I’ve been interested in grounding (or earthing as some call it) for several years but really hadn’t looked into it until recently.

Several years ago, I told one of my doctors that I feel like my feet are claustrophobic – I hate wearing shoes. He took one of his shoes off and showed me his barefoot shoe. It was flexible and had a wider than normal toe bed.

I like the concept but when I looked at the prices of barefoot shoes, I just couldn’t get on board.

But my hatred of shoes continued until I finally realized I wore only flip flops and ugg type boots.

A couple years ago, I broke down and ordered a pair of barefoot sandals. Then I got a pair of barefoot tennis shoes, then boots.

I found sandals that have a built in grounding rod and conductive laces. I bought them because the looked comfortable, but I was intrigued by the grounding component.

I am currently reading about grounding to understand why that little rod is important. And gotta say, I’m pretty frustrated that I didn’t take the time to learn about this years ago.

To understand how grounding works, you first need to understand free radicals.

I’ve always heard that free radicals are bad. That’s not necessarily the case. Free radicals are atoms, molecules or ions with at least one unpaired electron. An electron is a negatively charged partical that needs to be paired to be stable. So when there is one or more unpaired electron, that atom or molecule is unstable – constantly seeking to bind to another atom or molecule.

Our bodies create free radicals as part of the normal metabolism process. However, we also create additional free radicals when we are sick or injured as part of the healing process, which is why we get a little inflammation when the body is healing (think swollen sprained ankle or a stuffy nose when you have a cold).

With exposure to toxic substances, our bodies can create too many free radicals, they are still looking for extra electrons. And where do you think they will find them? That’s right, In healthy tissues.

This creates inflammation where we don’t need or want it.

So getting rid of, or at least reducing, free radicals becomes important.

There are several ways to do this and I would suggest all of them are necessary.

1. Reduce toxin exposure

We are exposed to so many toxins in our society: chemicals in food and beauty products, airborne chemicals (exhaust, smog, pesticides, smoke), electromagnetic frequencies, mold, bacteria, viruses).

Reducing toxins in our home has not been an easy task. It takes effort and it’s been a slow process, but we have been able to do it one step at a time. Below are some of the steps we’ve taken. Don’t let it overwhelm you – take it one step at a time and see where you are in a year.

Sugar creates toxins in the body.

• Buy organic. If it’s not organic, it has been grown using pesticides and chemicals that could be getting into your body.
• Reduce or eliminate sugar. Sugar creates toxins in the cells. Non-organic sugar is super toxic so at a minimum, make sure any foods containing sugar include organic sugar. However eliminating sugar altogether will reduce toxins in the body significantly. This means eliminating all grains and fruits and reducing carbs as much as possible (less than 50 grams per day).
• Read labels and get rid of processed foods. Find products with fewer ingredients and make sure you know what each ingredient is.
• Buy (or make) organic, chemical free healthy and beauty products (shampoos, soaps, lotions, make-up, etc all contain harmful toxins).
• Get away from Teflon and water-resistant products. Watch the movie “Dark Waters” with Mark Ruffalo to understand why this is one of the most important things you can do for a clean home.
• Get an air purifier. We have a Green Air Pro.
• Change your hvac air filters regularly- and get ones that filter out viruses, bacteria and allergens. Yes – they’re more expensive. But think about what you’re breathing if you don’t do this.
• Reduce EMF’s. Our homes have become so filled with electronics. Get an emf meter (they’re cheap) and find the biggest emf producers in your home. Buy on-body and whole house emf protection. Micro-waves are the biggest producers – get rid of it if you can. Older microwaves produce emf even when they’re off. If you must have one, leave the room when it’s turned on. We learned our Christmas tree lights produce pretty high levels of emf. LED’s throughout the home create EMFs – our smart bulbs are some of the biggest culprits.

2. Anti-oxidants

Anti-oxidants are naturally occurring nutrients that stop the formation of free radicals. These are found in fruits and vegetables (important note: anti-oxidant supplementation is not the same as naturally occurring).

Some of the best anti-oxidant foods: dark chocolate (without sugar), blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, pecans, red/purple cabbage, beans, beets, spinach, okra, artichokes, ginger, turmeric, garlic, rosemary, parsley, & sage.

3. Grounding / Earthing

Back to the original point of this post.

The surface of the earth is charged by the sun with electrons. We can absorb the extra electrons our bodies need just by connecting to the ground.

How:

• Walk barefoot outdoors
• Wear earthing shoes Earthrunners
• Get a grounding sheet or mat (using a rod to connect the sheet/mat directly to the ground is best, but you can also use a special cord that plugs into a grounded wall outlet). Earthing.com