Grounding: The Potent Antioxidant That Few Know About... And It's
Free
June 14, 2013
Story at-a-glance
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Emerging evidence suggests running shoes may alter your gait,
causing you to strike the ground heel-first, increasing your
collision force with the ground and increasing the risk of
injury
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Barefoot running encourages you to strike the ground with the
cushioned fore-foot, which is a more natural gait
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Humans have been running barefoot, or close to it, since the
beginning of time; running shoes were only invented in the 1970s
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Going barefoot also allows you to “ground” with the Earth and
absorb negative electrons from the Earth through the soles of
your feet; this grounding effect is one of the most potent
antioxidants we know of and may have an anti-inflammatory effect
on your body
By Dr. Mercola
While still in the vast minority, an increasing number of
people are joining the barefoot running trend, throwing
their shoes to the wind and letting their feet run free,
literally.
In the modern world, it might sound "extreme" to give up
your shoes, particularly when engaging in an activity as
hard on your feet as running, but surrounding your feet with
thick cushioning and stiff supports is actually the "new"
trend, evolutionarily speaking.
Humans Went Without Running Shoes for Millions of Years
Writing in the journal Nature, Harvard
researchers explained:1
"Humans have engaged in endurance running for
millions of years, but the modern running shoe was not
invented until the 1970s. For most of human evolutionary
history, runners were either barefoot or wore minimal
footwear such as sandals or moccasins with smaller heels
and little cushioning relative to modern running shoes."
Let's face it, your feet were designed to work without
shoes. And while running barefoot does pose certain unique
hazards, such as stepping on a sharp object or injuring your
skin on abrasive pavement, there are reports that barefoot
running is actually quite beneficial.
While the research is still limited and many of the
reports anecdotal, running barefoot may actually decrease
the likelihood of ankle sprains and chronic injuries.
Shoes Alter Your Gait, but is This Good or Bad?
Walking or running with shoes is quite a
different experience than doing so without them.
This is evidenced perhaps no more clearly than among
children, who in the developed world are virtually the only
ones who have not yet grown accustomed to wearing shoes, and
as such their gait should be more or less the way nature
intended.
Indeed, research published in the Journal of Foot and
Ankle Research revealed:2
"Shoes affect the gait of children. With shoes,
children walk faster by taking longer steps with greater
ankle and knee motion and increased tibialis anterior
activity. Shoes reduce foot motion and increase the
support phases of the gait cycle.
During running, shoes reduce swing phase leg speed,
attenuate some shock and encourage a rearfoot strike
pattern. The long-term effect of these changes on growth
and development are currently unknown."
And therein lies the question: is footwear a boon or a
bust to mankind? Surprising as it may sound, emerging
research suggests modern running shoes, with their heavily
cushioned, elevated heels, may actually encourage runners to
strike the ground with their heel first,
A move that generates a greater collision force with the
ground, leading to an increased potential for injury. The
Harvard researchers continued in Nature:
"Here we show that habitually barefoot endurance
runners often land on the fore-foot (fore-foot strike)
before bringing down the heel, but they sometimes land
with a flat foot (mid-foot strike) or, less often, on
the heel (rear-foot strike). In contrast, habitually
shod runners mostly rear-foot strike, facilitated by the
elevated and cushioned heel of the modern running shoe.
Kinematic and kinetic analyses show that even on
hard surfaces, barefoot runners who fore-foot strike
generate smaller collision forces than shod rear-foot
strikers.
This difference results primarily from a more
plantarflexed foot at landing and more ankle compliance
during impact, decreasing the effective mass of the body
that collides with the ground. Fore-foot- and
mid-foot-strike gaits were probably more common when
humans ran barefoot or in minimal shoes, and may protect
the feet and lower limbs from some of the impact-related
injuries now experienced by a high percentage of
runners."
This may explain how marathon runners in Kenya are able
to run great distances barefoot with virtually no pain or
injuries. Likewise, research reviewed by Michael Warburton,
a physical therapist in Australia, revealed:3
- Running-related chronic injuries to bone and
connective tissue in the legs are rare in developing
countries, where most people are habitually barefooted
- Where barefoot and shod populations co-exist, as in
Haiti, injury rates of the lower extremity are
substantially higher in the shod population
- Wearing footwear actually increases the likelihood
of ankle sprains, one of the most common sports
injuries, because it either decreases your awareness of
foot position or increases the twisting torque on your
ankle during a stumble
- One of the most common chronic injuries in runners,
planter fasciitis (an inflammation of the ligament
running along the sole of your foot), is rare in
barefoot populations
- Running in bare feet reduces oxygen consumption by a
few percent
Grounding: The Overlooked Benefit of Going Barefoot
While much of the debate between the barefoot and the
shoed-foot focuses on the potential for injury, another
often overlooked aspect is grounding. The technique of
grounding, also known as
earthing, is simple: you walk barefoot to "ground" with
the Earth. The scientific theory behind the health benefits
seen from this simple practice is that your body absorbs
negative electrons from the Earth through the soles of your
feet.
The Earth is negatively charged, so when you ground,
you're connecting your body to a negatively charged supply
of energy. And since the Earth has a greater negative charge
than your body, you end up absorbing electrons from it. The
grounding effect is, in my understanding, one of the most
potent antioxidants we know of and may have an
anti-inflammatory effect on your body. As written in the
Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine:4
"It is well established, though not widely known,
that the surface of the earth possesses a limitless and
continuously renewed supply of free or mobile electrons
as a consequence of a global atmospheric electron
circuit. Wearing shoes with insulating soles and/or
sleeping in beds that are isolated from the electrical
ground plane of the earth have disconnected most people
from the earth's electrical rhythms and free electrons.
… A previous study demonstrated that connecting
the human body to the earth during sleep (earthing)
normalizes the daily cortisol rhythm and improves sleep.
A variety of other benefits were reported, including
reductions in pain and inflammation. Subsequent studies
have confirmed these earlier findings and documented
virtually immediate physiologic and clinical effects of
grounding or earthing the body."
Unfortunately, few people ever walk barefoot anymore to
experience the benefits of grounding. But it is very
plausible that some of the people who have converted to
barefoot running are experiencing benefits not only from the
lack of shoes, but also from the increased connection to the
Earth.
Walking Barefoot Is a Valuable Aspect of a Healthy Lifestyle
Exercising barefoot outdoors is one of the most
wonderful, inexpensive and powerful ways of incorporating
Earthing into your daily life and will also help speed up
tissue repair, as well as easing the muscle pain you
sometimes get from strenuous exercise. A review of the
available research, published January 2012 in the
Journal of Environmental and Public Health, agrees with
the concept of reaping health benefits when connecting to
the earth5.
According to the authors:
"Mounting evidence suggests that the Earth's
negative potential can create a stable internal
bioelectrical environment for the normal functioning of
all body systems. Moreover, oscillations of the
intensity of the Earth's potential may be important for
setting the biological clocks regulating diurnal body
rhythms, such as cortisol secretion.
It is also well established that electrons from
antioxidant molecules neutralize reactive oxygen species
(ROS, or in popular terms, free radicals) involved in
the body's immune and inflammatory responses. The
National Library of Medicine's online resource PubMed
lists 7021 studies and 522 review articles from a search
of 'antioxidant+electron+free
radical.' It is assumed that the influx of free
electrons absorbed into the body through direct contact
with the Earth likely neutralize ROS and thereby reduce
acute and chronic inflammation.
Throughout history, humans mostly walked barefoot or
with footwear made of animal skins. They slept on the
ground or on skins. Through direct contact or through
perspiration-moistened animal skins used as footwear or
sleeping mats, the ground's abundant free electrons were
able to enter the body, which is electrically
conductive. Through this mechanism, every part of the
body could equilibrate with the electrical potential of
the Earth, thereby stabilizing the electrical
environment of all organs, tissues, and cells.
Modern lifestyle has increasingly separated
humans from the primordial flow of Earth's electrons.
For example, since the 1960s, we have increasingly worn
insulating rubber or plastic soled shoes, instead of the
traditional leather fashioned from hides. Rossi has
lamented that the use of insulating materials in
post-World War II shoes has separated us from the
Earth's energy field. Obviously, we no longer sleep on
the ground as we did in times past.
During recent decades, chronic illness, immune
disorders, and inflammatory diseases have increased
dramatically, and some researchers have cited
environmental factors as the cause. However, the
possibility of modern disconnection with the Earth's
surface as a cause has not been considered. Much of the
research reviewed in this paper points in that
direction."
When indoors, using a grounding pad or sheet is an
excellent way to lower your risk for cardiovascular disease
and other problems, such as carpal tunnel syndrome and
tendonitis.
Before You Take Off Your Shoes…
Just taking off your shoes, if you've been wearing them
all your life, does not mean you'll immediately attain
proper barefoot running form. Many new barefoot runners
continue to land heavily on their heels -- and the result
can be injury. So if you decide to give barefoot running a
try, make sure you do it slowly, progressing gradually to
more and more time spent without shoes. A good starting
point is to first try
walking barefoot and then begin with quarter-mile
barefoot runs.
Keep in mind also that your gait will be different than
it is with your shoes on -- this is expected. Listen to your
body and try to tune in to your innate knowledge of how to
run and walk barefoot, and allow your feet, ankles, knees
and hips to naturally change position in response to the
terrain.
When you start going barefoot it is best to initiate on
naturally softer ground like grass, dirt paths and sand, not
cement, asphalt or hardwood. When the muscles and joints of
your foot become more stable and the skin on the bottom of
your feet thickens, you will be able to handle progressively
more time barefoot and on a wider variety of surfaces.
While there are a growing number of minimalist footwear
options now on the market that are designed to simulate
barefoot running, some argue that these shoes are merely
marketing ploys, and in fact still change your gait from the
way nature intended. Personally, I have tried one version
that I liked very much and would recommend highly, although
since I traded in running for
Peak Fitness, I haven't actually used them for runs.
One final note, barefoot running or walking doesn't have
to be an "all or nothing" decision. You can incorporate as
much barefoot time into your life as you feel comfortable
with. Quite possibly, you'll enjoy it so much that you will
naturally find yourself kicking off your shoes as much as
possible.
© Copyright 1997-2013 Dr. Joseph Mercola. All Rights Reserved.
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