AMA #10: Benefits of Nature & Grounding," Hearing Loss Research & Avoiding Altitude Sickness

Yes, there's some evidence for grounding. Is it super strong evidence? No, it's not. We don't really know what it is about placing one's feet onto the earth that is producing the positive effects that were observed in those studies.

If you are somebody that, for whatever reason—seasonality, where you live on the planet, work schedule, etc.—who cannot get sunlight in your eyes early in the day on a consistent basis, well, then you might consider purchasing a so-called SAD lamp ... But it is not nearly as effective as getting sunlight in your eyes.

There is actually a peer-reviewed literature on negative ionization as it's called, which is a pattern of ionization that's present close to bodies of water and particular types of bodies of water—such as waterfalls, running streams, etc. ... There does seem to be some positive health benefits to placing one's self near bodies of water—in particular, moving bodies of water.

The negative ionization machines that one can purchase and put in their home environment have been shown in a few studies to produce some positive health benefits, but those positive effects in no way reach the level of positive effects that have been demonstrated in studies where people are actually spending a dedicated period of time outdoors near a moving body of water.

You simply will not derive the same benefits from viewing sunlight if you try and do it through a window or windshield ... You are not going to set your circadian rhythm. You are not going to derive all the positive effects of sunlight by trying to get it from screens, or from looking at pictures of suns, or something of that sort.

There are dozens, if not hundreds, of studies that show that if people get outdoors into nature... anywhere from 10-30 minutes 3-7 days per week, indeed, there are demonstrated significant reductions in things like blood pressure, resting heart rate, improvements in sleep, improvements in mood.

There is excellent—meaning, dozens, if not hundreds—of quality peer-reviewed studies, which support the value of getting sunlight in one's eyes—in particular, early in the day to set your circadian rhythm.

When it comes to questions about nature and grounding in particular, I take the stance that this is a unique instance where we know there are just so many benefits of getting out into nature that trying to isolate any one of those variables in a quality rigorous way within the laboratory almost seems too artificial to really justify the conclusions that arrive.