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15th
World Congress Clinical Nutrition
19th
– 22nd September 2010 El Sokhna Resort - Egypt
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Copyright © 2010.
WCCN2010.COM
All rights reserved |
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Grounding: Does it affect
physiology?
Germaine Cornélissen1,
Franz Halberg1, Francis
Guillaume1, Othild
Schwartzkopff1, Judy Finley1,
Ram B Singh2, Elias Ilyia
3
1 University of Minnesota,
Minneapolis, MN, USA; 2Halberg
Hospital & Research Institute,
Moradabad, India; 3
DiagnosTechs, Kent, WA, USA
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Aim. To assess
whether “earthing” (connecting the
body to the earth by grounding)
affects physiology in selected
volunteering investigators.
Background. Based primarily on
anecdotal stories, a book on “earthing”
claims that connecting with the
Earth can alleviate a number of
symptoms, such as inflammation,
sleep quality and energy/vigor (1).
One published study (2) reports an
effect of “earthing” on circulating
cortisol from 12 subjects sampled at
4-hour intervals for 24 hours before
and after sleeping on Earthing pads
for up to 8 weeks. Whereas our
re-analysis of the data by means of
circadian parameter tests (3) did
not find any change in MESOR,
circadian amplitude and/or acrophase
(P>0.20), the authors’ finding
related to a “normalization” of the
circadian cortisol rhythm,
corresponding to smaller
inter-individual changes among
circadian profiles after as compared
to before grounding (2). Their
result was confirmed by paired
t-test of after versus before
grounding differences of individual
time-specified values versus their
corresponding timepoint means
(t=3.169, P=0.025). The present
investigation examin`ed whether an
effect of grounding could be
documented for the individ rather
than on a group basis.
Subjects and Methods.
For about 5 weeks, 4
volunteering investigators
automatically recorded their blood
pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR)
around the clock at 30-minute
intervals with an arm cuff (FH, M,
90 years MESOR-hypertensive when
untreated but MESOR-normotensive
thanks to current treatment; OS, F,
86 years; and GC, F, 60 years) or
every 15 minutes during the night
with a wrist monitor (FG, M, 62
years). They slept grounded during
weeks 1, 3 and 5, unplugging the
grounding pad during weeks 2 and 4.
As part of another study,
around-the-clock arm-cuff BP and HR
data at 1-hour intervals were also
available from JF (F, 62 years),
together with salivary hormonal
determinations (4 to 6 per day)
during 1 month (May 2010), including
9 days of grounding by night. The
nightly data from FG were averaged
daily. Daily data from the other 4
subjects were analyzed by cosinor
(3) to obtain daily estimates of the
MESOR, 24-hour amplitude and
acrophase. The daily endpoints were
compared by Student t-test between
days when subjects were or were not
grounded.
Results. No
statistically significant
differences in blood glucose
concentration or in daily insulin
requirements (P>0.15) were found for
FG who has insulin-dependent
diabetes mellitus. Nightly mean of
FG’s systolic (S) BP was higher
during grounding (110.6 vs. 104.9
mmHg, t=2.745, P=0.010), as was his
pulse pressure (48.0 vs. 44.2 mmHg,
t=2.716, P=0.011). By contrast, FH’s
pulse pressure was lower during
grounding (58.1 vs. 61.6 mmHg,
t=2.138, P=0.040). In the case of
FH, grounding was also associated
with a higher MESOR of HR (63.4 vs.
58.8 beats/min, t=4.413, P<0.001)
and a larger circadian double
amplitude (7.8 vs. 4.5 beats/min,
t=3.136, P=0.004). In the case of
GC, grounding was associated with a
slight increase in body weight
measured daily upon awakening (143.3
vs. 142.9 lbs, t=2.428, P=0.019) but
it had no statistically significant
effect on activity (P>0.10),
assessed by step counts with a
pedometer). Grounding was also
associated with a lower MESOR of HR
(72.9 vs. 76.1 beats/min, t=3.309,
P=0.002) and with a decrease in the
double circadian amplitude of
diastolic (D) BP (17.9 vs. 21.7
mmHg, t=2.563, P=0.015). A similar
decrease in the circadian double
amplitude of DBP was observed for OS
(13.1 vs. 17.5 mmHg, t=2.143,
P=0.045). No effect of grounding was
found on the BP and HR of JF
(P>0.20). Grounding also had no
statistically significant effect on
JF’s cortisol (P>0.30). Grounding
was associated, however, with an
increased circadian amplitude of
salivary testosterone (15.1 vs. 9.3
pg/ml, t=2.466, P=0.020) and a
decrease in DHEA MESOR (4.0 vs. 4.6
ng/ml, t=2.958, P=0.006). An
increase in vigor/wellness ratings
of JF during grounding (72.5 vs.
60.7 AU, t=2.126, P=0.042) is
noteworthy as JF has suffered for
the past 20 years from adynamia
episodes that can last 2-3 months
and recurred twice yearly thus far.
Discussion and Conclusion.
Whereas grounding was found
to affect some BP and/or HR
endpoints, the results are not
consistent among the participants
who differ in BP-MESOR when
untreated. N-of-1 studies are
complicated by the fact that a
multitude of other factors may have
contributed to the effects detected
herein, beyond any effect of
grounding. For instance, GC and FG
had a head cold during this
investigation, which may account in
part for GC’s lowered body weight in
the absence of grounding. FH
suffered a sore foot. The design of
this ongoing study will eventually
allow the checking for consistent
findings on an individual basis by
examining whether differences
observed within a 2-week span are
reproducible over time. The fact
that JF’s self-ratings remain high
well beyond the latest calendar date
of past summer down times speaks
favorably for “earthing” but a
psychological (placebo) effect
cannot be ruled out.
1. Ober C, Sinatra ST, Zucker M.
Earthing. The most important health
discovery ever? Basic Heath
Publications, Inc., 260 pp. 2010.
Ghaly M, Teplitz D. The biologic
effects of grounding the human body
during sleep as measured by cortisol
levels and subjective reporting of
sleep, pain and stress. J
Alternative and Complementary
Medicine 2004; 10: 767-776.
Bingham C, Arbogast B, Cornélissen
Guillaume G, Lee JK, Halberg F.
Inferential statistical meth
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