic – and that can’t be reasonably disputed once you get your hands (or feet) in the soil.  The question is how deep does our connection to the soil, and the process of cultivating food crops run?

A fabulous article written by Wendy Menigoz, and a team of researchers, in Explore Journal in 2020 discusses 20+ scientific studies that have reported intriguing evidence of wide and significant physiological improvements when the body is grounded versus non-grounded.[1]  Menigoz describes Grounding or Earthing as “reconnecting the conductive human body to the Earth’s natural and subtle surface electric charge.”[2]  We have insulated ourselves from the outside world with shoes, pavement, air-tight houses, and HVAC filtration systems.  It’s no surprise that living in a sterilized bubble may not create the most healthy environment.  Menigoz found that grounding “appears to correct what we call an ‘electron deficiency syndrome,’ an overlooked and likely significant cause of multiple health disorders.”[3]

How Do Free Electrons Go From The Ground To Where They Are Needed In Our Body?

We are all comfortable with the delivery of electricity, right?  Well, electricity must be “grounded” for stability and safety.  This is because the super charged electrons – what we know as electricity – need somewhere safe to go if there is a surge.  The same concept, only on a much smaller scale, applies to Grounding as a therapy and health aid.  In fact Menigoz postulates that electrical imbalances in the body are created from our disconnect with the earth – and the inability to access those free-floating electrons.[4]

Recent research indicates there is a collagenous connective tissue matrix in our bodies that create what is called a “redox system” – allowing the transfer of electrons between different systems in the body (into and between cells and DNA) and even from outside of the body.  This matrix is essentially a whole-body system capable of absorbing and donating elections wherever they are needed in the body to support and increase immune functioning.[5]

A fascinating article published in the Journal of Inflammation Research in 2015 discussed the effects of Grounding on inflammation, the immune response, wound healing, and prevention and treatment of chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.[6]  The researchers evaluated the influence of grounding to produce measurable differences in the concentrations of white blood cells, cytokines, and other molecules involved in inflammatory response.  The study found that grounding reduces pain, alters the number of circulating neutrophils and lymphocytes, and also produced a positive effect on circulating chemical factors associated with a reduction in inflammatory processes. 

Oschmann, et al, observed that connecting the body to the Earth enables free electrons from the soil to spread through the body, using the redox system, where they produce antioxidant properties.  The mobile electrons which enter the body through ground contact, create an anti-oxidant rich microenvironment around the injury or inflamed area – which promotes healing.  The study also found potential positive effects on sleep patterns, stress reduction, and the reduction of blood viscosity. 

One aspect of the research that we at the Tiki Food Lab find particularly interesting is the potential for structural proteins to become mini semiconductors.  The theory of grounding essentially turns on the body’s ability to attract the mobile electrons that carry a natural negative electrical charge.  Thus, there must be something in the body for the negatively charged ions to transfer through the skin and into the body.  The answer is most likely the ability of proteins in the body to become mini semiconductors. 

But – how does that work?  Oschermann, discussed the possibility that collagen and other structural proteins in the body act in conjunction with water to create mini semiconductors.  Early studies rejected the idea because the body lacks certain metals that were typically thought of as promoters of conductive effects – such as silicone, germanium and gallium.  However, the body may not need metal conductors.  More recent studies have found that water is not a mere filler material – instead “we now know that water plays crucial roles in enzymatic activities and semi-conduction.”[7]  In fact, hydrated proteins have become key components in making tiny microcircuits.[8] 

Grounding From The Past To The Future.

Why is this interesting to us at the Tiki Food Lab?  We are fascinated by biological and chemical processes that may accelerate, amplify or transform fermentation to deepen umami flavors.  We are working on the potential effects of magnetism on fermentation, and the possibility that proteins may be mini semiconductors opens the door further to the possibility of transformative fermentation practices using positive ions or increased sources of free electrons.  Perhaps fermentation would be aided by grounding?  The question would be how to promote the transfer of free electrons from the earth to the fermenting foods, which need to be contained to preserve the salt-koji-moisture content.

While we have not conducted scientific studies on Grounding at the SG Tiki Farm, we have personally experienced what appear to be positive effects from working the soil.  For example, I used to suffer terrible bad back pain with exercise or exertion.  However, since we bought the farm, we have been digging and moving soil multiple days per week. Shockingly, my back pain has virtually disappeared.  Is it partially from increased core strength from farm work? Possibly.  Is it from the anti-inflammatory effects of grounding?  It certainly seems possible. 

Gathering the harvest for the menu at Suis Generis tends to occur at the end of the day, when heat is less in the summer, and to keep the harvest as fresh as possible for the drive into town.  Everybody – and I mean without exception, everybody who has worked with us at the farm notices the sense of calm and relaxation associated with gathering the harvest.  We look forward to it.  It is addictive – driving you to plant more to achieve that Zen moment of harvest.  If you have a garden, you know exactly what that is. 

I have often wondered if we are tapping into a deep primordial instinct – maybe even the hunter/gatherer DNA of our ancestors.   So we did some research, and it doesn’t appear to be coincidence.  We came across the term the “Harvest High” – which is funny, but quite frankly, it hits the nail on the head.  Research suggests the simple act of harvesting food, seeing, smelling and plucking fruits and vegetables-  triggers the release of dopamine in the brain, providing a sense of satisfaction, joy and….maybe even mild euphoria![9] 

After all, 95% of the time humans have been walking the Earth has involved the need to be hunter-gatherer-cultivators.  So, the ability to tap into our collective impulse to grow and gather is not surprising. 

We found an article by Dr. Garrison and Dr. Sudmant that found humans have significantly increased the number of genes responsible for producing enzymes that break down starch, called amylases, over the last 12,000 years.[10]   Amylase is one of the most important stomach enzymes allowing us to break down complex carbohydrates to turn starches into sugars.  Amylase is also one of the primary enzymes created by Koji – and which is one of the reasons Koji increases tenderness and the caramelization properties of food.  It’s fascinating to us to learn that humans have evolved to increase the diversity in amylase genes and ability to produce the enzyme over time – and during the same time that we were hunter-gatherer-cultivators.  It makes us wonder if all of these things are inter-related, and whether Koji is just sitting there in the center of it all. 

Thus, to answer the question posed at the beginning of this article – our connection to the soil runs deep.  It spans generations of our ancestors.  It involves the most basic survival instinct.  It is what links the earth to our bodies through the exchange of free electrons, and it goes all the way to our DNA.  If you want to feel how that works – come spend a day at the farm, and there will be no doubt in your mind.

By Ernest Foundas,

Executive Chef, Suis Generis

Farmer & Food Scientist, SG Tiki Farm

[1] Menigoz, et al., “Integrative and Lifestyle Medicine Strategies Should Include Earthing (grounding): Review of Research Evidence and Clinical Observations,” Explore, 16(2020) 152-160.

[2] Id. at p.1.

[3] Id.

[4] Id. at p. 2.

[5] Heine, et al., “Homotoxicology and Ground Regulation System (GRS),” Baden-Baden: Aurelia-Verlag: 2000.

[6] James L. Oschman et al, Vol 8, 2015.

[7] Id. at p. 90.

[8] See for example, Tokia, “Proteins as semiconductor devices” Available from: http://www.jsst.jp/e/JSST2012/extended_abstract/pdf/16.pdf. May 23, 2014.

[9] See for example, Stott, et al., “The Connections Among Interacting With nature, Nature Relatedness and Dietery Choices: A Pilot Mixed Method Study,” Int.J.Environ Res Pub Health. 7/10/24 (21(7):899.

[10] Bolognini, et al., “Recurrent Evolution and Selection Shape Structural Diversity at the Amylase Locus,” Nature, 4/9/2024.