Click here to view the original study published on Healthcare (Basel).
The study's main finding underscores the positive impact of grounding on sleep quality, as evidenced by diminished Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) scores among participants. Electrochemical analysis revealed interesting insights into the physiological effects of grounding. Before grounding, both groups exhibited a positive charge, consistent with previous studies suggesting that losing contact with the Earth may lead to electric unevenness and positive charges in the body. Grounding is believed to facilitate the flow of electrons into the body from the Earth, neutralizing positively charged free radicals associated with chronic inflammation.
While previous research has suggested that grounding can normalize cortisol rhythms and improve sleep quality, the study's findings offer mixed results. While sleep quality significantly improved in the grounding group, anxiety and depression levels remained largely unaffected during this study. This discrepancy may be attributed to the complexities of human behavior and daily activity, which differ from those observed in animal experiments.
Despite the promising findings regarding sleep quality, the study faces several limitations. One being that the simplicity of grounding as a method raises questions about unintentional grounding outside of the experimental setting, potentially confounding the results.
Grounding shows promise as a non-pharmacological intervention for improving sleep quality in patients with dementia. Further research would need to be done to prove this effective for a larger sample group of individuals, including those without dementia. By unraveling the complexities of grounding and its impact on human physiology, researchers aim to harness its therapeutic potential for the benefit of individuals with neurodegenerative diseases like dementia and beyond.