health

Good news, everyone! Gwyneth Paltrow has found the cure to depression.

Forget what you think you know about mental health treatments: Gwyneth Paltrow and the Goop tribe are here to teach you and the medical industry otherwise.

According to a post recently published on the superstar’s site, all one needs to do to cure their depression, arthritis, insomnia and countless other medical issues is simply spend some time outside with their shoes off and get into ‘earthing.’

“Earthing therapy rests on the intuitive assumption that connecting to the energy of the planet is healthy for our souls and bodies,” a recent post written by a Goop staff writer begins, adding that even Gwyneth Paltrow herself is a fan.

Actress, blogger and earther, Gwyneth Paltrow.

“Several people in our community (including GP) swear by earthing — also called grounding — for everything from inflammation and arthritis to insomnia and depression.”

The treatment, also known as grounding, is also favoured by My Kitchen Rules judge and Paleo enthusiast Pete Evans.

According to advocates like Paltrow and Evans, there are health benefits to having a physical connection with the Earth’s surface — for example, by walking barefoot or sitting on the grass.

Because the Earth’s surface is electronically charged with negative ions (molecules that have an extra electron attached), it’s thought these additional electrons are transferred from the ground to the body during direct contact with the skin. These charges supposedly work to stabilise free radicals and reduce inflammation in the body.

Pete Evans. Source: Instagram.

While a recent study published in the Journal of Inflammation Research acknowledged “the very fabric of the body appears to serve as one of our primary antioxidant defence systems" that requires "occasional recharging by conductive contact with the Earth’s surface – the 'battery' for all planetary life – to be optimally effective,” it at no point suggests earthing as a treatment for depression.

And given it's globally recognised by the medical profession that chemical changes in the brain are responsible for depression, it's not fully clear how standing on the grass without shoes on does anything at all to address that imbalance.

But no doubt Gwyneth and co will tell us one day. Right?