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.
“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.
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?
Top Comments
Just for conversation sake.. though there's much to know more and clarify there exist various kinds of scientific evidence of the benefits of connecting with nature (whatever broad things that might mean) to humans' well-being.. Nothing new to that but it is gaining increasing interest in certain scientific circles as well as on the political front across the globe; how our (healthy) psyche is linked with (healthy) nature and how these things may be linked to sustainability challenges etc.. :)
From an article by Eric Windhorst, 'Growing-up, naturally: The mental health legacy of early nature affiliation' in Ecopsychology, 2015: "A nascent but rapidly growing body of work demonstrates that those who measure higher in nature connectedness also score higher on various measures of emotional and psychological well-being (Capaldi, Dopko, & Zelenski, 2014; Howell, Dopko, Passmore, & Buro, 2011; Kamitsis & Francis, 2013; Mayer, Frantz, Bruehlman-Senecal, & Dolliver, 2008; Nisbet, Zelenski, & Murphy, 2011; Zelenski & Nisbet, 2012). In a recent meta-analysis of twenty-one studies that explored the happiness-nature connectedness dynamic, Capaldi, Dopko, and Zelenski
(2014) concluded that individuals who are more nature-connected tend to experience more vitality, positive affect, and life satisfaction compared to those who are less affiliated with the natural world.
Maybe this is not exactly what the above described bunch are about, and whether the above research show anything about the chemical effects on brain of "nature exposure".. not sure; there may be such evidence too, maybe interesting to dive into that.. but maybe there also is more to "earthing" that it first might seem..
I'm a very positive and optimistic person and I love getting out and about. I'm satisfied with my life and I'm happy with who I am and yet I still have serious mental health issues. A positive attitude is of course much better than a negative one and I think the way I see myself and life helps me to cope with my issues but they are certainly no cure.
She's the new Jenna McCarthy when it comes to health.