Grounded sheets for the bed ("earthing")

Bryan Johnson uses these grounding bed sheets.

Is there any evidence that it works or is it total BS?

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Good question on efficacy of “grounding”.

There are a few weak studies that show a benefit.

We are electrical beings so who knows, there may be something to it.

35 years ago I made an ELF meter. Extra low frequency - under 100hz most of our electrical power is either 50 or 60 hz and we are surrounding by it in certain environments. Fortunately? it drops rapidly in power as the distance increases. I thought it might be a cool consumer product :slight_smile: as there has been and continues to be interest in “radiation” but most people don’t know the difference between non-ionizing and ionizing radiation and lump them all in the same “harmful” category. And that is not helpful. Some electrical stimulation is beneficial.

So for grounding, I think there is a fair bit of hype, maybe more hype than benefit but It’s a low cost intervention to try. And it can’t hurt you :slight_smile:

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IMO: This total BS and falls into the medical quackery dept.
No need to waste your money on this.
The placebo effect is so strong that anything you sell for health benefits will be endorsed by 30 to 40% of buyers.

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I’d love to believe it does but I haven’t yet seen anything convincing (I may just be unobservant so definitely look yourself). I am very interested in things I can passively do which may improve my health without medication/supplements, although I haven’t found much to pursue. .

I’ve considered investing in things like this grounding sheet idea but I live high off the ground and (given I have worked with electronics) I’m not sure grounding the sheet into the ground socket of a large building electrical system will produce a nice, even ground — I’m sure there are loads of high frequency fluctuations there (you can see them on a scope).

But one thing I have been considering which I think may be likely to have more impact is shielding from RF, at least while you sleep. I’m not clear on the physiological effects of say 2.4MHz, but given the power I would assume there is at least a possibility of this, and easily measured with a software-defined radio receiver. I’ve heard a few places this could be an instigator of migraines, although I haven’t really followed up with detailed literature reviews. I moved my phone 10 feet from my head while sleeping a month ago (although no noticeable impact). I have also considered getting a canopy with some sort of faraday shielding over the bed, but this was nixed by my wife on aesthetic grounds (for good reason as it would be hideous, albeit she is the one with migraines and not me).

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Easy way to do it, walk around barefoot outside.

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Put your wireless router on a timer so it will turn on/off on your sleep schedule, if 2.4 and 5.0 Ghz are of concern

Cell phones operate on a wide set of frequencies, only WIFI is on 2.4Ghz and 5.0Ghz. Bluetooth also operates in the 2.4Ghz band (2400 to 2483.5 MHz).

The 5G cell thing is a misnomer and has confused the heck out of all the conspiracy folks. 5G is a modulation technology not a frequency. 5G operates on a variety of frequencies

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I appreciate that this can ground you. But not where I live. Please don’t walk outside barefoot in NYC streets. Even if you don’t get a glass cut on your foot and then infected (and I’m talking about the nice areas of Manhattan), the “ground” is close to three stories above a bunch if other infrastructure through much of the city.

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Also shielding RF is not as simple as it seems. A Faraday cage is a very sophisticated device/system. I’ve done a fair bit of dev using Faraday cages from small 4L sized to medium 500L sized and have been in cages large enough for a bus.

Due to the way RF can propagate, especially the multi-path effect any small “break” in a cage will allow RF in. It’s not likely that any draped “screen” will be of any real benefit.

The word cage… it’s super important :slight_smile: Faraday cages have 6 sides for a reason.

I agree that there is a fair amount of BS in this “technology”

So I just looked at this product and it claims “EMF protection” and that is not possible outside a Faraday cage. Lie #1

Another easy way is in the shower :slight_smile:

Pretty much any flowing water is going to be grounded.

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fair enough, however as a frequent traveler to NYC there are many grassy areas of central park where you can walk barefoot or stand in one spot (sans glass) :slight_smile:

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I would LIKE this to be valid, but haven’t seen any compelling evidence.

But one thing I’m sure: you wouldn’t need full sheets. Any part of the body touching electrical ground would work - just like a single spark to a doorknob equalizes your body’s entire charge.

If I explored this, a narrow, grounded strip near my feet (I wear pajamas - sort of - but not socks) would be sufficient. Maybe a grounded pillow cover. A wrist strap wouldn’t work - I’d get tangled up in it. But full sheets would be a complete waste of money.

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Expected reward vs. expected risk, that’s what it’s all about. I’d guess it’s low risk that’s why they tried it.
I can only imagine they did this because some sleep expert told them about it.

In one video Bryan said they saw good evidence it worked. So… Where is the evidence?

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To be “grounded” requires intimate contact with the ground.

Grounding straps as used in electronic mfg and trouble shooting are intimately connected to the skin by direct contact with a conductor, which is connected to a certified ground. (I’ve been in high end electronics mfg)

If your skin is not in direct contact with the conductor, you will not be grounded.

Having a “grounding sheet” under a cotton sheet (an insulator) and laying on the cotton (or any other non-conducting material) will not provide a ground, period, end of story. Physics is a harsh mistress.

Simply put, if the sheet one is laying on is not conductive and grounded, you will not be grounded.

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They sell these:

Anyway, it’s a fitted sheet with 5% silver fibers woven in and attached to a little plug. You can ground it to the 3rd plug in the outlet, but like many I think these would carry along a signal from anything running on the circuit. I sleep on the ground floor and just ran the wire out the wall and attached to a copper rod driven into the ground low enough so the lawn mower won’t hit it.

The risk is very low that this will harm, and there is literature on it, mostly done by people selling grounding equipment or literature. Why would anybody else bother? We talked about it here before, but I don’t see the links to the studies now with the search box.

I have been very sorry about being “grounded” when caught outside in a lightning storm. I’ve been “hit” by an upward streamer once. Very shocking but no injury. Maybe walking barefoot in the wet grass for 5 minutes is enough to get the pleasure of nature, a bit of NIR, and give/gain a few electrons.

Yeah, I though of that when I was pounding the copper stake into the ground. If it was sticking up then the lightening might hit it and follow in to me. But it’s a pretty small wire. But I drove it below ground level and buried the wire to the house. Now I can mow and not worry about it.

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I think of new treatments on a 3d risk-reward basis:

One axis is the potential reward of the treatment.

One axis is the potential risk to me (cos is a gating factor but actual physical harm is worse)

The added axis is “foolishness risk”: when I’m wearing my tinfoil hat that may or may not block rf which may or may not have a meaningful impact will I be completely embarrassed for myself? Have I been a complete fool and am now wearing a dunce hat? As an example: I am becoming aware that regular mens deodorant may be semi-toxic. But have I transitioned to using a crystal like the hippies I knew in California did (all of whom had a massive body oder smell, and none who looked like they we’re healthy)? So I wait and look for other alternatives while i gather more info.

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Just in case anybody wants to read studies:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4378297/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10105021/

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1550830719305476

Haha, for some reason this thing won’t generate a preview for these, wonder why?

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