Laura Koniver, MD's Blog, page 6

East Tips To Help You Navigate Holiday Party Foods and Drinks

 

November is upon us, and with Thanksgiving and Winter Holidays running towards us back to back, that usually means lots of celebratory foods we might not normally choose to eat and drinks we might not routinely drink.  It also means folks are stressing about their weight.  More on that at the end of this blog post.

Whether holiday parties are stressing you out, picking out the perfect gift, figuring out how to afford travel (damn it’s so expensive!) or balancing social commitments, even joyful holidays can be stressful ones. Most people report that being surrounded by rich holiday foods, alcohol, impulse eating, and weight gain during the holiday season adds a significant amount of stress as well.

So as holiday season gets underway I wanted to give you a few tips on how to navigate this tricky but wonderful time of comfort food, decadent desserts, and celebratory toasts.

If you want to stick with foods that are healthy for your body… or, at the very least, you don’t want to undo all of the benefit you’ve gotten from the grounding, the fresh air, the decent sleep and good supplements you take, here are the party foods to look for.

You are almost guaranteed to find at least one of these five treats at any holiday party.

My 5 Favorite Party Foods:

 

 

1) Chocolate!

 

Shown to support heart and brain health, women who consume chocolate on a regular basis actually have a lower body mass index then those who don’t!  Want more info on this?  Hop over here to read this free article I wrote for you:

Chocolate To Boost Metabolism

 

 

2) Caffeinated coffee or tea

 

Warding off dementia, Alzheimers and depression, even decreasing your risk for developing diabetes… a warm cup of coffee or tea is the perfect way to indulge at a party, guilt free, especially if you can skip the sugar and whipped cream.  Want to read more about the health benefits of coffee?  Here you go:

Higher Coffee Intake Linked To Lower Mortality Rates

 

 

3) Berries

 

Super-powered antioxidants that decrease inflammation throughout your body, enjoy the berries found on that fresh fruit party platter!  Best dessert yet?  Snag that chocolate covered strawberry and enjoy every single luscious bite… combining #1 with #3 on this list!

 

4) Nuts

 

Medically proven to lower heart disease risk and boosting energy without causing any weight gain, find the nut bowl and dig in!

 

 

5) Deviled Eggs

 

I saved the best for last. My favorite party food of all time is deviled eggs. I truly believe in eating eggs regularly… the protein and healthy fats are second-to-none.  Although traditional recipes for deviled eggs double their calorie content, it’s still so much less calorie dense (at about 160 calories per deviled egg) than almost anything else that you can find at a holiday dinner. And the protein is sure to keep you much more full and decrease your desire to fill your stomach with empty carbs and inflammation-inducing sugar.

If you are truly concerned about keeping calorie counts low, you can always offer to be the one to bring deviled eggs to the party!  Using this recipe for a skinny deviled egg (which uses only some of the yolks and substitutes in greek yogurt instead of mayo) each deviled egg is only 37 calories and has 3.8 grams of satisfying, delicious protein!

 

 

But what if is the holiday drinks that are stressing you out?

 

It is possible to buffer your liver — at least a little — during your next holiday toast.

Drinking wine occasionally has enjoyed mixed health reviews, with some studies reporting cognitive benefits from wine (although for those you can simply take resveratrol supplements, which I highly recommend) but many more concerning studies reporting that alcohol increases cancer risk and decreases life span, well outweighing the benefits in my opinion.

And because holiday parties typically mean a lot of driving out and about to attend these parties, my first recommendation is just not to drink at all!

 

But if you are going to toast the holidays with a drink or two… and you have a safe ride with a designated driver lined up… there are supplements that may help that drink be less toxic to your dear old liver.

Plus, we can’t ignore that even if the recommendation is not to drink at all, there are 140 millions folks (in America alone!) that regularly drink and about 16 million of them have an alcohol abuse disorder.

So instead of ignoring a huge population of folks that need health support, I share this information in an effort to help their body stay as healthy as possible while they seek the help and support they need to stop drinking.  Not providing support for folks who drink is like not providing birth control for those who are sexually active. It’s irresponsible to insist the only option available is total abstinence.

So let’s start with the basics:

Alcohol is metabolized into acetaldehyde by your liver.

If acetaldehyde sounds familiar, you might be be thinking of it’s cousin, the more well known autopsy chemical: formaldehyde.

Yep, they are related, and just like formaldehyde is well known to pickle human tissue, acetaldehyde isn’t very gentle on your liver or body either.

Both are harsh chemicals known to cause cancer.

If you are drinking one drink an hour or more, you can expect to feel cumulative effects of acetaldehyde build up as your body can’t metabolize the acetaldehyde quickly enough: heart racing, pounding, nausea, dehydration, dizziness.

You might call that feeling buzzed or tipsy, but what that really is is the beginning of acetaldehyde poisoning.

 

 

How can we protect ourselves from this dangerous metabolite?

 

Our body can use n-acetyl-l-cysteine (NAC) + thiamine (B1) to protect against the acetaldehyde effects until our liver can further break the acetaldehyde down into carbon dioxide and water.  You can also add on Vitamin C to help keep the l-cysteine activated and working more efficiently as well.

A combination of l-cycsteine, thiamine and vit C (NAC + B1 + Vit C) taken before you start drinking, may help block the toxic effects of the acetaldehyde can help your body recover more easily from those holiday gatherings.  There was a very encouraging animal study that showed l-cysteine and thiamine was protective and prolonged the life of rodents who were fed toxic doses of acetaldehyde.  Only 10% of animals initially survived a large dose acetaldehyde challenge without supplementation, but 100% initially survived with L-cysteine + thiamine on board! A 100% survival rate in the face of toxic aldehyde poisoning is quite incredible.

Of course, no pharmaceutical company out there has poured money into researching how to reduce harm in humans from alcohol… so there are no large human medical studies to back this up. Because these supplements are safe, cheap, and readily available, pharmaceutical companies know they are unlikely to make a huge profit from pour large amounts of funding into examining how these vitamins might help us preserve and protect our health.

But on the upside, exactly because they are safe and inexpensive and readily available, this means you have easy access to these supportive healing supplements too. Woot! But be sure to stick with very high quality supplements made in fantastic, reputable pharmacy grade nutraceutical facilities.

To help, I have a Party Detox Protocol waiting for you right here in my trusty online dispensary (along with other protocols like Gut Healing Protocol and Immune Boosting Protocol) so that you can be sure you have pharmacy grade, super pure quality supplements on hand to support your body if you do decide to drink this holiday season.

 

 

All in all, taking L-cysteine (NAC), thiamine (B1) and Vitamin C before drinking might help spare your body from some portion of the the ill effects of the toxic acetaldehyde.

These supplements are not a recommendation to make drinking safe… rather to make drinking less toxic.  Remember, no supplement can make drinking safe. And no supplement can make drinking and driving the slightest bit safe… or morally correct… or legal.

If you are going to drink… don’t drive. Ever.

 

 

What else can you do to help support healthy eating at holiday events?

 

Recognize your emotional eating style.

 

What I’ve noticed as a physician examining health outcomes for the past 20 years, is that most people eat emotionally instead of nutritionally.  To help you focus on what matters most (which is consuming nutrient dense foods) I have developed a list of the top 7 emotional eating patterns I see over and over again.

If you can develop insight into why you eat the way you do, you can reframe your mind away from eating emotionally and instead eat intellectually, based on what supports your health best.  Stop worrying so much about what treats and indulgences you crave and instead figure out why you crave them.

Look over this list to see if you can identify which emotional eating pattern describes you best and get some tips on working with your eating patterns in a healthier way:

The 7 Main Eating Styles:

 

 

 

FOOD IS SECURITY:

For some folks, food represents safety and security.  So when they are not eating, deep fears of safety and panic may arise.  There may be worries about food scarcity and needing to know when and what your next meal will be.

If you notice you overeat, it may be an attempt to feel secure and reassured that all is well. You may crave comfort foods such as casseroles and home cooking and baked goods, or foods that remind you of childhood.

The solution: focus on portion sizes &/or reach for high fiber foods.

If you tend to eat in this way, it is perfectly reasonable to feed your body foods that comfort it, but the goal is to have reasonable portion sizes.

Another way to provide comfort and a deep contentment to security-type eaters is to include lots and lots and lots of fiber, so that you feel full, satiated, safe and grounded for longer.

 

 

FOOD IS PLEASURE:

For some folks, food isn’t just about the nutrition, food is about the entire experience… the smell, the feel, the texture, the flavor, the delight in chewing it.  Food is pleasurable and even sensual.

If this is your style of eating, you may find you are eating because you want the feel of food in your mouth, not because you are hungry.  You may also find a love/hate relationship with food… often pleasure-seeking eaters have Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) or lactose intolerance or celiac disease and need to find a balance between the foods they love and the foods their body hates.

The solution: focus on pleasurable drinks you enjoy &/or consider chewing gum.

One great idea for pleasure eaters is to enjoy drinking (coffees, teas, water, fresh squeezed juices…) or chewing gum throughout the day to experience that sensual pleasure of having sensations in the mouth without necessarily reaching for food.

 

 

FOOD IS POWER:

For some folks, eating food is an issue of control or power.  These control-based eaters are the ones most likely to try to strictly monitor what they eat and submit to horrible restrictive diets that they absolutely hate!

Healthy eating is not about what you restrict but rather what you eat.  So for people who see food as power, diets are particularly offensive because restricting food intake feels like a loss of power or a loss of control… two things these types of eaters hate!

The solution: pick easily digestible foods &/or develop a grazing habit (eating smaller quantities more often.)

One great idea for control-based eaters is to drop the diets and instead focus on choosing easily digestible foods like soups and pureed foods that are easier on your digestive organs (liver, pancreas, stomach) and eating frequent, smaller meals, grazing all throughout the day instead of a few large meals.

Focusing on high quality foods and eating them more often, instead of restricting quantity, tends to be kinder than dieting and allows your body to feel healthier.

 

 

FOOD IS LOVE:

Some folks enjoy food that releases endorphins and provides a rush, similar to falling in love.  Any of my blog readers who know how often I blog about eating chocolate will recognize… yep, I’m this type of eater.

Romantic foods like oysters, red wine, chocolate… it’s not so much that these eaters care about food, they care about the way the food makes them feel.  Dieting feels atrocious for love-seeking eaters and restricting food is equivalent to being dumped by a lover.

The solution: eat with others &/or make your place setting beautiful.

One great idea for love-seeking eaters is to focus on enjoying the people you are eating with more than the food — if possible, avoid eating alone (which typically leads to over-eating) and instead really focus on making eye contact with the people you are enjoying a meal with, the conversation.  This will allow you to enjoy what foods you do eat — for example, appreciating a lovely glass of wine and a small piece of dark chocolate instead of three plates full of food you do not actually love or even enjoy.

Or, focus just as much on creating a lovely place to eat as you do what foods you are eating. Add a fresh flower to your kitchen table, bring your lunch outside to eat in sunshine the middle of a work day, or browse thrift stores for beautiful, vintage glasses and plates to mix and match, or hand sew some beautiful cloth napkins to use as a treat.

 

 

FOOD IS JOY:

Some people just love to enjoy a wide variety of foods and this is one of their wonderful strengths with eating.  My son is a joy-based eater and he is amazing at trying foods most children wouldn’t even think of… exotic foods, spicy foods, unusual vegetables that kids traditionally hate.  He is open to trying it all and gets so excited as he watches me prepare an interesting meal from scratch.

Because joyful eaters are so open to food, dieting or any type of food restriction at all feels like a huge loss and may even bring deep sorrow.

The solution: increase food variety &/or make meals from scratch.

My favorite recommendation for joy-based eaters is to focus on trying new and unusual foods to satisfy their cravings, instead of over-eating a large quantity of boring foods.  Keep a stash of different spices, hot sauces and healthy seasonings to make each bite taste exciting and invigorating instead of needing larger portions to bring joy.

Joy eaters also tend to actually enjoy preparing food, so if you are a joy eater build time into your day to focus on trying new recipes, browsing new cookbooks, and preparing healthy meals from scratch.

Joy-based eaters can feel guilty that food brings them joy… but I say this is a strength!  Food brings joy!  So choose your food selection based on how much joy it brings you and do not waste your time (or calories) on food that does not bring joy.

 

 

FOOD IS ENERGY:

People that eat for energy may need lots more fats and more protein than other eaters.  These people have so much energy output that each bite needs to be calorie dense and their body knows this.

Although they get the message to feel bad about eating fats and eating dense protein (after all, eating a light salad seems so much more social acceptable) this leaves them feeling depleted and desperate for a pick-me-up later.  They may even feel a sense of shame about eating something that their vegetarian friend (who is not an energy-eater) would not touch.

The solution: focus on protein and fat rich foods.

Instead of feeling guilty, energy eaters need to know that they are honoring their bodies by feeding their brain lots of healthy fats (organic whole fat dairy/butter/yogurt or coconut, avocado, fish oil…) and protein (organic, ethically produced meats, organic eggs, organic nuts and nut butters.).

My daughter is an energy eater, and I can honestly say that she is one of the healthiest people I know. Glowing skin. Gorgeous hair. Beautiful radiant soul.  People who are energy eaters need to feel good about their intuitive food choices that make them crave protein.  Not everyone can feel their best on a strictly vegetarian diet, so please be non-judgmental towards yourself or your friends who need to eat ethically sourced meat routinely.

 

 

FOOD IS OPTIONAL:

Does this sounds familiar: forgetting to eat, not making the time to eat, feeling dizzy because you skipped lunch, reaching for a quick snack and then getting right back to work, forgetting to hydrate?  Some folks find it easy to ignore their bodies needs or lose track of time.

While sporadic eaters are usually not so bothered by going on a diet, the danger here is that they often don’t take the time to eat healthily so that when they do eat, they are ravenous and don’t make smart food choices, or they don’t even get the needed nutritional building blocks at all.

The solution: schedule meals & drink water often.

The best thing these eaters can do is to schedule in their eating so that they eat at regular intervals, stay hydrated, and make great food choices… instead of not eating all day long and then binging in a drive through on the way home.

Another great tip is to carry water with you at all times, so that even if they you not taking the time to properly eat, you stay well hydrated.  This goes for everyone, but to sporadic eaters most of all.

 

 

I hope these insights helps give you an idea of how to work with your own unique energy flow, cravings and health goals. Hopefully this article gave you some great tips on which party foods to gravitate to, how to detox after a holiday toast, and how to recognize the motivation behind your eating style.

 

To your resilient, natural health!xoxox, Laura

The post East Tips To Help You Navigate Holiday Party Foods and Drinks appeared first on Intuition Physician.

These Medical Studies Show How Grounding Benefits Build Over Time

 

 

 

I get asked all the time if there is any time too short to get grounded.   To that I say no.

Grounding is as instantaneous as flipping on a light switch. When you turn on a light, the entire room is illuminated — that’s what happens when one cell in your body becomes grounded: your entire body is grounded. Because your body is instantly grounded at first contact, there is really no time too little for grounding.  Muscles instantaneously decrease in tension, the brain immediately shifts into more healing brainwave patterns, and our autonomic nervous system gets immediate support.  So I never want you to miss an opportunity to be grounded just because it’s might only be for 30 seconds while you stop at a street crossing, or lean against a tree while you take a break on a hike, or pull a weed from your garden.

I get asked all the time if there is any amount of time too long to get grounded.  To that I also say no.

Until we invented plastics just over a hundred years ago, and just like it is natural for all plants and animals living on this earth, it’s a natural thing to be grounded 24/7.  The body starts functioning optimally as all of our organ systems get supported better, and we shift out of fight-and-flight into rest-and-digest mode.  There is no amount of time too long to spend in an optimal healing state.  So just as no time is too short (you are grounded in less than a millisecond) you stay grounded as long as you have contact with the earth outside or an indoor grounding tool, even if hours and hours have gone by.

 

 

So today I created a list of medical studies you can directly read in the medical literature for more details on what the immediate benefits of grounding is, and how the build over time.  These are not all the studies on grounding there are — it’s a select few that highlight some of the important benefits of grounding and I put them in order of how long each study had the participants grounded.

At the end of this list of studies I also include a video I made for you running through these benefits (in case you’d rather hear me walk you through these studies instead of print them out and read them) and I also include a video I made on the longer term benefits that I believe are likely — the longevity benefits — for those that make grounding a lifelong habit.

Here we go!

Grounding Benefits Over Time:

 

 

 

In Seconds:

 

Cohesion with Schumann Resonance 

Michael P, Saroka KS. “Human quantitative electroencephalographic and schumann resonance exhibit real-time coherence of spectral power densities: Implications for interactive information processing.” J Signal Inform Process. 2015;06(02):153-64.

Synchronization with Schumann Resonance

Cherry NJ. Human intelligence: The brain, an electromagnetic system synchronised by the Schumann resonance signal. Med Hypotheses. 2003;60(6):843-4.

Boosted Healing Brain Waves

Zahari ZL, Mustafa M, Rahman NAB, Abdubrani R, Zain MZ. An effectiveness of EEG signal based on body earthing application. Int J Adv Sci Eng Inform Technol. 2023;12(2022):2322-6.

Decreased Muscle Tension

Chevalier G, Mori K, Oschman JL. The effect of Earthing (grounding) on human physiology. European Biology and Bioelectromagnetics. 2006;2(1):600–621

Boosted Skin Perfusion

Koniver Laura, Grounding and Skin Repair: The Power of DC Energy. Curr Res Cmpl Alt Med. 2023; 7: 197. In Minutes:

 

Improved Vagal Tone

RA Passie, KK Doheny, YB Gordin, HC Hinssen, CA Palmer Electrical grounding improves vagal tone in preterm infants Neonatol, 112 (2) (2017), pp. 187-192

Boosted Heart Rate Variability

G Chevalier, ST. Sinatra Emotional stress, heart rate variability, grounding, and improved autonomic tone: clinical applications Integr Med, 10 (2011), p. 3

Improved Mood

Chevalier G. The effect of grounding the human body on mood. Psychol Rep. 2015;116(2):534-42.

Decreased Blood Viscosity

G Chevalier, ST Sinatra, JL Oschman, RM. Delany Earthing (grounding) the human body reduces blood viscosity—a major factor in cardiovascular disease J Altern Complement Med, 19 (2) (2013), pp. 102-110Brown, Richard and Chevalier, Gaétan (2015) Grounding the Human Body during Yoga Exercise with a Grounded Yoga Mat Reduces Blood Viscosity. Open Journal of Preventive Medicine, 05 (04). pp. 159-168. ISSN 2162-2477

Lowered Muscle Damage

P Sokal, Z Jastrzębski, E Jaskulska, K Sokal, M Jastrzębska, L Radzimiński, et al. Differences in blood urea and creatinine concentrations in earthed and unearthed subjects during cycling exercise and recovery Evid Based Complement Alternat Med, 2013 (2013), p. 382643

Cardioprotection

Elhalel, G., Price, C., Fixler, D. et al. Cardioprotection from stress conditions by weak magnetic fields in the Schumann Resonance band. Sci Rep 9, 1645 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-36... Hours:

 

Decreased Muscle Soreness

Brown D, Chevalier G, Hill M. Pilot study on the effect of grounding on delayed-onset muscle soreness. J Altern Complement Med. 2010;16(3):265- 73.

Boosted Blood Flow

Chevalier, G. , Melvin, G. and Barsotti, T. (2015) One-Hour Contact with the Earth’s Surface (Grounding) Improves Inflammation and Blood Flow—A Randomized, Double-Blind, Pilot Study. Health, 7, 1022-1059.

Decreased Inflammation

Oschman JL, Illnesses in technologically advanced societies due to lack of grounding (earthing), Biomedical Journal, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bj.2022.10.... Days:

 

Improved Wound Healing

Shaner S, Savelyeva A, Kvartuh A, Jedrusik N, Matter L, Leal J, Asplund M. Bioelectronic microfluidic wound healing: a platform for investigating direct current stimulation of injured cell collectives. Lab Chip. 2023 Mar 14;23(6):1531-1546. doi: 10.1039/d2lc01045c. PMID: 36723025; PMCID: PMC10013350.

Improved Sleep

M Ghaly, D Teplitz The biologic effects of grounding the human body during sleep as measured by cortisol levels and subjective reporting of sleep, pain, and stress J Alternative Compl Med, 10 (5) (2004), pp. 767-776

Lower Cortisol

M Ghaly, D Teplitz The biologic effects of grounding the human body during sleep as measured by cortisol levels and subjective reporting of sleep, pain, and stress J Alternative Compl Med, 10 (5) (2004), pp. 767-776

Improved Muscle Recovery

Müller E, Pröller P, Ferreira-Briza F, Aglas L, Stöggl T. Effectiveness of grounded sleeping on recovery after intensive eccentric muscle loading. Front Physiol. 2019;10:35.D Brown, G Chevalier, M. Hill Pilot study on the effect of grounding on delayed-onset muscle soreness J Altern Complement Med, 16 (3) (2010), pp. 265-273Brown R, Chevalier G, Hill M. Grounding after moderate eccentric contractions reduces muscle damage. Open Access J Sports Med. 2015 Sep 21;6:305-17. doi: 10.2147/OAJSM.S87970. PMID: 26443876; PMCID: PMC4590684.

Boosted Immune Function

Mousa HA-L, Prevention and treatment of COVID-19 infection by earthing, Biomedical Journal, https://doi.org/ 10.1016/j.bj.2022.08.002In Weeks:

 

Anti-Aging Benefits

Koniver, Laura, Grounding: An Anti-Aging Breakthrough? Trends Gen Med. 2024; 2(3): 1-7.

Improved Sleep Quality

Lin CH, Tseng ST, Chuang YC, Kuo CE, Chen NC. Grounding the body improves sleep quality in patients with mild Alzheimer’s disease: A pilot study. Healthcare. 2022;10(3):581.

Dereased Anxiety

Park H-J, Jeong W, Yu HJ, Ye M, Hong Y, Kim M, et al. The effect of earthing mat on stress-induced anxiety-like behavior and neuroendocrine changes in the rat. Biomedicines. 2023;11(1):57.

Cognitive Benefits

Koniver, Laura, Could Grounding Improve Cognition? Curr Res Cmpl Alt Med. 2024; 8: 252. DOI: 10.29011/2577-2201.100252

Decreased Brain Stress Levels

Taehun Kim, Dae Yun Seo, Jun Hyun Bae, and Jin Han  Barefoot walking improves cognitive ability in adolescents Korean J Physiol Pharmacol 2024; 28(4): 295-302

Improved Circadian Rhythm

Oschman JL. Perspective: Assume a spherical cow: the role of free or mobile electrons in bodywork, energetic and movement therapies. J Bodyw Mov Ther 2008;12:40e57.Martel J et al., Influence of electromagnetic fields on the circadian rhythm: Implications for human health and disease, Biomedical Journal, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bj.2023.01.003

Decreased Inflammation

Chevalier, G., Patel, S., Weiss, L., Pruitt, C., Henry, B., Chopra, D. and Mills, P.J. (2018) Effects of Grounding (Earthing) on Massage Therapists: An Exploratory Study. Health, 10, 228-250.Sinatra ST et al., Grounding, The universal anti-inflammatory remedy, Biomedical Journal, https://doi.org/ 10.1016/j.bj.2022.12.002

Improved Energy Levels

Chevalier G, Patel S, Weiss L, Chopra D, Mills PJ. The Effects of Grounding (Earthing) on Bodyworkers’ Pain and Overall Quality of Life: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Explore (NY). 2019 May-Jun;15(3):181-190. doi: 10.1016/j.explore.2018.10.001. Epub 2018 Oct 11. PMID: 30448083.

Lowered Blood Pressure

Elkin HK, Winter A. Grounding Patients With Hypertension Improves Blood Pressure: A Case History Series Study. Altern Ther Health Med. 2018 Nov;24(6):46-50. PMID: 30982019.Longer Term Benefits:

 

Sinatra ST, Oschman JL, Chevalier G, Sinatra D. Electric Nutrition: The Surprising Health and Healing Benefits of Biological Grounding (Earthing). Altern Ther Health Med. 2017 Sep;23(5):8-16. PMID: 28987038.Oschman J, Chevalier G, Brown R. The effects of grounding (earthing) on inflammation, the immune response, wound healing, and prevention and treatment of chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. J Inflamm Res. 2015;8:83-96Chevalier, Gaétan, Sinatra, Stephen T., Oschman, James L., Sokal, Karol, Sokal, Pawel, Earthing: Health Implications of Reconnecting the Human Body to the Earth′s Surface Electrons, Journal of Environmental and Public Health, 2012, 291541, 8 pages, 2012.Koniver, Laura, Grounding: An Anti-Aging Breakthrough? Trends Gen Med. 2024; 2(3): 1-7.Koniver, Laura, Cerebrospinal Fluid and Brain Health: Optimized By Grounding. American J Neurol Res. 2023; 2(1):1-4.Koniver Laura, Neurological Pathways Supported by Grounding. Open J Neurol Neurosci. 2023; 1(1): 1002Martel J, Ojcius DM, Is a return to nature a piece of the health puzzle?, Biomedical Journal, https://doi.org/ 10.1016/j.bj.2023.02.002Oschman JL, Illnesses in technologically advanced societies due to lack of grounding (earthing), Biomedical Journal, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bj.2022.10.... Menigoz, Tracy T. Latz, Robin A. Ely, Cimone Kamei, Gregory Melvin, Drew Sinatra,Integrative and lifestyle medicine strategies should include Earthing (grounding): Review of research evidence and clinical observations, EXPLORE, Volume 16, Issue 3, 2020, Pages 152-160, ISSN 1550-8307,Gae ́tan Chevalier, Stephen T. Sinatra, James L. Oschman, Karol Sokal, and Pawel Sokal  Earthing: Health Implications of Reconnecting the Human Body to the Earth’s Surface Electrons Journal of Environmental and Public Health Volume 2012, Article ID 291541, 8 pages doi:10.1155/2012/291541Paweł Sokal, Karol Sokal, The neuromodulative role of earthing, Medical Hypotheses, Volume 77, Issue 5, 2011, Pages 824-826, ISSN 0306-9877, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mehy.2011.0... feel like reading those studies?

 

If you still want more details about this topic but don’t want to read each study yourself, you don’t have to.  Let me run you through the grounding benefits that accrue over time in this video right now:

 

How Quickly Does Grounding Start To Work:

 

 

What if you ground for even longer?

 

Want to look ahead to how longer amounts of time may benefit your health, over months and years?  Here are some of the reasons long term grounding could be anti-aging:

 

Grounding: An Anti-Aging Breakthrough?

 

 

Want more holistic health ideas?

 

Here are some additional tips for longevity you might enjoy:

 

9 Holistic Longevity Tips:

 

 

After seeing the immense benefits of grounding shown in the past 50 years of medical studies, you may want to consider making grounding part of your daily health routines, like brushing your teeth and drinking water and wearing a seatbelt.  I highly encourage you to.  For long term grounding, an indoor grounding tool may be helpful.  There is only one place on earth to get eco-ethically hand crafted, all natural and organic grounding tools made right here in the USA and it’s in my grounding boutique.  

Custom made, individually hand sewn, boutique quality grounding tools made locally using eco friendly, environmentally conscious materials like hemp and organic cotton, and superior quality conductive elements like stainless steel, so they are the longest lasting, most eco-friendly and non-toxic grounding tools on the planet, even shipped with non-toxic, biodegradable packaging.

I also have lots of outdoor grounding solutions for you too — in case you want to stay grounded directly to the earth outside in the winter instead of using indoor grounding tools — options like grounding hiking sticks, grounding canes, grounding shoe stickers, grounding gloves and so much more!

 

 

I hope you found this free healing newsletter uplifting and supportive to your health, and I hope you share it freely.  If someone forwarded this newsletter to you, you can sign up to get my weekly free holistic healing newsletter so you don’t miss any of this supportive, healing content right here:

 

xoxox,Laura Koniver MD

 

 

The post These Medical Studies Show How Grounding Benefits Build Over Time appeared first on Intuition Physician.

10 Important Changes In Healthcare Over The Past 20 Years

 

 

I went to medical school in 1996 — almost 30 years ago.  In that amount of time, there has been a lot of positive forward momentum in health and healing, and many diseases that were considered terminal now have amazing outcomes thanks to new developments such as biological therapies for cancer treatment and autoimmune diseases.

Advances in our understanding of how to help the body heal are not a new thing — centuries ago physicians used leeches in blood letting, or prescribed time by the sea when they were not sure what else to offer (which I think is still a good idea — any time on the earth, especially near water, encourages the healing practice of grounding, more on that in advancement #9, below!)

So today, now that we are in the autumn transition and it reminds me that time is moving along quite quickly as I watch leaves begin to fall, I thought I’d share with you an article I wrote for MaryJane’s Farm Magainze for the recent “By and By” issue.   If you have not heard of MaryJane’s Farm if you like organic lifestyle tips and natural living, you will LOVE her magazine — I’ve been so honored to have a routine health column in this magazine for many years now because MaryJane has been a mentor of mine that I have looked up to and admired since I discovered her books decades ago.  She is my own personal heroine, so much so that I carry her autographed books in my online shop (which you can find right here.)

Back to my favorite 10 advances in medicine that have happened since I became a practicing physician 25 years ago…  here we go:

10 Changes In Healthcare In The Past 20 Years

 

 

1. The Food Pyramid Topples:

 

When I was in medical school, we were taught the food pyramid provides optimum health for our patients.  But in the decades since, we’ve learned that the carb heavy bottom of the food pyramid is not supportive of our body’s long term health.  The outdated recommendation was up to 11 servings of bread, cereal, rice, and pasta daily… In addition, all fats were to be universally avoided.  

Because of the heavy emphasis on breads and grains, even if you were able to stick with the food pyramid for your meals, you would be missing out on essential vitamins and minerals your body needs from fresh fruits and vegetables and legumes and nuts and seeds.  On top of being nutritionally deplete, we’ve also realized that gluten (found in many of those empty carbs the food pyramid was recommending) is a neuroirritant and that health fats are to be actively consumed, not avoided.  

Dr. Pearlmutter suggests that gluten is not just a neuroirritant to the brain, but it is actually neurotoxic.  He feels that gluten may be casting a brain-fog over our entire civilization!  In his book Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth About Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar — Your Brain’s Silent Killers, Dr. Perlmutter advocates saving your brain by starting a high-fat, nearly carbohydrate-free diet.  His assertion is that this can prevent or greatly lower dementia risk and progression — and he’s armed with plenty of data to back up the claim. More recent evidence suggests that not only does the brain inflammation that gluten causes affect your mental clarity, it might also be causing or worsening mood disorders like depression and anxiety.  Research published in Frontiers In Psychiatry in Jul 2022 found that not only did a diet low in carbohydrates — with an emphasis on proteins and veggies — help with refractory epilepsy and other organic brain diseases, but it also provided significant improvements in both depression and psychosis symptoms as well as in metabolic health, with improved weight, blood pressure, blood glucose and blood lipid profiles.

 

 

So now, replacing the food pyramid, we have the “MyPlate” suggestion, which is similar to a paleo diet, with a focus on high quality protein (grass fed beef), wild fish, eggs, nuts, seeds and colorful fruits and vegetables.  In addition, I would recommend including high quality high fats in the diet (coconut oil, olive oil, organic butter, avocado too.  

Consider cutting your gluten and sugar intake in half (or even trying to go gluten and sugar free) for one month and see if you feel more clear headed and energetic.  It’s been my experience that patients who are experiencing a brain fog feel dramatically better in just a few short weeks of reducing carbs and gluten.

I talk a bit more about reducing gluten in your diet for longevity and improved brain function in this blog post I wrote for you here:

9 Ways To Protect Longevity And Boost Your Stem Cell Regeneration

 

2.  Eating Certain Fats Becomes Good:

 

Have you been told your high cholesterol level is bad for your heart?  Are you on medication to treat high cholesterol?  Although you can’t generalize for all people, the focus on reducing cholesterol is a bit outdated. The studies on cholesterol that most physicians base their understanding of it on is based on studies that are several decade old, and most of what we were taught about cholesterol in medical school is indeed wrong.  While some old school physicians are still narrowly focused on fat consumption and monitoring lipids in the blood. But the new studies that have come out over the past 20 years are showing that it is actually inflammation that causes the damage that builds plaques and increases mortality due to heart attack and stroke.

More recent studies reveal that saturated fat intake does not increase rate of death, it’s actually inflammation — and the long term damage that inflammation does to our blood vessels — that increases mortality rate.  The British Medical Journal (BMJ) online released a medical report which found absolutely no increase in mortality with saturated fat consumption, no association between saturated fat intake and cardiovascular disease, stroke, diabetes or over all mortality, a protective benefit from consuming naturally occurring trans-palmitoleic acid (in dairy) to reduce diabetes risk, a moderate association between industrially synthesized trans hydrogenated fats and increased mortality, but no association between naturally occurring trans fats and mortality.

So the bottom line?  Naturally occurring fats do not increase mortality.  And actually, healthy fats (like omega 3 fatty acids) reduce inflammation throughout the body and support cardiovascular and brain health, even helping to preserve brain volume, prevent psychosis and lower cancer risk.  A study published in 2016 in JAMA Internal Medicine, showed that higher levels of Omega 3 fatty acids actually lowered the risk of having a fatal heart attack within 10 years.  While fish has unfortunately become a contaminated source of Omega 3 fatty acids, you may wish to focus on getting high quality Omega 3s in your diet through nuts, seeds, algae oil or flax seed oils for those health benefits.

I had the pleasure of meeting the late Dr. Sinatra — the top Integrative Cardiologist in America — while filming the motion picture The Grounded.  He actually spent his birthday filming in my home!  His research revealed that it is actually sugar consumption that is the main culprit of inflammation leading to heart disease.  He ascertained that the highly refined, processed, preserved foods and large amounts of sugar in the typical American diet causes the body to be chronically inflamed.  Read Dr. Sinatra’s book The Great Cholesterol Myth for a more in depth look at why cholesterol is not the bad guy and for a detailed heart healthy plan to live healthier and live longer, and guidance for helping some folks to come off of their statin medication.

 

3.  Hormone Replacement Therapy Went From Good To Bad To Good Again:

 

Right before I entered medical school, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) was encouraged and a popular choice for perimenopausal and menopausal women, so we were taught extensively about it in pharmacology and Ob/Gyn rotations.  Right after I started practicing medicine, a huge study was released advising against HRT, saying the benefits did not outweigh the risks for most women.  Because of this, there was mass panic with many women stopping their hormone replacement and not very many requests to start it from patients.  So for most of my practicing years, I did not routinely suggest or prescribe hormone replacement for women.  

Recently, the tide has changed, and the data from that original study was found to be faulty, as well as many additional studies now showing that in perimenopausal (and early menopausal) women, there are multiple benefits of HRT, including significant protection against cardiovascular disease, protection against bone loss, and an over all reduction in all cause mortality (meaning HRT use was correlated with a longer lifespan.)

There are estrogen receptors not only in the reproductive organs, but all throughout the body: in the brain, bones, heart and blood vessels, which help explain these benefits as well as the brain benefits of reducing peri-menopausal brain fog, mood changes and cognitive decline.  If HRT is started in perimenopause, it can even reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s Disease and dementia risk in half!

To keep of with the latest medical studies on HRT, I attended a recent medical conference that was devoted entirely to hormones and hormone replacement. I had just turned 50, and I left that meeting super excited to start bioidentical hormones myself, and the recommendation from the most recent study results suggest the best way to take bioidentical hormones is to apply them transdermally (to the skin) for maximum benefit.  I have been on bioidentical hormones for almost a year now, and I love my topical bio-est cream — if you’ve noticed my skin looking better in my more recent videos, that is what I 100% attribute it to!

f you’re have been in menopause for 9 years or less, you are likely a candidate for hormone replacement therapy. Talk to your in person physician, who will help you decide, and check out my  protocol for perimenopause and menopausal women that includes the exact same topical bio-identical cream that I personally use — you can see my Complete Menopausal Support Protocol here and feel free to send me a message through my contact page here if you have any questions on that protocol before giving it a try!

 

 

 

4.  Telemedicine Booms:

 

When I was a newly practicing doctor, telemedicine was pretty unheard of.  Certainly it was never brought up in medical school, I was never exposed to a single physician who practiced it, and it was never presented as an option to graduating physicians.

Since then, telemedicine has grown exponentially, spurred on and normalized by the COVID-19 pandemic during which about 50% off all visits to a medical provider was conducted via telemedicine… and has now taken root and stayed as an integral part of medical care, with many advantages to both patients and physicians.  Before the pandemic, less than 0.1% off medical appointments were through telemedicine, during the pandemic about half of all visits were virtual, and since the pandemic, and currently about 17% of all visits (in 2023) were via Telehealth. 

Advantages of Telehealth include making health care much more accessible to many more people, it helps to alleviate sudden shortages in the workforce of the healthcare industry, and it helps to control the skyrocketing costs of healthcare.  

Hopefully medical schools and residency programs are now including training into practicing virtual medicine, as well as helping to identify what issues are safely treated remotely and which are better to seek in person care for, as well as helping young physicians develop their virtual bedside manner through practicing Telehealth as part of the normal curriculum.

 

 

 

5.  Cannabinoids Are De-stigmatized:

 

When I started practicing medicine, the endocannabinoid system of the human body was not well understood and we were given no education and no practical experience with using cannabinoids to treat any health concerns aside from medical marijuana.  All cannabinoids were treated with suspicion and lumped into the same category as illicit drug use. 

Thankfully, there has been a huge explosion of education and research into the importance of the entire cannabinoid system, including the discovery of many different types of cannabinoids and their effects on the human body. Similar to HRT from #3 above, there have been cannabinoid receptors found throughout the body, including the brain, skin, digestive tract, bones and more.  Research has reveals significant benefit to reducing seizure activity, anxiety, insomnia, chronic pain, arthritis, inflammation, as well as a boost to the immune system.  

This latest study on the immune boosting benefits of CBD (published in September 2023 in Nutrients) found that after only 8 weeks of daily CBD supplements, natural killer (NK) immune cell function was significantly enhanced. That means not only boosted immune function but potentially boosted anti-cancer benefits. The dose required for this effect?  Only 50 mg CBD daily.  Another recent study found topical application of CBD reduced shingles pain by and average of 88% in the majority of patients studied, with no negative side effects and well tolerated by all. 

CBD Oil has now emerged as mainstream and is one of the most frequently searched terms on internet search engines.  The forms that there are available for CBD Oil consumption — gummies, tinctures, capsules, baked goods, mints, vapes, topical lotions and more — as well as all the different types of CBD oils — full spectrum, broad spectrum, and isolate versions — as well as how of many different cannabinoids there are, including CBA, CBG, CBN, CBC, CBD and more, make this supplement almost overwhelming to choose.  Because this is a new and relatively unregulated industry I recommend only pharmaceutical grade, third party tested CBD oil products grown organically in the United States.  

 

 

There is only one CBD oil product I recommend — that’s because I know that how each ingredient is grown (organically) and where supplement is made (in the USA) how it is processed (cold pressed) and how it is stored (in a pharmaceutical grade storage facility) which is just as important as what the ingredients are.

ECS Therapeutics CBD supplements are prescription grade, pharmacy quality CBD oil products that are only available through a physician and it’s the CBD formulation I personally use and recommend.  You can ask your in person physician for an ECS Therapeutics prescription, or you can fill out my contact request form here for more information on ordering prescription strength CBD products through me.

 

 

6.  Understanding Just How Much We Need To See Plants:

 

Our bodies crave nature so much that it’s actually physically healing for us to be around plants of any kind, — for example, just seeing a plant through a window or adding a potted plant to a workspace can provide measurable health benefits.  This is something that was never mentioned during any of my medical education and it took a great deal of research on my own to truly understand how much the earth (and touching the earth, through the healing practice of grounding) impacts our long term well being,.  As a result I have devoted a large portion of my medical career to advocating more awareness around our human body’s physical need to connect with the earth.

Multiple studies have found that having access to a green space decreases depression rates, anxiety rates, and dramatically reduces stress.  One study, called the MIND study (conducted in 2007) found that simply walking through a garden or greenway significantly improved mental health, while walking through areas without greenery (such as a shopping mall) significantly decreased mental health.  Another study, published in Scientific Advances in 2020, found that after only one month of playing on a small playground that had an area converted to a greenspace, the children’s immune systems got a significant boost, with markers of immunity in the blood, like TGF-β1 levels, regulatory T cells and the plasma IL-10:IL-17A ratio, all increasing after just 28 days of playing in these small urban green spaces.  All it took to get these improvements to their immunity was a small patch of grass to play on, one that included a small planter with garden crops and some berry bushes.  You can read more about that in this blog post I wrote for you after that study came out:

All The Health Benefits Of Nature, But In An Urban Setting? Yep, Here’s How

If simply walking through or playing a green space impacts our health so much, you can probably guess that working with plants — hand’s on gardening — would boost health even more.  And you would be right. After an extensive systemic review of 22 studies looking at the health impact of gardening, the results of a meta-anylsis (published in Preventive Medicine Reports in 2016) found that gardening significantly reduced anxiety levels, anger levels and depression rates, decreased tension, stress levels and boosted mood… all while simultaneously improving life satisfaction and boosting over all quality of life. Another study published in 2006 in the Medical Journal of Australia found that daily gardening decreased dementia risk by an incredible 36%. A follow up study, published in 2019 in The International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, found that gardening actually increased levels of brain nerve growth factors.  Another study, published in January 2020 in The International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, found that a gardening significantly boosted levels of the brain neurotransmitters tryptophan and serotonin, which are necessary for healthy sleep patterns and mood stabilization.  You can read more about the health benefits of gardening in an article I wrote for you here:

Gardening: Health Benefits That Go Way Beyond Time Spent Grounding

We have a innate need to be around plants so much that even being around an indoor plant can positively impact on your well being, so don’t discount the power of a windowsill garden or a simple house plant to support your health. An exciting study published in 2015 in the Journal of Physiological Anthropology, showed that simply adding plants to an indoor computer room not only boosted the worker’s productivity, it also significantly decreased their blood pressure.  Another study, published in 2007 in the American Society for Horticultural Science found that workers with potted plants in close proximity to them while working took less sick leave off from work and enjoyed increase productivity. 

In medicine we’ve known this for a while — a study published in Science back in 1984 found that patients who simply had a view of plants through a window while recovering from surgery had better moods, used less pain medications, had less surgical post-op complications, and even decreased their length of stay in the hospital.  Less pain during recovery and getting to go home sooner after surgery just by looking at plants? That’s an awesome health strategy that I wish more hospital and clinics would take into account when designing their architecture.

No matter how big or small your space is, whether you have a windowsill garden, a potted houseplant or two, a few medicinal herbs grown on your porch, access to a community vegetable garden or pick-your-own orchard or berry farm, or are even blessed enough to have your own land, tending to plants is one of the most rewarding, most pleasurable activities that I can recommend, so consider adding more plants to your world, either indoors or out… doctor’s orders!

 

 

7.  Prolonged Sitting Is Harmful:

 

When I was going though med school and we were learning about exercise physiology, the mind-frame was that one intense session of exercising, 60 minutes long, three times a week was ideal for our physical health. Newer research is showing that it’s not so much about fitting all your physical activity into one chunk of time, or even doing a scheduled formal exercise routine at all, to protect your long term health, it’s actually more simple than that: it’s about avoiding sitting for more than a few hours at a time.  

One such study, published in 2015 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, found that prolonged sitting each day is associated with an increased risk of death from all causes, including a higher risk of death from cancer, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes. And important to note in this study that exercising did not protect against this risk or prolong lifespan, as even those who exercised strenuously had a higher risk of death if there were prolonged periods of sitting in between work outs.

Turns out, sitting 6 hours or more a day raises your mortality risk no matter how hard you exercise before or afterwards. Another study recently showed that inactivity is actually more deadly than obesity. So sustainable health is not about weight, it’s not about working out, it’s not about exercising, it’s not about being a weekend warrior, it’s not about how hard you push yourself on the treadmill, and it’s not about fitting into any Body Mass Index category. Real health is about enjoying moving the body you are in. 

This goes against the corporate world, which would have you sit at your computer working around the clock. And it goes against the factory model, which would have you performing the same task over and over again, uninterrupted, without breaks, all shift long. And it goes against the school system, which would have your child remain quietly seated from roughly 8 AM to 3 PM on a daily basis.  This model of health — to sit still in school or at work for 90% of your day and then push yourself to get in that cardio for 10% of the day during PE or at the gym — is not supportive of your longevity.

A fabulous study (published in 2019 in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine) found that replacing just 30 minutes of sitting each day with light physical activity was enough to significantly decrease over all mortality rates. And it’s never too late to start this, because here’s the clincher in that study: the health benefit of replacing sedentary time with light physical activity was actually even stronger if you were older than 75 years old. So light activity decreased mortality rates in adults older than 75 years old even more than it decreased mortality rates in younger age groups. In other words, the older you are, the more that activity of any kind increases your lifespan.

Now of course it’s awesome if you love working out hard and playing sports.  Being active is always going to be awesome.  But it’s not awesome to sit for more than a few hours at a time. Our body’s are simply not meant to sit in one place for hours. In fact, it’s better to just get up and stretch throughout the day, take a walk at lunch, take the steps instead of the elevator, throw the frisbee with your kids after dinner and do a few yoga poses before bedtime then it is to hit the gym hard for an hour that day and then sit sedentary for the rest of the day.

So today, I don’t you to worry about exercising.  Today, I hope you’ll move your body because it feels good to stretch, because it increases your energy level to walk around and get fresh air, and because it helps you sleep better at night to have gotten a bit of sunshine during the day.  Enjoy living in your body, my friend. Treat it right.  All you’ve got to do is get up and move every hour or two.  If you do that, than you have significantly protected your long term health.

 

 

8.  A Better Understanding Of Aging: 

I recently attended a medical conference on aging and geriatric health, and it was very eye opening on what we now know about aging that we did not know back when I was in medical school.  Recent evidence suggests that aging and lifespan are not concrete and set in stone, but more of a balance between the amount of inflammation in the body (and inflammatory cytokine levels) with the amount of stem cell regeneration your body is capable of (this is how our tissues repair and refresh.)

Although aging is complex and involves many factors including genetics, environment and epigenetics, the bottom line is this: once the stem cells are no longer able to replace your organ tissues, then your body is no longer capable of organ repair.  Instead of replacing damaged cells and tissues, the body goes into frailty syndrome (a medical term to mean that there is no more reserve function in the body) and then the levels of inflammation that are damaging those organ systems ultimately cause the body to shut down.  The newest term, that was not understood a few decades ago, is “Inflammaging” meaning inflammation driven morbidity and mortality in the elderly.

Because one of the key components to aging is being in a pro-inflammatory state, anti-inflammatory strategies can also be powerfully anti-aging.  Elevated levels of inflammation in the bone marrow, lungs, liver, lymph nodes, nerves, kidneys, heart, GI tract and other important organs ultimately results in end organ failure.  To decrease the levels of inflammation in the body is to boost the body’s ability to function longer with less decline in organ function.  

A great overview of the balance between inflammation and tissue regeneration was published in June 2023 in Nature, and suggests there are quite a few things we can do to decrease inflammation while scientists look into boosting stem cell regeneration — an important pathway to prolong lifespan for future generations.  Strategies for decreasing total inflammation over a lifetime include consuming key antiinflammatory nutrients (like anti-oxidants, probiotics, polyunsaturated fats, vitamins like C, D, & E, minerals like zinc) as well as exercise and stress management (more on this in #9, below.)

I would also include grounding in the list of crucial activities that keep inflammation in the body low.  In one study published in 2009 in The Journal of Alternative and Complimentary Medicine, researchers found that grounded subjects had statistically significant decreases in blood markers of inflammation compared to non-grounded subjects.  A good overview of how grounding decreases whole body inflammation was published June 2014 in the Journal of Inflammation Research.  And a more recent study, published January 2019 in Frontiers in Physiology, found that inflammatory cytokines such as such as IP-10, MIP-1α, and sP-Selectin, all decreased in grounded subjects, compared to non-grounded controls. The average drop induced by grounding a patient was a 10 – 20% drop in inflammatory cytokine concentration.   For more information on the anti-aging benefits of grounding, hop over here to watch a quick video I made for you about it:

The Immense Anti-Aging Benefits Of Simply Touching The Earth

None of these things were understand to impact the rate of aging just 30 years ago when I entered medical school, so be sure your in-person physician is keeping up to date on the current medical research on healthy aging and is making supportive suggestions to help your body get out of a pro-inflammatory state and into a regenerative state of function.

 

 

9.  The Damage of Being A Workaholic:

 

Job stress may cause as many as one out of every seven new cases of depression, anxiety and other common mental disorders, suggests a study published in Lancet Psychiatry in 2018.  Researchers looked at over 6,800 participants, ranking job strain at age 45 with risk of mental illness at age 50. The results were astounding.  Having a job that is highly demanding increased mental diagnosis rates by 70%. Having a job that causes high strain (moves at a fast pace, or is highly risky, for example) increased mental diagnosis rates by 220%.  Having a job in which the employee had very little control over decisions increased mental illness rates by 89%.  All in all, researchers estimate that simply having higher job stress increased the overall likelihood of subsequent mental illness significantly, accounting for 1 out of every 7 new cases of mental illness in midlife.

Forget the usually-thought-of triggers such as divorce, bereavement and serious medical issues… job strain alone can put you at significant risk for mental disorders. What constitutes a stressful job?  A job that requires high intensity, a job that moves at a fast pace, a job that has high risk, a job that gives you very little control over your duties, and/or a job that doesn’t allow you to make your own decisions were all factors that contributed to job strain.  If you are thinking… yes my job is stressful but I really love it, it’s not enough.  Job satisfaction was actually not protective of the strain that job stress can put on mental health.

So factor job strain into your career choices early on whenever possible. Look for a job that allows you to be a part of the decision making process, or look for a job with lower intensity and a slower pace if you have an option and want to be protective of your mental health. If you are already in a stressful job that you want to stay in, consider small ways to modify your current stress levels at work.  Ask to be part of decisions whenever possible… if there are committees to be involved in, if there are meetings you can speak up during, if there are opportunities for a leadership role — this study shows that even in a highly stressful job, having some sort of say in what decisions are made allows the job to cause less strain over all.  Negotiate terms whenever possible… not just the classic example of asking for a raise, but speaking up over anything you can… such as negotiating when you take a break, what shift you work, what snacks are stocked in the vending machine, or what the dress code is can help give you some say in your work day and reduce strain.

If you can’t make decision and you can’t negotiate terms, sharing the burden is another way to reduce job strain. Asking for help, getting co-workers involved, turning individual tasks into group tasks, forming alliances, delegating and and all tasks that you can delegate — these are all ways to reduce job strain even in jobs that are highly stressful and where you have little control.  

If you neither of those are possible, and you are in a job that you can’t modify, can’t control, has high stress, and little autonomy, then the next best thing you can do to protect your mental and physical health is to make sure off hours are actually off hours. Make it harder to access work related tasks… leave your computer at work (if you work from home, leave your computer in a designated *home office* space and do not bring it into the rest of the house!). Put cell phones on airplane mode at night, or better yet turn them off completely.  Designate a cut off time in the evening where you will no longer check emails or return business related calls.  Prioritize sleep.  Move your body in a non-job related way: exercise, stretch, get into a yoga routine, go on a long walk, even simply taking a hot bath in Epsom salts will help soothe tense muscles and get you out of “work mode.”  Read a book that is absolutely 100% simply for pleasure and *not work related!!!*  Schedule time for leisure activities — from a designated weekly movie night to a routine family date to time alone — off time is so crucial for balancing out the stress from your job and should be given the same weight (or even more weight) than your dedication to your career.  Take time for friendships and relationships that are not in any way work related. If most of your relationships are with people in the same work place or career path as you, be sure to go out of your way to nurture friendships and relationships that have nothing to do with work at all — join a knitting club or a book club or sign up for a gym membership or introduce yourself to your neighbors — meet people that it would be literally impossible to “talk shop” with in your down time because they do not work with you.  Having outside interests and outside relationships apart from work helps ensure you don’t think about or talk about work in your off time.

And finally, take vacation time — up to 1/3 of all vacation days are simply never even used!!!! What the…? No way. Please take those vacation days, every single one of them.

 

 

10.  Sun Exposure Went From Bad To Good

 

A huge landmark study published in the Journal of Internal Medicine in 2016 found that people who stayed indoors and avoided sun exposure actually had a shorter life span than those who spent time outside.  This study looked at almost 30,000 participants (females ages 25 – 64 year old with no history of malignancy) and followed them over a span of 20 years, tracking health outcomes and life span.

What did they find? Researchers found that even when smoking was factored in, the life span of those who avoided the sun was over 2 years shorter than heavy smokers who got the highest amount of sun exposure!!! So even heavy smokers who soaked in the sun their whole life outlived non-smokers who avoided sun exposure… by several years on average. Participants who avoided the sun had higher rates of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and pulmonary disease.  And the results were dose-specific… meaning that the benefits of increased life expectancy with sun exposure went up directly in correlation to the amount of sun exposure. 

The verdict? Under-exposure to the sun is actually dangerous.  Think of it this way, avoiding the sun is worse than smoking in terms of decreasing life expectancy.  There are lots of things you can do to make spending time in the sun safer (you can read an article I wrote about that for you here: 6 Ways To Protect Your Skin While Enjoying That Summer Sun) and still decrease skin cancer risk while getting that beautiful, life affirming sunshine, the light exposure that helps to regulate our circadian rhythm, the healthy benefits of boosted Vitamin D levels, and hopefully, if you took to heart my anti-aging advice in #9, time spent grounding to our beautiful earth outside.

 

 

I hope you’ve enjoyed getting a brief update on all of the exciting new developments I’ve been enjoying watching unfold during my past several decades of practicing medicine.  What was your favorite advancement and what new areas of research are you excited to learn more about? 

I’ll be here to keep you updated as well, so we can all feel our very best in a natural, holistic way that is in concert with the health of our planet too.  If someone was kind enough to forward this article to you, and you’d like to get my uplifting weekly articles into your inbox directly, you can sign up for my newsletter right here:

Xoxox,Laura Koniver MD

 

The post 10 Important Changes In Healthcare Over The Past 20 Years appeared first on Intuition Physician.

How Grounding Decreases Your Anxiety Immediately & Keeps It Down Long Term

Me at 1 years old, yep already anxious!

 

I’ve been anxious my entire life.  I can’t remember a day when I did not wake up with a huge knot in my stomach that felt like death was gripped my solar plexus and sneered up at me.

Unfortunately the medical literature is pretty clear — anxiety has major health effects, but it’s equally clear that those deleterious health effects are actually reversible.  Meaning, if you suffer from anxiety, it’s very worth addressing, not just for the relief on a daily basis but also for the longevity benefits.

Published February 5, 2015 in the British Journal of Psychiatry, researchers found that anxiety increases the rate of aging and that treating anxiety helps reverse the aging process!  Telomeres are complexes of DNA that cap the ends of your chromosomes.  They shorten with age… so the length of your telomeres are considered a direct indicator of cellular and biological aging. Telomere shortening is accelerated when the aging process is accelerated.  This has been shown in other disorders such as depression, stress, increased cortisol levels, oxidative stress, higher levels of inflammation and now… anxiety conditions.

The study looked at 1283 patients with active anxiety disorders, 459 patients with a resolved anxiety disorder, and 582 control patients with no psychiatric disorders… over 2,300 patients total.  Telomere length typically shortens by about 14 base pairs a year.  Looking at telemeter length relative to chronological age, accelerated aging was found in all anxiety disorders including social phobias, agoraphobia, panic disorder and generalized anxiety disorders (GAD).  Even after controlling for sex, weight, health, lifestyle factors, smoking, drinking, etc… patients with active anxiety disorders had significantly shorter telomeres than those without anxiety (by 75 base pairs on average — over 5 years!)

But, here is the important part!  The good news is that participants who had their anxiety disorder adequately treated had telomere length almost the same length as their non-anxious counterparts… only a 7 telomere difference (about a 6 month difference.)  This shows the incredible resilience of our body to stress, disease and trauma.  After the anxiety was alleviated, telomere length returned to almost the exact length that non-anxious patients had!  And the longer the patient has been anxiety free, the closer it was in telomere length to those who had no history at all of any anxiety disorder.

Just as it is never too late to stop smoking, because there are immediate health benefits as the body quickly starts to repair, it is never too late to address anxiety, as the body is fully capable of reversing the aging effects of anxiety on our DNA.

 

Many telomere lengths ago at 4 years old, jumping on my parent’s bed!

 

So this is yet another study to prove: our psychology has a direct effect on our physiology. In other words… our emotions and state of mind matter. As I write about here, our outlook impacts our physical body.  This latest study showed an average life span shortening of about 5 years or more just due to anxiety.  And a near complete reversal by addressing that anxiety.

Add years to your life by getting help when you need it.  Don’t ignore anxiety.  Anxiety is extremely common and there is a lot of support out there just waiting to help you.

Today, as someone who very much knows the felt sense of existential anxiety haunting me day in and day out, and someone who reaches for grounding to effectively help cope with this, I’d like to give you ten reasons why touching the earth should be included in your anxiety treatment plan.

Grounding to the earth to help regulate the body’s fight or flight, panic state, and bring balance back to your autonomic nervous system functioning is easy to do, readily available to you at all times, and works to alleviate anxiety immediately (loosening the grip of that impending panic attack within milliseconds) as well as with incredible long term anxiolytic benefits too.

Let’s run through all the ways that grounding can help with decreasing your anxiety to boost your health.

10 Ways Grounding Decreases Your Anxiety:

 

 

1.  Grounding instantly regulates heart and respiratory rate:

 

The next time you feel a panic attack starting, try going outside and touching the earth directly — through a fingertip, a toe, or even (my favorite when I’m feeling particularly overwhelmed with anxiety) your forehead, resting on the earth in child’s pose (as I’m showing you above) or leaning your full weight against a tree, letting it support you while you rest your face directly on it.

Thanks to immediate vagal tone support, you should feel your parasympathetic nervous system kicking in and calming your heart and respiratory rate, improving oxygenation, and smoothing out your digestion (reducing any nausea and abdominal pain that comes along with severe anxiety.)  And as we will talk about below, it will also begin to lower your blood pressure, shift your brain waves into a more calm brain wave pattern, lower muscle tension and many many other ways to reduce the total burden of anxiety you are feeling.

Published in 2010 in the Journal of Alternative and Complimentary Medicine, researchers found that grounding for as little as 40 minutes stabilized blood oxygenation.And another study, published in 2011 in Integrative Medicine , shows that grounding is able to boost vagal tone and directly support healthy autonomic nervous system function.A medical review, published in 2012 in the Journal of Environmental and Public Health, reviews multiple medical studies that demonstrate how grounding provides a significant reduction in autonomic nervous system stress.A double blinded medical study published in the Open Journal of Preventive Medicine in 2015 found that grounding universally increased HRV (a marker of vagal tone) and this change was statistically significant with every single participant.And this study, published in 2017 in Neonatology , found that grounding premature infants in the NICU boosted their vagal tone by almost 70%.

 

 

2.  Grounding lowers blood pressure:

 

When you feel anxiety taking hold, your heard rate inching up and your blood pressure increasing as you transition into a fight-or-flight state, grounding can really help.  Not only will it start shifting you back into rest-and-digest mode, but routine use of grounding can help lower your blood pressure and keep it lowered.

Published in 2018 in Alternative Therapies. grounding was found to normalize high blood pressure, significantly reducing blood pressure for all participants in the study, with an average decrease in systolic pressure of 14%.

 

 

3.  Grounding loosens that knot in your stomach:

 

… or the heartburn or the irritable bowel symptoms or the feeling of wanting to throw up when you are anxious, all because of that vagal tone boost we talked about at the beginning of this article.  Grounding eases you back into rest and digest, out of fight and flight mode.

In fact, grounding was the one thing that immediately took my nausea away when I was recovering from having a tonsil abscess surgically repaired and really did not want to vomit, as my throat was in so much pain already.  I basically laid on the ground in my front yard for three days straight until the surgical wound had healed enough that vomitting would not cause it to start bleeding again.  Laying on the earth, I had no nausea and very little pain.  Every time I tried to go inside my home to rest, the nausea immediately returned.

The reason grounding helps soothe your digestive tract and keep it functioning at peak is because of that vagal tone boost — the vagus nerve innervates your entire digestive tract from you swallowing the food to all your the digestive organs — when you are anxious or stressed and in fight or flight mode, the vagus nerve gets shut down and so does your digestive tract, leading to poorly digested food, inflammation of the entire GI tract, bloating, sensitive stomach and more.  Supporting vagal function, getting you out of fight-or flight and back into rest & digest means your GI symptoms ease as you digestive tract function improves.

For more information on how grounding supports digestion (and for a video where I talk you through why you may want to consider grounding while you eat) hop over to this free article I wrote for you:

Grounding While You Eat, A Game Changer For Your Digestion

Give it a try — read that article for suggestions on combining eating with grounding and see for yourself!

 

4.  Grounding releases muscle tension immediately

 

When you touch the earth outside, your entire body is instantaneously grounded because your entire musculoskeletal system is conductive — every muscle fiber, every tendon, every ligament, all the connective tissue, every joint and fluid in each joints — even your bones become grounded immediately.  This all leads to a near instantaneous effect of relaxing your muscles — decreasing muscle tension, muscle inflammation, muscle soreness, often capable of loosening trigger points in your neck and shoulders and stopping a tension headache in it’s tracks.

Published in European Biology and Bioelectromagnetics in 2006, researchers found that grounding test subjects through the feet immediately and significantly reduced muscle tension in the neck and shoulder area.Another study, published in the Journal of Alternative and Complimentary Medicine in 2010, found that grounding patients who carried one-third of their entire body weight in barbells on their shoulders and did repetitive toe raises until their muscles were exhausted had significantly reduced muscle soreness and enhanced muscle recovery after exertion compared to ungrounded controls.Another study published in the Open Journal of Preventive Medicine in 2015 found that grounded subjects not only reported lower pain levels after a muscle loading challenge, but significantly lower blood cortisol levels (which means the grounded patients were less stressed from the injury) and significantly lower creatinine kinase levels (meaning they had less muscle damage.)Another double blinded medical study, published in the Open Access Journal of Sports Medicine in 2015 , found the same muscle sparing benefits when participants completed 200 knee bends, either grounded or sham grounded.And this grounding study published in 2019 in Frontiers in Physiology, where researchers found decreased muscle damage and improved muscle recovery when test subjects were grounded on a downhill stress test challenge as opposed to ungrounded control subjects. 

When you connect with the earth, your entire body is instantaneously grounded precisely because your entire musculoskeletal system is conductive — think of it as a conductive system that runs grounding instantly throughout your entire body, as easy as flipping a switch.  You can read more about grounding and musculoskeletal support here:

Feel Immediate Relief With Grounding: Relax Your Muscles, Strengthen Your Bones

And some other tips on supporting your musculoskeletal system here:

Why Your Fascia Is Your Best Friend + 3 Ways To Support It For A Lifetime

 

 

5.  Grounding calms your brain immediately

 

Connecting our electrically based central nervous system to the electrical output of the earth makes an immediate impact on how the human brain functions, which makes sense considering the human brain has been evolving for over 7 million years in cohesion with the earth’s electrical field.  Getting into the relaxed but alert alpha brain wave pattern, which is seen in calm, alert meditative states, is one of the hallmarks of grounding. Grounding allows us to feel calm and alert during waking hours, which can be incredibly helpful in a work environment where stress runs the day.

One study, published 2006 in European Biology and Bioelectricmagnetics monitored patient’s brain waves on EEG and noted an immediate shift of the central nervous system upon grounding.

And another study, published in 2011 in Medical Hypotheses , also found that grounding “significantly influences the electrical activity of the brain” on neuroimaging studies.

You can read a really good overview I published:

Cerebrospinal Fluid and Brain Health: Optimized By Grounding, Laura Koniver MDNeurological Pathways Supported By Grounding, Laura Koniver MD

 

6.  Grounding improves mood

 

We’ve know for a long time (and honestly common sense and personal experience tells you this as well) that time spent outside lifts your spirits.  In fact a double blind medical study published in 2015 found that participants who were grounded had measurable improvements in mood that were significantly higher than the sham-grounded participants.

We also know that inflammation in the body worsens mood and even plays a role in clinical depression.  A medical study published in 2016 found that increased inflammation in the body worsens symptoms of clinical depression, and this one published in 2019 backs those findings up.  Researchers found that higher levels of blood markers of inflammation were found to be directly correlated with a variety of depressive symptoms, including sleep difficulty, decreased energy levels, decreased motivation and change in appetite.  And in this study, published May 2020 in Trends in Cognitive Sciences, researchers found that inflammation lowers dopamine levels in the brain, that switches the brain from positive to negative thinking.

In a study published in 2009 in The Journal of Alternative and Complimentary Medicine, researchers found that grounded subjects had statistically significant decreases in blood markers of inflammation compared to non-grounded subjects.  We also know grounding specifically decreases the exact same inflammatory cytokines that have a direct impact on our dopamine levels. In this important study, published January 2019 in Frontiers in Physiology, researchers found that cytokines such as such as IP-10, MIP-1α, and sP-Selectin, all decreased in grounded subjects, compared to non-grounded controls. The average drop induced by grounding a patient was a 10 — 20% drop in inflammatory cytokine concentration.

And because of the newest research showing that inflammatory cytokines have a direct reflection in our mood and motivation levels, we can see a potential direct explanation for why grounding boosts mood. By decreasing inflammatory cytokines, it’s reasonable to suggest that grounding gives a natural dopamine boost to the brain.

This study, published in 2014, found that if you decrease inflammation, you can actually help more effectively treat depression. Researchers reviewed 14 randomized, placebo-controlled studies looking at over 6,300 patients and found that adding anti-inflammatory medications to a treatment plan helped to lessen depressive symptoms and resolve depressive episodes better than placebo alone and better than anti-depressants alone. This study, published in 2016, further confirmed these results.

The link between depression and inflammation is so concrete now that I feel no one should be treated for depression without also being treated for inflammation. Physicians should incorporate a medical evaluation for inflammation alongside any work up for depression or mood disorders, because inflammation from stress, poor sleep, infection, illness, diet, EMF exposures, total body burden of toxic exposures, etc… can all cause inflammation that contributes to depression.

By addressing inflammation along with depression you actually can help resolve depression more effectively.

 

 

7.  Grounding helps boost mental clarity

 

If you tend to ruminate or have intrusive thoughts when you are anxious, grounding is a great way to reorient you into the current moment and boost your cognitive clarity, all on top of improving mood. Imagine being as calm and centered as you are during meditation, even without meditating — this is the power of grounding, to help to center you.

The electrical output of the earth — the Schumann Resonance — acts as a globally available synchronization system to our brains, as discussed in articles like this one, published in 2003 in Medical Hypotheses.)  So in 2015, researchers used EEGs and Schuman Resonance frequencies to evaluate this interaction between our human brains and the earth’s electrical field.  Published in the Journal Of Signal and Information Processing, these scientists found that electrical activity from the earth makes a measurable synchronization in our cerebral cortex that allows for real-time coupling between the Schumann resonance and cerebral activity. 

The researchers postulate this activity is the exact amount of time, length of time, amplitude of signaling, and frequency of time required for a “ping” from the planet to our human brains to occur.   Researchers found that the frequency of this brain ping is once every 30 seconds, which is the brain’s short term memory decay time, indicating that the earth provides perfectly timed “micro-guidance”, re-orienting us in a subtle way that provides meaning and clarity but not long enough as to disrupt cognitive thought as we navigate daily life.

The duration of coherence was long enough to give rise to the possibility that the earth itself may send electrical signaling, or electrical information our brain, just long enough to allow an intuitive insight, or a flash of understanding to occur, but not long enough to disrupt our stream of consciousness. In other words, it’s possible that the earth boosts our ability to receive orienting information without disrupting cognition.  

Even more exciting, the highest cohesion between the earth’s Schumnn Resonance and our human brains is in the parahippocampal gyrus of the brain’s cerebral cortex — this in an area of the brain that provides spatial awareness and navigation.  Research into the parahippocampal gyrus of the brain utilizing fMRI has found that brain damage to that area of the cortex results in patients being able to generically identify images and items that are viewed, but not be able to meaningfully interpret these images. 

Victims of stroke or other damage to the parahippocampal areas of the brain have a feeling of being lost, disconnected, or un-anchored from the deeper meaning of visual cues and lose purposeful and relevant life navigational tools.   This area of the brain is also a highly sensitive early indicator of Alzheimers disease, showing signs of atrophy prior to other areas of the brain showing changes.

For example, if you have damage or atrophy in your parahippocampal gyrus, you may recognize that a person is standing in front of you, but not know that it is actually your own child.  Or you may recognize that there is a car parked in front of you, but not know it is actually your car.

The parahypocamppal gyrus is responsible for accurate and meaningful interpretation of our surroundings, our environment, and for support in making life decisions in a contextually appropriate way.   This gives a very real explanation for why time spent in nature, on the earth, grounded, helps to give rise to a feeling of centeredness, helps to give a deeper perspective on our personal life’s journey, and may even help open our subconscious up to reframing and refocusing our life’s meaning through these environmental “pings” from our planet.  

Have you ever spent time in nature when you are mulling over a big life decision, or feeling distraught, overwhelmed or confused, and then you suddenly have a deeper insight, a gut feeling, a pull, or an intuition that provides greater clarity?  These studies suggest a direct pathway for the earth to enhance and support our not only our daily decision making, but also connect to our deeper understanding and even our intuitive capabilities through earth-to-brain coherence.

I think of grounding as hitting a reset button, a chance for a pause that brings clarity into focus.  By connecting with the earth, we can shift the brain from high strung beta waves to calming alpha wave patterns, decrease inflammation to help improve mood, even possibly help provide greater clarity or boost intuitive navigation in our lives, all naturally. 

More on this here:

Why You Think More Clearly When You Spend Time Outside

 

 

8.  Grounding reduces over all brain stress

 

Beyond improving mood and boosting mental clarity, grounding has also been found to directly decrease over all brain stress and boost cognitive function.  Published in 2024 in The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology, researchers followed three groups of participants for 12 weeks to determine if walking barefoot outside for 40 minutes in the morning, four times a week, had any impact on their cognition compared to controls.

Using an EEG to record brain wave patterns before and immediately following the 12 weeks, participants were asked a series of questions and performed tasks to examine spatial perception, memory, cognitive speed, concentration, and levels of brain stress.

Researchers found that only the barefoot group showed significantly boosted alpha waves and significantly decreased beta waves, and they found that this translated cognitively into a significant increase in cognitive speed and concentration along with a significant decrease in brain stress. The control group that did the same walking activity but wore sneakers the entire time, had no significant change in any of the mental performance tasks. The researchers conclude that barefoot walking activated cognitive ability, particularly in information processing and complex reasoning, while simultaneously reducing mental stress and brain fatigue.

You can read more about grounding and cognitive brain function in this recent article I’ve published:

Could Grounding Improve Cognition?  Laura Koniver MD

 

 

9.  Grounding reduces over all body stress

 

When you are anxious and stressed, your muscles become tense, your heart rate is elevated, circulation is constricted, your digestion shuts down, your adrenaline and cortisol surge, and your sleep is disrupted.  As we’ve already discussed, getting grounded immediately begins to transition you out of “fight or flight” mode and calms you, improving vagal tone, improving  oxygenation, decreasing cortisol output and more.

Acute stress causes a physical reaction:

your muscles become tenseyour heart rate is elevated and circulation is constrictedyour digestion shuts down and mouth gets dryyour adrenaline & cortisol surgeyour sleep is disrupted

Long term this leads to:

pain from muscle tension in the form of chronic tension headaches, tooth grinding & TMJ, restless leg syndrome, fibromyalgia and other pain syndromesheart disease, increased risk of heart attack and strokeinflammatory disorders of the gut, malabsorption, heartburn, reflux, irritable bowelan increased risk of autoimmune disordersadrenal fatigue, circadian rhythm disturbance, sex hormone imbalance, even early menopause or menstrual irregularitiesinsomnia, memory problems, structural brain changes

Grounding directly addresses these issues, providing you with:

a near instantaneous decrease in muscle tensionimproved heart rate variability (HRV) and enhanced circulationboosted digestion and vagal tonedecreased inflammationnormalized cortisol levelsand deeper, more restorative sleep

Grounding your body is at work here, decreasing your whole body inflammation, decreasing the stress hormones (like cortisol) in your bloodstream, even naturally reducing inflammation throughout your body.  One study published in 2004 in the Journal of Alternative and Complimentary Medicine found that grounded subjects had a complete normalization of their cortisol patterns, suggesting a profound recovery from stress.

Watch this quick 8 min video below to see exactly why grounding is in a unique position to erase stress from your physical tissues, and why I feel that grounding is an absolutely mandatory part of a trauma healing plan:

Trauma Recovery With Grounding (click to watch the video directly on YouTube)

 

Or read the details of these studies and watch that video, along with more free healing tips on how to release trauma from your body and improve your health, in a blog post I wrote for you here:

How Grounding Mitigates Trauma And Protects Your Body From Long Term Stress

 

 

10.  Grounding improves sleep quality

 

Most people believe that our circadian (day/night) rhythm is dependent on sunlight to set that pattern for us, but scientists have actually known since 1970 that the earth’s energy field has as much, if not more, to do with our sleep/wake pattern than even the sun.

Researchers built two underground isolation chambers that completely cut the occupants off from any evaluation of time passing. Both chambers were light proof, sound proof, temperature controlled bunkers, with one major difference. While one was allowed to be connected to the electromagnetic field of the earth, one was completely shielded so that all connection was severed between the earth’s energy and the occupants of the bunker. Looking at the sleep wake cycle of several hundred test subjects over a two month period of time, researchers found that participants who were in the bunker that still allowed the earth’s field to reach them kept patterns that were close to a 24 hour rhythm, while those in the bunker that was completely shielded from the earth’s energies became internally desynchronized and experienced significantly longer, more irregular rhythms.

Researchers then experimented with introducing different electrical and magnetic fields into the shielded bunker, and only one restored normal sleep/wake patterns… you guessed it, the one that is our Mother Earth’s natural energy, the Schumann frequency. Based off of this, it’s easy to understand how directly connecting to the earth, grounding our body with our planet, can help enhance restorative sleep at night and boost daytime wakefulness.

A study on grounding and sleep published in the Journal Of Alternative and Complimentary Medicine in 2004 found that participants who had a history of sleep disturbances had completely normalized cortisol after grounding for just 8 weeks. They had such a dramatic improvement in their sleep that not only did their sleep improve, but they reported feeling less stress and experienced less pain as well.

Another study published in Healthcare in 2022 found that patients with Alzheimers Disease had significantly improved sleep quality (an average improvement of 62% on PSQI, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index) after 12 weeks of sleeping grounded.  And because inflammation is now being linked with cognitive disorders such as mild cognitive impairment and dementia (including Alzheimers,) the long term effects of grounding to protect cognition may come from it’s ability to decrease inflammation and potentially decrease neuroinflammation over time.

You can find more support to help you sleep in this article I wrote for you here:

12 Things To Do Throughout The Day Today, To Improve Your Sleep Tonight

 

 

Over all, grounding can help protect your longevity

 

One of the reasons we want to treat anxiety in the first place is because that alone will help decrease your rate of aging and even reverse telomere shortening.

But there are lots of other ways, beyond treating anxiety, that grounding helps protect your longevity.  I run you through them in this free healing article (along with a free video where I talk you directly through them) right over here:

The Immense Anti-Aging Benefits Of Simply Touching The Earth

 

Or you can just watch the video right here, right now:

 

I hope all of these medical studies and resources help you feel inspired to include grounding in your anxiety relief plan.  From touching the earth outside immediately when you feel a panic attack coming on, to sleeping grounded nightly to treat long term anxiety and boost restorative sleep, to eating one meal a day outside grounded to release that knot in your stomach, to stepping outside to touch a tree to release muscle tension on your lunch break during a tense day at work, there are lots of ways grounding can help calm and center your body and mind.  Feel free to share these resources with others who suffer from anxiety and anxiety related health issues.

Questions for me?

Join my next live Q&A session right here — in it, we spend about 20 minutes together relieving anxiety with gentle body stretches and grounded mindful meditation, then I host a 40 minute live Q&A to answer all of your questions personally.

I’d love to see you there.  Join me by signing up here:

Dr. Koniver’s Live Monthly Q&Axoxox,Laura Koniver MD

 

The post How Grounding Decreases Your Anxiety Immediately & Keeps It Down Long Term appeared first on Intuition Physician.

The Benefits Of Grounding To Boost Brain Health And Improve Cognition

 

this artwork I painted has sold, but you can see more of my healing artwork here.

 

There is a beautiful relationship between our brain and the electrical field of our planet.  This makes sense, as our sensitive yet complex neurological system has developed over millions of years — all while being bathed in the earth’s natural electrical field.

Through recent research, we are just bringing to understand how the earth’s electrical field helps support all of our brain functions — from enhancing mood to supporting cognition to maintaining ideal autonomic brainstem functions (like healthy heart rate variability and breathing patterns) to deepening our restorative sleep at night.

Today I’m sharing with you the latest article I’ve written on how grounding impacts our brain function, just published a few weeks ago in Current Research in Complimentary and Alternative Medicine in August 2024.

Because you are on my private mailing list, you get to read it here first… and if someone forwarded this article to you, you can also join on my private newsletter list right here so I can personally keep you updated on the latest grounding medical research!

 

I hope you enjoy it!

Could Grounding Improve Cognition?  Laura Koniver, MD

 

Abstract

 

There is a significant positive correlation between exposure to nature and improved cognitive function [1].  Even just the sight of nature can boost brain function, for example researchers found that productivity increased when subjects had potted plants near them while working [2], another study found significantly improved performance when executing tasks near potted plants [3] and yet another study found that working daily with plants decreased dementia risk by in incredible 36% [4], possibly because gardening has been found to increase levels of growth factors like Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) [5] as well as boost levels of the brain neurotransmitters tryptophan and serotonin. [6].

So this begs the question, if just seeing nature has an impact on brain function, might connecting directly to the earth outside — a healing practice known as grounding — have additional benefits?  New research suggests yes.  Connecting our electrically based central nervous system to the electrical output of the earth makes an immediate impact on how the human brain functions, and grounding research over the past several decades has added new insight on how our brains may work in cohesion to the earth’s electrical activity. This article serves as a review of what we know so far on how grounding impacts the function of the brain. 

Keywords: Grounding, Earthing, Nature, Conductivity, Brain, Central Nervous System, Electrical Fields, Earth, Coherence, Cognition

 

Grounding and Brain Function

 

The human brain shows a direct coherence with the earth’s electrical fields, with the Schumann Resonance acting as a globally available synchronization system [9].  Using electroencephalogram (EEG) monitoring during geomagnetic stimulation, researchers have found that human brains collect and process directional input from the earth [10]. Further research in this field has given us even additional exciting evidence that the earth may directly support intellectual function as well [11]. By monitoring the brain’s electrical activity through an EEG while simultaneously measuring Schumann Resonance frequencies in real time, scientists found that electrical activity from the earth makes a measurable synchronization in our cerebral cortex that allows for real-time coupling between the Schumann resonance and cerebral activity. The researchers found that this activity is the exact amount of time, length of time, amplitude of signaling, and frequency of time that would be required for a “ping” from the planet to our human brains to occur, without interfering with or disrupting cognitive thought [12]. 

Researchers looking at the earth’s impact on brain wave function in double blinded studies have found an immediate shift in brain wave patterns on study participants who were grounded to the earth [7] while another study found that the brain wave shifts happen near instantaneously, within milliseconds, as recorded on an EEG when the human body is grounded [8].  Alpha wave patterns increase when the brain is grounded, putting the brain into a healing, receptive state — similar to the healing state the human brain goes into during prolonged meditation — alert, calm, and centered.

Newer research suggest this shift this may have cognitive benefit. Researchers followed three groups of participants for 12 weeks to determine if walking barefoot outside for 40 minutes in the morning, four times a week, had any impact on their cognition compared to controls. Using an EEG to record brain wave patterns before and immediately following the 12 weeks, participants were asked a series of questions and performed tasks to examine spatial perception, memory, cognitive speed, concentration, and levels of brain stress. Researchers found that only the barefoot group showed significantly boosted alpha waves and significantly decreased beta waves, and they found that this translated cognitively into a significant increase in cognitive speed and concentration along with a significant decrease in brain stress. The control group that did the same walking activity but wore sneakers the entire time, had no significant change in any of the mental performance tasks [13]. The researchers conclude that barefoot walking activated cognitive ability, particularly in information processing and complex reasoning, while simultaneously reducing mental stress and brain fatigue.

 

 

Preliminary animal tests suggest a possible mechanism of action on why the barefoot group had decreased levels of brain stress.  One study on mice found that grounding significantly decreased levels of corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) in the brain, a hormone associated with stress and anxiety which then stimulates the release of cortisol in the adrenal glands.  A decrease in this signaling should reflect a decrease in cortisol output and a lowered subjective feeling of stress [14]. Additional studies on grounding in humans reveal this to be the case, one study showed complete normalization of cortisol in humans who slept grounded for two months [15]. Not only were their cortisol levels significantly decreased while grounding but they also reported significantly decreased levels of stress and pain. 

Even brains that already have degenerative brain changes occurring may be supported by grounding, as patients with Alzheimers Disease were able to significantly improve sleep quality (an average improvement of 62% on PSQI, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index) after 12 weeks of sleeping grounded [16]. And because inflammation is now being linked with cognitive disorders such as mild cognitive impairment and dementia (including Alzheimers,) the long term effects of grounding to protect cognition may come from it’s ability to decrease inflammation and potentially decrease neuroinflammation over time [17]

Grounding may even positively affect mood due it’s ability to decrease inflammation. Research into the connection between inflammation and depression found that increased inflammation in the body worsens symptoms of clinical depression [18] and significantly higher levels of inflammation was directly correlated with a variety of depressive symptoms, including sleep difficulty, decreased energy levels, decreased motivation and increased or decreased appetite. 

In another study, inflammation was also found to contribute to cognitive changes such as loss of pleasure in activities previously found pleasurable (anhedonia), depressed mood, lowered feelings of self worth, decreased ability to concentrate, and even suicidal thoughts [19]. The reverse is true as well, by decreasing inflammation you can improve depression. Researchers reviewed 14 randomized, placebo-controlled studies looking at over 6,300 patients and found that adding anti-inflammatory medications to a treatment plan helped to lessen depressive symptoms and resolve depressive episodes better than placebo alone and better than anti-depressants alone. [20, 21] 

 

These results have been demonstrated in studies on the ability of grounding to impact mood, likely because of grounding’s anti-inflammatory effect. In a double blinded study on grounding and mood, researchers found that participants who were grounded had measurable improvements in mood that were significantly higher than the sham-grounded participants after just 40 minutes of grounding [22]. Grounded subjects also have statistically significant decreases in blood markers of total body inflammation as compared to non-grounded controls [23] 

Researchers have even found a direct correlation between inflammation and neurotransmitter levels, specifically that inflammation lowers dopamine levels in the brain. They also found that as the dopamine levels drops, so does the individual’s motivation [24]. In fact, grounding specifically decreases the same inflammatory cytokines that have that  direct impact on our dopamine levels.  In one study, researchers found that cytokines such as such as IP-10, MIP-1α, and sP-Selectin were all decreased in grounded test subjects, compared to non-grounded controls. The average drop induced by grounding a patient was a 10 —20% drop in inflammatory cytokine concentration [25]. By decreasing inflammatory cytokines, it’s likely that grounding gives a natural dopamine boost to the brain. This powerful, natural anti-inflammatory effect is likely the mechanism of action behind the earth’s ability to elevate mood, boost cognitive function, and decrease brain stress. 

We know that grounding immediately impact brain function, but might it have long term benefits as well?  Because grounding decreases inflammation, it’s possible that one of the long term benefits of grounding is decreased neuroinflammation as well, thereby protecting the cognitive function of the brain and extending it’s health span.   There are many anti-aging benefits of grounding, that include protecting musculoskeletal health, reducing stress levels, improving circadian rhythm and deepening sleep, even protecting skin health and boosting wound repair [26], so hopefully there will be longer term studies to evaluate grounding’s ability to protect brain health over a lifetime and increase it’s functional longevity.

For more information on the anti-aging benefits of grounding, hop over here to read my previous publication on the anti-aging benefits of grounding, or watch a video I created for you on these benefits here:

 

 

Or, if you like TikTok, watch the TikTok I made on grounding and anti-aging here and follow my channel so you will always get my latest content:

Dr. Laura Koniver’s TikTok Channel

@laurakonivermd

Grounding for longevity #holistichealth #laurakonivermd #intuitionphysician #grounding #earthing #conductivehealth #antiaging #longevity

♬ original sound – Laura Koniver, MD

Conclusion

 

All in all it makes sense that the human brain just may work better when it is grounded. After all, the near seven million years that the human brain has been evolving and increasing in intellectual capacity have all been with the brain being bathed in the electrical field that the earth produces.

This cohesive evolution of the central nervous system to the natural electrical field of the earth may be why the brain has evolved to sit in an electrolytic solution of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) that is highly conductive — and therefore easily grounded. Could the instantaneous brain effects of grounding come in part from the instant grounding of the CSF?  Hopefully research into grounding and brain function will elucidate the exact pathway that grounding our central nervous system works and the impact that grounded CSF may have on the health and function of the entire central nervous system, including the spinal cord as well.

You have likely experienced this cohesion for yourself, if you have you ever been mulling over a big life decision, feeling overwhelmed or confused, and then spent time in nature and found a solution, a deeper insight, or a sudden idea that provided clarity. By connecting with the earth, we can shift the brain from high strung beta waves to calming alpha wave patterns, decrease inflammation, decrease mental stress, improve mood, and even potentially boost cognition, all naturally. And the effects of grounding the human brain start right away, with measurable changes in brain wave activity in less than one second.

So the next time you need a little boost in brain function, try heading outside to get grounded.  And hopefully longer term studies into the healing benefits of being grounding will shed even more insight into how the earth may help preserve cognitive function as well as the ideal amount of time needed to provide these benefits.

xoxox,Laura Koniver MD

 

 

References:

Jimenez MP, DeVille NV, Elliott EG, Schiff JE, GE Wilt, et al., (2021) Associations between nature exposure and health: A review of the evidence. Int J Environ Res Public Health 18:4790.Bringslimark T, Hartig T, Patil GG (2007) Psychological benefits of indoor plants in workplaces: Putting experimental results into context. Am Soc Hort Sci Horts 42:581-587.SHIBATA S, SUZUKI N (2002) EFFECTS OF THE FOLIAGE PLANT ON TASK PERFORMANCE AND MOOD. Journal of Environmental Psychology 22: 265-272.Simons LA, Simons J, McCallum J, Friedlander Y (2006) Lifestyle factors and risk of dementia: Dubbo study of the elderly. Med J Aust 184:68-70.Park SA, Lee AY, Park HG, Lee WL (2019) Benefits of gardening activities for cognitive function according to measurement of brain nerve growth factor levels. Int J Environ Res Public Health 16:760.Park SA, Son SY, Lee AY, Park HG, Lee WL, et al., (2020) Metabolite profiling revealed that a gardening activity program improves cognitive ability correlated with BDNF levels and serotonin metabolism in the elderly. Int J Environ Res Public Health 17:541.Sokal P, Sokal K (2011) The neuromodulative role of earthing. Med Hypotheses 77:824-826.Rahman, Noor & Mustafa, Mahfuzah & Samad, Rosdiyana & Abdullah, Nor Rul Hasma & Sulaiman, Norizam & Pebrianti, Dwi (2018). Classification of EEG Signal for Body Earthing Application. Journal of Telecommunication, Electronic and Computer Engineering (JTEC). 10:81-85.Cherry NJ (2003) Human intelligence: the brain, an electromagnetic system synchronised by the Schumann Resonance signal. Med Hypotheses 60:843-844.Wang CX, Hilburn IA, Wu DA, Mizuhara Y, Cousté CP, et al., (2019) Transduction of the Geomagnetic Field as Evidenced from alpha-Band Activity in the Human Brain. eNeuro. 6:ENEURO.0483-18.2019.Cherry NJ (2003) Human intelligence: The brain, an electromagnetic system synchronised by the Schumann resonance signal. Med Hypotheses 60:843-844.Persinger MA, Saroka KS (2105) Human quantitative electroencephalographic and schumann resonance exhibit real-time coherence of spectral power densities: Implications for interactive information processing.” J Signal Inform Process 6:153-164.Kim T, Seo DY, Bae JH, Han J (2024) Barefoot walking improves cognitive ability in adolescents. Korean J Physiol Pharmacol 28:295- 302.Park H-J, Jeong W, Yu HJ, Ye M, Hong Y, et al., (2023) The Effect of Earthing Mat on Stress-Induced Anxiety-like Behavior and Neuroendocrine Changes in the Rat. Biomedicines 11: 57.Ghaly M, Teplitz D (2004) The Biologic Effects of Grounding the Human Body During Sleep as Measured by Cortisol Levels and Subjective Reporting of Sleep, Pain, and Stress. J Altern Complement Med 10:767-776.Lin CH, Tseng ST, Chuang YC, Kuo CE, Chen NC (2022) Grounding the Body Improves Sleep Quality in Patients with Mild Alzheimer’s Disease: A Pilot Study. Healthcare (Basel) 10:581.Koniver L (2023) Neurological Pathways Supported by Grounding. Open J Neurol Neurosci 1: 1002.Miller AH, Raison CL (2016) The role of inflammation in depression: from evolutionary imperative to modern treatment target. Nat Rev Immunol 16:22-34.Lee CH, Giuliani F (2019) The Role of Inflammation in Depression and Fatigue. Front Immunol 10:1696.Köhler O, Benros ME, Nordentoft M, Farkouh ME, Iyengar RL, et al., (2014) Effect of anti-inflammatory treatment on depression, depressive symptoms, and adverse effects: a systematic review and meta- analysis of randomized clinical trials. JAMA Psychiatry 71:1381-1391.Kohler O, Krogh J, Mors O, Benros ME (2016) Inflammation in Depression and the Potential for Anti-Inflammatory Treatment. Curr Neuropharmacol 14:732-742.Chevalier G (2015) The effect of grounding the human body on mood. Psychol Rep 116:534-542.Oschman JL, Chevalier G, Brown R (2015) The effects of grounding (earthing) on inflammation, the immune response, wound healing, and prevention and treatment of chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. J Inflamm Res 8:83-96.Treadway MT, Cooper JA, Miller AH (2019) Can’t or Won’t? Immunometabolic Constraints on Dopaminergic Drive. Trends Cogn Sci 23:435-448.Müller E, Pröller P, Ferreira-Briza F, Aglas L, Stöggl T (2019) Effectiveness of Grounded Sleeping on Recovery After Intensive Eccentric Muscle Loading. Front Physiol 10:35Koniver, Laura (2024) Grounding: An Anti-Aging Breakthrough? Trends Gen Med 2:1-7.

The post The Benefits Of Grounding To Boost Brain Health And Improve Cognition appeared first on Intuition Physician.

What Happens When You Are Grounded To The Earth In An Artificial Electrical Field

 

 

Every single day I get emails asking if the natural energy of grounding is changed by the presence of artificial manmade EMFs.   The short answer is yes.

There is so much confusion around grounding in a manmade electrical fields, if it matters or not, and why.  If you are confused, that’s what grounding companies are relying on.  This confusion is in part intentional by corporations who bulk manufacture cheap grounding tools because they don’t want you to figure out that electrosensitivity is a real issue, so instead they pretend that when you are grounded you are somehow magically immune from the effects of manmade electrical fields — that way they can continue to sell products that don’t address this issue.

I find it sad that thousands millions of grounding customers that feel ill effects from the AC voltage that runs through a standard ground cord are being told that they are either imagining the symptoms or  calling it a “grounding detox” and told that eventually they will get used to it.  I don’t want anyone to get used to the dizziness, pain, fatigue, headache and irritability that an AC current running through a ground cord is causing on their physical tissues.

 

 

The human body is a beautiful, electrically sensitive system, and we can pick up on (and have symptoms from) an AC current that is introduced to the human body — this is often called “dirty electricity” and it’s real.  You are not imagining it and it will not go away, unless you stop the current from running into your body and/or eliminate the artificial manmade electrical fields you are in while grounding.

Because it’s virtually impossible to totally eliminate manmade EMFs, I created a video for you today to help you understand what the issue is with grounding in artificial EMFs, and some practical solutions.  I’ll clear the confusion up for you right now, so that you understand what people mean by “dirty electricity” and how a “grounding detox” is not a real thing, it’s a cover up invented by grounding companies to convince you to ignore your electrosensitivity symptoms.

Once you watch this video you will be able to explain this clearly to anyone who asks about grounding in manmade electrical fields and what the solutions are:

How Grounding Is Changed By Artificial Electrical Fields:

 

 

Watch on YouTube:

 

Because your body is so conductive, it is affected by all types of electrical fields — both the earth’s natural DC electrical field, as well as artificial manmade electrical fields.  The earth’s natural electrical global field is gentle and healing — composed of the Schumann Resonance and the Carnegie Curve.  I published this article in the Biomedical Journal in 2023 to explain the earth’s global electrical circuit for you, and I also created this video for you here if you prefer listening to me explain it to you instead of (or in addition to) reading a medical journal:

The Real Reason Grounding Works (YouTube video)

 

You are in the earth’s electrical field whether you are grounded or not.  When you are ungrounded (for example, with shoes on) you have this electrical field around you measurable in volts as a potential.  When you then you touch the earth, that grounding  contact allows the volts (the potential of earth’s electric fields) to run through your body, discharging into the earth and allowing electrons to run freely up into your body — ahhhhhh.

 

 

If you are in a manmade electrical field and also outside (say you are near a power line, standing over underground cables, etc…) this artificial electrical field is 1,000,000 or more times stronger than the gentle natural earth’s electrical field — so grounding now means these both the earth’s electrical field as well as the artificial manmade electrical fields surrounding you are now running through your body — with the artificial fields being a much greater amplitude than the earth’s fields.  Because the artificial electrical fields are so much stronger than the natural electrical fields your body naturally evolved in, not only does grounding not feel as good any more, but many folks can actually feel negative symptoms.  Feeling symptoms when grounding in a manmade electrical field is what is known as being electrosensitive.  Symptoms like:

stinging or tinglingheadachedecreased concentrationvertigo/dizzinessdisorientationtinnitus/ringing in the earsskin sensitivity or reactionsrestlesnessinsomniamood changes, including anxiety or depressionfatigueheart palpitationsmuscle pain/tension

 

 

Indoors when you are grounding, it’s the exact same thing.  If you are grounded and there are no artificial electrical fields, then you experience grounding as the relief it truly is, as your static energy discharges and electrons run up your ground cord, boosting the health of your body.

If you are grounding and you are also in a manmade artificial electrical field, you are now taking the voltage from these both of these exposures and turning them into a current running into your body.  Not only is a manmade current of AC electricity running up your grounding cord, but this current is also forcing electrons off of your body in an amplitude that is a million times more overbearing than the earth’s natural electrical field is. Because artificial electrical fields are so much stronger than the earth’s gentle, natural electrical field, it’s very common to feel worse when grounding, including all the symptoms I listed above.

So this is what to do:

Outside and indoors, try to ground in the absence of electrical fields.  If you can’t fully eliminate electrical field where you are grounding, then it definitely helps to decrease their strength as much as possible, and it’s not as difficult as you might think.   A good rule of thumb is simply to be more than 3 feet away from sources of electrical fields like appliances and outlets and electrical cords.  It may be as simple as pulling your sofa away from the wall when you are grounding after work each evening, or putting your bedside lamp on a kill switch so it stops emitting an electrical field when you are ready to go to sleep grounded.  If you want to be sure there are no strong electrical fields where you are grounding, I have an electric field meter in my grounding boutique so you can measure them for yourself and be sure you’ve moved a safe enough distance away from your appliances to get grounded.Second, consider switching your standard ground cord to a PureGround cord.  The PureGround cord is shielded the entire way up the line, so that any electrical fields the ground cord passes through can not jump onto the line… and it also has a filter embedded in the cord that won’t allow an AC current from an outlet to ever enter the cord.  The PureGround cord ensures you have a grounding experience as it was always designed naturally to be, before any manmade artificial electrical fields polluted our living spaces.

 

The PureGround EMF filtering and shielded ground cord

 

More free articles I’ve written on this topic that you may find helpful:

Exactly What A Grounding Detox Really Is, And Exactly What To Do About ItHow Manmade EMFs Have The Opposite Effect That Grounding DoesIs It Safe To Get Grounded Around EMFs?

I created this visual for my electrosensitivity class, to demonstrate how natural and artificial EMFs oppose each other, and I’m giving you access to it right here, right now!  So be sure to take advantage of this and forward it to everyone you know who could benefit from seeing directly how manmade EMFs and natural grounding are connected and why! Simply click the button below for a free printable version that you can study and even tape to your door, reminding you to go outside daily to get grounded!

 

 

The natural opposite of man-made EMFs are the natural earth made EMFs… and the way to give your body direct access to this is through grounding.  Grounding helps rebalance your Conductive Health. It gives you results you can feel… grounding helps to:

boost mooddecrease anxietydeepen sleepdecrease paindecrease inflammationdecrease blood pressureboost cardiac functiondecrease muscle tensionimprove digestionimprove immune functionand on and on… pretty much the exact opposite effect that manmade EMFs have on our body

I hope this article today, with the video I created for you, the print out I shared with you, and some of the solutions I suggested today, has really helped clear up the huge debate on grounding in the presence of artificial EMFs.

Have other grounding questions that you are not able to find satisfying answers for?  Ask me anything you want in our next live grounding meeting, with live Q&A. 

Join me in a monthly zoom meeting and get live support, tips, and ideas for grounding that you can use again and again and again, for the rest of your life.  Not only will I answer your questions live in our meeting, but you will also get the recording in case you have to miss it for any reason.  To see all the fun we get up to in our monthly zoom meetings and sign up to join into the next one — click right here.

Xoxoxo,Laura Koniver MD

 

 

The post What Happens When You Are Grounded To The Earth In An Artificial Electrical Field appeared first on Intuition Physician.

Your Essential Fall Health Checklist: How Many Have You Completed?

 

The fall Equinox is this weekend, so we are officially headed into fall now!  And for so many of us, shorter days and longer nights means a dip in our mood.

Fortunately, there are lots of great things to do to get prepared as the seasons change. Of course there are things like pulling out your sweaters and boots and knitting a scarf or two and planting a winter garden and getting the fireplace cleaned that you might look forward to this fall.

But one thing that I get every year, and absolutely never look forward to, is a drop in my energy level and mood as the days get shorter.

So today I want to share with you today my annual fall post with a collection of 12 important, personal things that I do to prepare my body now for a smooth transition through fall and into winter.

Run through these questions and ask yourself if you are ready for fall…

12 Fall Health Questions To Ask Yourself:

 

 

1. Do you have a way to stay grounded, even as it gets colder?

 

As I talk about in this video here, connected to the earth each day — particularly around transitions such as the equinoxes and the solstices — allows your body to be oriented to the season and more seamlessly adjust to it.

The time spent grounding to the earth will refresh your body and soul. This one daily practice is probably the single best thing you can start right now to smooth your fall transition.  So make your plan now for how you can still get outside and soak in the fresh air, sunlight, and healing earth energy even as the temperature falls.  Getting outside in even the cloudy grey days for a mid-day walk is better than staying inside even under the brightest artificial lights.

Even if the sun appears not to shine, your pineal gland senses the light in the environment and needs this pick-me-up to function best this fall and winter.  Make a commitment to get morning or mid-day light (sunshine if possible!) every single day. I went into detail on a dozen ways to stay grounded outside, even in the cold of winter,  in last week’s blog post, which you can read right here:

Ways To Keep Grounding Outside As It Gets Colder This Fall & Winter

In it, I review all my favorite cold weather ways to get outside and still get grounded.  Buy you might also want to consider a way to reliably get grounded indoors, too.  I have organic grounding throw blankets that ground you while wrapping around you in warmth, even organic grounded hot water bottles, which is my absolute favorite way to ground indoors in the winter.

 

2. Do you make enough serotonin naturally?

 

Less daylight can mean a palpable drop in the mood boosting neurotransmitter serotonin.  If you happen to be serotonin depleted, the winter blues are more likely to hit you harder than other people.

You can address this in two ways:

One, by taking supplements that help boost your natural serotonin levels. If you get a mild case of winter blues, you likely don’t need to take prescription medications for that. Instead, you can make sure that your body is getting all it needs nutritionally in order to make its own, healthy levels of serotonin. To do that, it needs a building block called 5-HTP. A precursor to serotonin (the positive, mood enhancing neurotransmitter that most antidepressants are targeting, in the hopes to elevate brain levels) 5HTP is a nutritional supplement that makes sure your body is getting what it needs to make serotonin as efficiently as possible.  Do not supplement with 5HTP if you are already on serotonin boosting medications — like an SSRI or SNRI antidepressant.  But if you feed your body what it needs (most of us don’t get enough of this precursor as it is) and you don’t already take any medications for depression, you can naturally boost the serotonin you’ll need to keep your spirits up as the light fades. I have 5HTP and several other supplements that have been shown to support seasonal affective disorder in my Mood Support Protocol right here.

The second way to help prevent the winter blues and boost serotonin without taking a supplement, is through light therapy.  Light Therapy is medially studied to not only prevent and treat the winter blues, but it actually treats all forms of depression (and even treats fibromyalgia!). This is a great solution if you already take anti-depressants and want to add on an additional mood boost as well as a good circadian rhythm routine, as it can complement any medications or treatments you are already on for depression without any contraindications. My very fav, compact, therapeutic light box is clinically effective and is waiting for you right here.

 

 

 

 

3.  Do you have a silver barrier cloth to open doors with?

 

It’s no secret that communicable illnesses increase during the fall back-to-school time and the cold wintertime when we are most likely to spend our days indoors.  By hand washing frequently, you can decrease the amount of pathogens you pick up and transmit to yourself.But what about when we can’t wash our hands?  I am not a fan of hand sanitizers, and you can read an article I wrote for you here on why. Instead, I prefer a physical barrier between my hands and commonly used surfaces, such as door knobs and key pads.  So I carry a silver handkerchief and I actually clip it to my purse so I always have it on me when I step out the door.  You can do the same for your backpack, brief case, an extra one to keep in your glove box, and another one to slip easily into your pocket.  You can check them out here.

There have been many medical studies over the years that show the antimicrobial properties of silver, like these:

Application of Silver for the Prevention of Infection in Healthcare Workers  History of the Medical Use of SilverAntimicrobial activities of silver dressingsA review of the antibacterial effects of silverSilver nanoparticles as antimicrobial agentAntiviral activity of silver against H1N1 influenza A virusColloidal silver and its antimicrobial effect on Staphylococcus aureusNanosilver particles in medical applicationsSilver nanoparticles: therapeutic applicationsMode of antiviral action of silver nanoparticles against HIV-1More recent studies have tested silver’s antimicrobial effects on live coronavirus.This article showed that live coronavirus dropped to levels that that were undetectable after exposure to silver: Efficient and quick inactivation of SARS coronavirus and other microbesAnd this study shows silver embedded fabric resulted in “quick and efficient” eradication of coronavirus:  Fabric Lowers Zeta Potential and Eradicates Coronavirus Infectivity upon Contact. This means these researchers are suggesting that face masks, gowns and other protective gear be embedded with antimicrobial metals and tested for use in healthcare workers.We don’t have to go that far, we can use the natural antibacterial properties of silver to keep a healthy barrier between us and commonly used surfaces during the cold and flu season — simply hold it in your hand to open doors, push shopping carts, wipe down your phone, wipe down your hands — I like to wrap mine around my finger before pushing buttons on the keypads at stores, ATMs, gas stations and more.

Watch this video on YouTube to see how I use my silver cloth countless times every single day:

If you prefer TikTok, you can watch the same video right here:

@laurakonivermd

My favorite go-to when I’m out & about and can’t wash my hands #antimicrobial #cleanhands #intuitionphysician #holistichealth #laurakonivermd

♬ Paper Birds – Jordan Halpern Schwartz

If you’d like to use one too, you can find these silver barrier cloths right here.  Of course, you can also have other personal care items made with silver, to boost their antimicrobial properties too.  Things like silver fabric face masks to wear over your nose and mouth if needed, silver gloves to wear on your hands, a silver infinity scarf to have at the ready when you go out and about, even silver socks, t-shirts, and underwear if you want!

 

 

4. Are you sleeping enough?

 

This winter, please please allow yourself to re-connect to the natural rhythm of the earth and sleep longer when nights are longer.  It’s really important to use winter as a time of repair — this is a time to go inward, deeply reset your health, focus on good sleep, good nutrition (like bone broth soups and stews) and emerge this coming spring in your best health yet.

In these days of bright artificial lights and TV channels that blast shows 24 hours a day and smartphones that beckon us around the clock, it feels like there isn’t much difference between the middle of the night and the middle of the day.  But there is. To your body, to your pineal gland, your hormones, your muscles, your brain… the difference between night and day is iron clad. You are meant to sleep at night, and you are meant to sleep longer in the fall and winter months.

Allow your body to get an extra hour of sleep each night during the winter… at least give it a try this week: vow to sleep an extra hour each night this week and see if your mood, energy level, eating habits, activity level and joy all get a boost!

One way to do this is to lower your EMF exposures in your bedroom at night, as EMFs have a direct effect on your brain — for more on that read this article I wrote for you here.   How to decrease EMFs during sleep?  Start by following any of the tons of health tips on protecting yourself from EMFs that I wrote for you in here. And if you are going to scroll on your phone or watch TV at night, I highly suggest wearing blue light blocking glasses starting 2 hours before bedtime, if you absolutely need to be on a device to unwind.

Another thing to consider is that those of us who tend to be low serotonin (and get the winter blues as we talked about in tip #2, above) also tend to have trouble making enough melatonin naturally. This is because melatonin is actually made from serotonin… so folks who are low serotonin are generally low melatonin, and these levels dip in the winter because of the shorter days. So you guessed it — just as serotonin can dip in the winter, adding to the winter blues, your melatonin levels can dip too, wreaking havoc on your nightly rhythm. Even though the darkness makes you feel more tired and ready to turn in earlier, oddly enough you may find sleep elusive just when you crave it most.

While 5 HTP may helps boost daytime serotonin, at night you can take melatonin, as the sun sets, to boost your nighttime levels of melatonin. Taking melatonin in the fall when the days grow shorter (and you can combine this with using the light therapy box in the mornings as we discussed above!) will help your body re-set to its natural circadian rhythm once winter peaks. Sleeping well at night is an easy way to feel brighter during the day, beating those winter blues.  My favorite melatonin as well as tons of other suggestions on improving sleep are waiting for you right here in my Sleep Restore Protocol.

5. Do you need to detox?

 

Like I do every year when the earth begins to transition to cooler temps, leaves changing and shedding and the earth diving inwards for renewal, I have a natural urge to dive deeper and detox my own body, from the inside out. There are a million ways to do this… strict raw food diets and prolonged fasting and colonics and a ton of wonderful different ways to feel like you are entering fall by shedding the old and rebuilding a new you.

For me, I go with a very easy and very simple detox.  I’m literally aching to do my gentle 5 day detox again, like I do every fall… and this year I’m giving it to you my detox routine free as an instant download, right here.  Take 5 days to reset your body for the fall.  The earth is getting cooler, the days are getting shorter, and our bodies are going inwards for a period of renewal.  So Gentle Restart Detox, here I come.  It’s time.

 

 

 

6. Are your magnesium levels good (i.e. are you pooping enough? Are your muscles tense?)

 

Many of us are magnesium deficient and we don’t even know it.  Magnesium is absolutely essential to 300+ different biochemical reactions in our body, like muscle function, nerve function, maintaining healthy blood pressure, blood sugar levels and more.

Without enough magnesium, we can have muscle pain, irritability, insomnia, constipation and even heart arrhythmias.  So ask yourself… are your muscles tight?  Do you feel anxious or have trouble relaxing into sleep? Are you constipated?  If so, consider boosting your magnesium intake. Magnesium is a natural muscle relaxant, so taking a magnesium supplement at night is one of my favorite recommendations for anyone with difficulty relaxing due to muscle tension or soreness, such as issues with tension headaches, fibromyalgia, grinding teeth at night, TMJ, etc….  so this is why I have magnesium supplementation included in my Sleep Restore Protocol.

You can also soak in a nightly bath filled with magnesium rich Epsom salts, which will relax your muscles before bed and is a great treatment for restless leg syndrome, tooth grinding at night, and other issues with muscle tension such as fibromyalgia.  You can then layer on a magnesium rich topical lotion to really relax and soothe sore muscles, here is my favorite magnesium lotion to help soothe tense or sore muscles.

If you are constipated, I would recommend taking magnesium internally, not just topically through baths and lotions, because it will naturally help loosen your bowels. My favorite way to do this is to drink a magnesium drink before bedtime (I like to drink mine in hot water, sipping on it like a nightly tea!) to help relax your body, loosen your muscles, soften stools, deepen sleep, and create a lovely evening ritual all fall and all winter long. That’s why I have included a magnesium drink in my Sleep Restore protocol here.

It’s normal for everything to slow down in the winter, so if your bowels are feeling full of rich and hearty winter meals and you are feeling dense inside, you can also up your water intake, take tons of healthy Omega 3 algae or flax seed oil, eat a prune a day and ground on the earth each day to help restore your daily digestive rhythms. But if that’s not enough, upping your magnesium intake will absolutely help!

 

7. Do you get enough Vitamin D?

 

Yes, you will get some Vit D when you go outside to get grounded each day… but most of us are deficient in Vit D even during the summer, so nearly ALL of us fall deficient in the winter. Not only is Vit D a powerful antioxidant, it prevents cancer, stroke, heart disease, boosts weight loss, decreases pain… you name it… we need it. Vitamin D needs to be emulsified for best absorption, which means if you are getting Vitamin D through a multivitamin that is a dry capsule or tablet or pill, it’s not getting well absorbed and you might find that your Vitamin D levels are not improving.

My favorite are Carlson’s Solar D Gems, found in my Seasonal Mood Support Protocol in my trusted online dispensary here. I love these the most because they are in an emulsified liquid capsule, so time and time again, when a patient comes to me with Vit D levels that are low despite supplementation with other brands, when we switch to the Solar D Gems, the levels return to normal. Woot!

 

8. Are you drinking just as much water in the winter as you do in the summer?

 

Hopefully you’ve kept yourself well hydrated during the summer, when hot temperatures and sweating drive us to remember to drink water more than at any other time of the year. But in the cooler temps, ones in which you are shivering, not sweating… it’s more important than ever before to hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. Dry heated air, dry cold outside air, wind chapping our lips, and no internal drive to remind us to drink leads to mid-winter dehydration, brain fog, and a sure-fire road to BLAH.

You can get so dehydrated that you actually feel semi-nauseous all the time and a bit depressed.  Drink water and then drink some more… and start right now.  I take the time to filter out the fluoride and chemicals in my water… I’ve got lots of articles on why I do that (you could start with this one if you want to read more) and here is the water filter I personally use in my home.

 

9. Are you allowing yourself gain a pound or two?

 

You might be an enlightened buddha thriving off the energy of the universe, but your body is an organic, human thing that is connected to the physical earth and responds to the rhythms of the seasons and needs nourishment. So every winter it is normal to slow down and allow a few extra pounds to sustain and warm you.

It is like-wise just as effortless and natural to lose several pounds in the spring as the world awakens and we are drawn to more physical labor such as preparing garden beds, trimming the lawn, spring cleaning our homes, and walking barefoot on the beach. If we don’t attach all the typical BS to our weight that we usually do, the few pounds that warm us in the winter will be shed without a second thought in the spring. This is the natural rhythm of the world all around you.  The first half of winter, while food is still plenty and days grow darker, are a time to allow yourself to find nourishment in foods and warmth under your blankets, eating more and sleeping longer.

In a few months, as the pantry empties out and the holiday parties are long gone, there will be a natural thinning time, a time when the days become noticeably longer and your thoughts turn to the fresh spring salads that will be popping up in your garden.  It is only when we attach a negative meaning to our weight that adds to the heaviness and permanency and bulk to it… and these pounds become a part of how we see ourselves forever. We get locked into battle with them and they fight to stay and add and grow, year after year after year.  As a result, most people tend to gain a few pounds a year (despite being locked in constant battle and fighting against it the entire time) and accrue this mass permanently, instead of easily gaining and losing a few pounds with the seasons. It just shows that fighting weight isn’t the way to go.

If we dropped all our mental baggage around this rhythm, a rhythm of ebb and flow, of nourishment and lean times, of seasons, we would not gain weight year after year after year, instead we would gain and release. It’s only our society that fears weight gain that makes it almost *impossible* to drop the pounds without thinking twice about it late winter and early spring. Now is not the time to allow our culture’s baggage to taint what should be a natural time of celebration, stocking up, and preparing for the winter ahead. If you welcome this seasonal change with gratitude, you will be healthier for it.  For more guidance on dropping your resistance to a seasonal weight gain, you might want to start with this article I wrote for you on how having a few extra pounds can offer a survival advantage:

Yet Another Study Showing That Overweight Is Healthier Than Underweight

Focusing on what you do eat (as opposed to restricting food) is a great approach in winter.  You can arm yourself with some knowledge on the best party foods to reach for at holiday events, as well as ways to work with your own unique food cravings, in this article I wrote for you here:

The Healthiest Party Foods To Eat + Navigating Your Specific Food Cravings  

 

10. Are you getting enough Omega 3 fatty acids from plant based sources?

 

I’ve already blogged a bit about how Omega 3’s can:

effectively treat ADHDsave your brain from atrophying (and decrease your dementia risk!)stabilize your mood so much that it can literally prevent psychosishelp relieve constipationdecrease prostate cancer riskprevent a fatal heart attack.and even cut your risk of diabetic retinopathy in half!

Winter means everything from a permanent brain fog to dry tight skin. Omega 3 fatty acids support brain function, digestion, circulation and skin… all things that we need help with in the winter.  I’ve been asked about a recent study that suggesting fish oil may not be a good thing for those with cardiovascular disease (you can read that here) but please note that this is because it specifically studied fish oil — which of course the vast majority of fish oil supplements on the market are full of heavy metals and other contaminants that counterbalance the benefit of the Omega 3 fatty acids.

Omega 3 fatty acids are the most commonly prescribed supplements on the planet, for good reason, and yes these healthy fats are good even for your cardiovascular system.  The key is that it is the Omega 3 fatty acid levels in the bloodstream that is cardio-protective, and contaminated fish oil supplements that are not.  Studies that include plant based sources of Omega 3 Fatty Acids find benefit, for example, the meta analysis looking at data that included plant sources of Omega 3s in over 45,000 participants in 16 different countries: Australia, Costa Rica, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Norway, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States, in both men and women (63% male, 37% female) and all ages (18 to 97) found that Omega 3 fatty acids correlated to a significantly lower risk of death from a cardiovascular event, and the results were shown to be dose dependent, meaning that every standard-deviation increase in levels of DPA, EPA, DHA and ALA (all Omega 3 fatty acids) lowered the risk of a death from a heart attack in a dose dependent fashion. These findings compliment earlier studies that show that Omega 3 fatty acids stabilize heart membranes and reduce the risk of ventricular fibrillation.

Ideally, the best way to boost your Omega 3s is to include lots of dietary Omega 3 fatty acid sources in the food you eat, from plant based sources like seaweed, walnuts, flaxseed, olive oil and coconut oils.  And if you do take Omega 3 supplements that are made from fish oil, unless your fish oil is pharmacy grade, exceptionally pure, and routinely rigorously tested for contaminants, then my recommendation is to switch to algae oil or flax seed oil supplements to get your Omega 3s.

I have my favorite algae oil supplement listed in my Seasonal Mood Support Protocol right here.

 

11. Is your skin prepared for the winter ahead?

 

Winter can be a tough time for anybody’s skin… painfully dry hands and cracked heels galore (ouch!). Dry heated air dehydrates and cracks your vulnerable skin while you are inside staying warm, and combine that with whipping cold winds that chaff skin when you are outside and winter is just no fun on your skin, especially if you suffer from chronic skin conditions such as psoriasis, eczema or other forms of dermatitis.

Drinking twice as much water as usual will absolutely help from the inside out… but if you have specific trouble spots you might want a topical barrier cream to apply directly on a daily basis for protection.  And luckily, if you like the barrier protection of petroleum jelly but don’t want petroleum by-products anywhere near your body, it’s super easy to make your own! So today I want to share with you the recipe I whip up each winter to use on our poor cracked hands and feet.  Thank you so much to One Good Thing by Jillee (which is where I first saw this recipe!)

Homemade (Un)Petroleum Jelly.

1/4 cup Beeswax Pellets 1 cup Olive Oil

Melt together over very low heat in a saucepan or double broiler… once well combined, pour into a jar or recycled container and allow to cool for 30 minutes. I keep a jar by my bedside and by my kitchen sink to us on my winter cracked hands and heels.

 

12. Are you feeling burnt out?

 

Fall is the perfect time to turn inwards, nurture your adrenal glands, boost your internal energy reserves, and emerge this spring feeling better than you may have felt in many many years.  It’s okay to take these upcoming months slower, to tend to our inner needs more, and to make sure we are getting lots and lots of sleep. It’s not only okay, it’s what we are *supposed* to be doing.

It’s like Mother Nature hand carved these months out for you to repair your adrenal glands and nurture your energy reserves so you can emerge this spring feeling triumphantly energetic!  Repairing your adrenal glands is actually the easiest to do in the fall and winter.

It’s easier to sleep longer with the days getting shorter, easier to prepare and eat warm foods like soup, roasts, stews, etc… rich with fat, protein and salt (all absolutely crucial when repairing your adrenals) and easier to cocoon in and nurture your body, with less exertion and more repair.

Emerge this spring feeling better than you have felt in many many years!  Ready to eat lighter, sleep stronger, lose weight, move your body more. To help, I am sharing my Adrenal Repair Book with you for free, right here.  In it I have tons of uplifting, actionable things you can do right now to address adrenal fatigue.

A nice combo to do is start with my free 5 day detox plan and then move on to the free adrenal repair book immediately following the detox — this is an amazing way to head into the winter months feeling your absolute best, with several weeks of absolutely free holistic health support from me:

Free 5 Day Detox Plan — download by ordering it hereFree Adrenal Repair eBook — download by ordering it here

 

Let’s get you feeling better than ever… and enjoying this cooler weather and the beautiful fall colors that surround us.

I’ll be here for you all the way through it!

xoxo,Laura Koniver MD

The post Your Essential Fall Health Checklist: How Many Have You Completed? appeared first on Intuition Physician.

A Dozen Ways To Keep Grounding Outside As It Gets Colder This Fall And Winter

 

 

As we move towards the cooler months of fall and winter, my inbox always gets overflowed with folks asking me how to keep grounding comfortably outside as the weather turns cold… and even bitterly cold.

It’s so important to get outside, even in the darkness of winter, to keep you sleeping deeply at night and — as I wrote about here — thinking more clearly during the day.

Thankfully, there are tons of fabulous options to stay warm while still grounding outside.  And I’ve thoroughly tested them all for you — personally confirming that these grounding options work well and truly ground you by verifying them with a grounding test meter on many different outdoor surfaces.

Today I’m going to share with you ways to keep grounding through you feet even when it’s cold outside, like the top 3 grounding shoes that pass my grounding test, my favorite conductive socks that you can wear inside those shoes to keep your toes toasty warm and still be grounded, the even more eco-friendly option of grounding shoe stickers that you can place on any shoe you already own (perfect for a favorite pair of orthotic shoes you love, or if you simply want to be eco-friendly and not buy more pairs of shoes, as one of the best ways we can support our earth is reuse what we already have instead of consuming more!)

You can also switch to grounding through your hands in the winter, with several different options to keep your hands warm but effectively grounded, like conductive gloves that layer with wool gloves to keep your hands nice and warm while touching grounded surfaces outside, grounding hiking sticks that conduct the earth’s energy right up to your hands while you stay bundled up in winter coats and boots, ways to keep warm while grounding like using a grounded hot water bottle, or slipping into conductive sweatpants and undies so you can be grounded while sleeping right on top of your grounded bed surfaces… and so much more.

Let’s get started!

 

My 12 favorite ways to stay grounded even when it is cold:

 

 

1. Wear Grounding Boots:  Vivobarefoot

 

Out of the entire market of grounding footwear, these are the three companies that I have found provide the most reliable grounding, plus are made in an eco-ethical way.  First up: Vivobarefoot.

With a conductive outsole and a conductive leather footbed, these grounding boost are the perfect way to stay warm and cozy outside in cold weather while still staying connected to the earth.  They are even water resistant in case you get caught in a fall rain shower or a winter sleet storm.   Available in both men’s sizes and women’s sizes, be sure to check them out.

 

 

2. Wear Grounding Loafers: Raum

 

Ethically made, individually hand crafted leather shoes that are minimalist in design and come in closed toe slip on designs as well as closed toe lace up loafers for both men and women.  How gorgeous are these?

I particularly appreciate that these shoes are hand sewn, because most shoes on the market are simply glued or cemented together, not hand stitched. So your feet mold into the leather over time to create an amazing level of comfort that brings you back into alignment with how your foot feels and functions best.

If you are looking for a slip on shoe that is minimalist in design (read: a non-cushioned footbed that allows feet to stay in their natural alignment ) and you want the largest selection of colors, then you want Raum shoes.

 

 

3. Wear Grounding Sneakers:  Groundz

 

Cute cute cute cute cute!!!  Groundz uses sustainably sourced and eco-friendly leather, water based and nontoxic vegetable dyes (very impressive) and a copper plug that is so comfortable I literally can not feel it. It’s so comfortable I had to check and double check that I was actually grounded in them and yep, I am, every time!

Groundz offers beautiful slip on grounding loafers and grounding sandals as well as their grounding sneakers, so when patients are looking for grounding sneakers with a secure cushioned footbed, Groundz is the website I send them to.

 

 

 

4. Add Grounding Stickers To Shoes You Already Own:

 

These grounding shoe stickers are so easy to use — stick them to shoes you already own and forget them! Get access to all of the benefits of grounding outdoors while being able to wear your favorite footwear.

I can’t think of much more eco-friendly than to continue to use shoes you already own. And if you love them, and they support your foot function best, why not convert your favorite pair of sneakers, running shoes, hiking shoes, or even sports cleats into grounding shoes? A grounding shoe sticker is the way to go.

The sticker is fully conductive and runs the grounding energy from the earth beneath you up and around your shoe and into the sole of your shoe where your feet are. By touching the sticker, you bypass the rubber sole entirely and are basically standing barefoot on the ground, conductively speaking.

I can’t even feel these stickers on my shoes. Find them here.

 

 

5. Wear Grounding Socks:

 

If you wear any of the grounding shoes above, or have put a grounding sticker or reusable shoe grounders on shoes you already own, you’ll be grounded the moment you slip your bare foot into the shoe and stand outside on the earth.

But what if you like to wear socks?

Almost every sock manufactured on this planet will block the grounding flow from the grounded shoe (or grounded shoe sticker) because almost all socks have synthetic, non-conductive fibers, elastic, polyester, etc… or are too thick to allow grounding contact.

But it’s truly no problem to wear a sock with a grounding shoe or grounding shoe sticker, you just have to make sure it is a conductive sock. Luckily there are tons of beautiful socks made with conductive materials that will ground you instantly. I’ve got three styles for you to consider:

an athletic crew sock: thick, plush, absorbent, ankle length a thinner dress sock: thinner, sleek, comfortable, crew length… great for work or dress!and a compressive knee high sock: stretchy, warm, with the added bonus that they carry grounding all the way up your calves!

In each of these pictures on their product pages, I am personally modeling the sock for you, and have thoroughly tested their conductivity with a grounding test meter. Each sock utilizes silver fibers throughout the entire sock, every inch of it, so the entire sock is conductive from top to bottom.

By wearing a conductive sock with your grounding footwear, your entire sock will instantly encase your entire foot and ankle immediately in grounding energy, which will then powerfully ground your entire body from head to toe.

 

 

6. Wear Grounding Gloves:

 

Grounding through your hands is a great option, here are my favorite ways to do it!

The first option is to wear fingerless gloves that keep your hands toasty warm but your fingertips available to directly touch the earth, like these lovely all natural wool fingerless gloves I’m wearing in the picture above — they are USA made and waiting for you right here.

 

 

The second option is to wear silver fiber conductive gloves that cover all exposed skin, protecting you from the elements while still allowing grounding to conduct right through to your hands. Find those right here.

 

The third option — my favorite by far — is to layer the two!  Put your conductive silver gloves on, then slip the fingerless wool gloves on top so you have a double layer of warmth while allowing grounding through your fingertips comfortably all winter long, no skin exposure necessary.

Wool fingerless gloves keep the palms, wrists and base of the fingers extra insulated, while allowing the conductive layer over the fingertips to touch the earth and directly allow the healing flow of grounding to ground your body from head to toe.  I have them together as a set for you right here.

 

 

7.  Protect Bare Skin With A Skin Protectant:

 

You could also consider simply using a skin protectant like Warm Skin to allow you to stay out in the cold a bit longer, with or without protective gloves on.  I have to say I use this not only on my hands, but for all areas of exposed skin, like my nose and cheeks!

As someone who has lived with Raynaud’s Syndrome all my life, staying grounding outside as the temperature drops is a huge challenge for me.  I turn to using Warm Skin to protect my skin and prolong the time I am able to directly ground outside — Warm Skin prolongs my outdoor grounding season by several months each year, even on windy and cold days.

It works by holding in the body’s own natural warmth and serves as a barrier to prevent water loss, moisturizing the skin to keep it pain-free and flexible even in the harshest environments, without the interference of heavy clothing that would block your ground connection. It’s also made in the USA by a a small family business in Minnesota and is all natural.  Use it alone or coat your hands with it before slipping your hands into the grounding gloves I show you above.  Either way, you are guaranteed to last longer in the cold while getting your healing boost from the earth.  Find it right here.

 

 

8.  Hold Onto A Grounding Walking Stick Or Cane:

 

The other creative way to ground through your hands while staying bundled up and warm is to simply hold onto a conductive grounding hiking stick!   The one I’m showing you above is handmade by a master carpenter right here in the USA using solid wood and pure copper to create a conductive pathway from the ground all the way up to your hands!  Have him make yours to carry you through all the season without ever taking your shoes off, by ordering one right here. 

 

 

I also offer grounding canes — this one made from an artisan in Ireland out of solid wood and reclaimed copper, the cane is very lightweight yet strong, making it a great option for those with mobility issues — not only can you sit at a bench or on a chair and ground through your hand using this cane, but even those in a wheelchair can hold onto this grounded cane while outside and ground directly through their hands.  Check these grounded canes out right here.  Each cane and each hiking stick is a custom hand crafted, unique work of art that you can use for many years to come.

 

 

9.  Or Make Your Own DIY Grounded Hiking Stick:

 

If you want to make your own grounding hiking stick, you can grab a DIY kit right here and transform any cane, stick (or even a simple wooden broom handle!) into a conductive walking stick that will ground you from head to toe without you ever needing to touch the earth directly. I demonstrate how to use my DIY kit to make your own grounded walking stick in the second half of the video above, starting at the 5:40 min mark.

 

 

10. Ground Through Your Pajamas at night:

 

I have these soft, elastic waistband, comfy sweatpants (with pockets!) custom hand made right here in the USA by my seamstress just for you.  They are made from a lovely shielding material, but the perk of this is that is also allows you to lay on a grounded surface (like an organic grounded bed topper or an organic grounding bed roll, both waiting for you right here) and ground right through your clothes.

Perfect for folks who want to be grounded in bed all night long but who like to keep bundled up and warm with no exposed skin available to touch the grounding tool. Find these options to wear to sleep to keep you grounded to your favorite grounding bed surface:

conductive organic T shirtsconductive organic tank topsconductive sweatpantsconductive  socksand conductive organic undies for men and women

This is another perk of having the grounding socks we talked about above in suggestion #5.  Not only can you wear them with your grounding shoes to stay grounded outside, but if you like to sleep in socks to keep your feet warm in the winter, you can wear theses socks to bed and use them to ground while you sleep as well. Slipping into bed and resting your feet on a grounding bed surface will allow you to ground right through your grounded pajamas or grounded socks all night long.

 

 

11. Sleep With A Grounding Hot Water Bottle:

 

For decades now, one of my ultimate go-to healing recommendations for patients is a hot water bottle, to avoid the artificial EMFs of electric blankets and heating pads but still enjoying the soothing benefits of heat.  By adding the element of grounding to this, with a grounding hot water bottle cozy, you combine the healing properties of heat with the health benefits of grounding (the most holistic supportive therapy that helps relax, repair, and soothe aches and pains from head-to-toe!)

So I have these custom, hand sewn, grounding hot water bottle cozy’s made just for you when you order it, so that you can sleep all night long, grounded in warmth and healing energy.  I can’t think of a better way to stay warm and grounded all winter long, and if you are thinking ahead to holiday gifts, this must be one of the most lovely, comforting, supportive healing gifts you can possibly give.

You just have to make sure you order them early, because I have these literally hand made just for you when you order it and it does take a few weeks. Order yours before it get’s too darn cold at night… you can find them right here.

 

 

12. Treat Your Feet With Toe Alignment Socks:

 

My feet instantly relax with these socks on, and as a bonus not only will the improve the health and alignment of your feet but they will also allow you to ground at the same time, thanks to the fact that your toes are still bare and ready to connect with the earth outside or while you stand on an organic grounding mat while grounding indoors.

At the end of a long day, these are almost as good as a nice foot massage from your partner. Almost. But infinitely more practical, because I can wear them while I’m standing in the kitchen making dinner and doing the dishes, and my feet feel stretched out and free by the time I’m done.

I always smile when I pack up an order that someone has placed for these toe alignment socks and some magnesium lotion to go along with them — it’s just the sweetest little duo and I always imagine how good the recipient is going to feel after working some magnesium lotion onto their feet and slipping into these socks.

If you are looking for a little gift to give your hardest working loved ones, some toe alignment socks, my favorite magnesium lotion and a handwritten coupon for a free foot massage is the best thing I can imagine. It’s like physical therapy for your feet! Available in sizes small through XL.

Grab a pen and paper to test your foot health:Want to know if you are getting enough barefoot time?If your feet properly aligned?If the alignment of your foot is giving you knee, hip and back pain?If the shoes you are wearing causing foot issues?And how can you reverse damage shoes have caused your feet?

With the two very simple tests that I demonstrate for you in this video, you can test your own feet right now and you’ll know the answer to all of these questions!

Here is the video on TikTok:

And here it is on YouTube:

 

A Quick Way To Know If You Are Going Barefoot Enough (YouTube)

This exercise is extremely eye opening, and you can do it in less than 2 minutes! I highly encourage you to give it a try right now!

 

 

BONUS: Ask Me Anything You Want In A Live Q&A

 

Grounding helps keep your immunity high, your inflammation low, reduces stress, deepens sleep, and boosts your mood, no matter what you are going through.  Sounds like the perfect winter healing plan.  But what outdoor and indoor surfaces ground you?  What is the shortest amount of time you can ground outside in the cold and still see health benefits?  How can you optimize grounding for different health goals?

You ask me and let me help you.

Join me in a monthly zoom meeting and get live support, tips, and ideas for grounding that you can use again and again and again, for the rest of your life.  No only will I answer your questions live in our meeting, but you will also get the recording in case you have to miss a session.  To see all the fun we get up to in our monthly zoom meetings and sign up to join into the next one at 40% off — click right here.

 

 

To a healthy fall and winter full of grounding, even outside! Yes, it is absolutely doable!

Please share these resources with anyone who would like some tips on comfortable cold weather grounding.  From shoes to gloves to hiking sticks to live classes and more, there are tons of fun safe ways to connect to our planet and boost our health through grounding, no matter what the season.

xoxoxo,Laura Koniver MD

The post A Dozen Ways To Keep Grounding Outside As It Gets Colder This Fall And Winter appeared first on Intuition Physician.

How To Repair The Sun Damage To Your Skin From Labor Day Weekend

 

Well over the holiday weekend I got a lot of much needed sunshine, and I hope you did too.  If you are a long time reader of my blog, you’ll know that I am a big fan of the many health benefits of sunshine so I’m glad I got to enjoy it a little, but while sun exposure actually prolongs lifespan and is important to our physical and mental health, there is no denying that sun exposure is harsh on skin.

Which means it’s time to repair my skin from this past summer’s sun damage as well as protect it for the upcoming winter ahead. To that end, today I’m going to share with you my 14 holistic skincare tips for the fall transition. Here we go:

14 Effective Tips To Repair And Protect Your Skin:

 

1. Get Your Body Grounded:

 

Grounding boosts skin health thanks to increased circulation bringing more nutrients and oxygen to your skin, removing free radicals and other skin damaging by products, healing wounds in your skin three times faster, and even deepening your sleep which boosts collagen integrity.

I recently published an article in Current Research In Alternative And Complementary Medicine here (just click this link o read the entire report) all about grounding’s skin boosting potential.  Here are some of the points I touch on:

Multiple grounding studies have shown health benefits to the skin through contact with the DC energy of the earth.  One double blinded placebo based study found that grounding significantly (and nearly instantaneously) increased blood flow in the facial skin of grounded test subjects, while subjects who were ungrounded had no change in their facial blood flow. [1]

Another study found that applying DC energy (the same energy flow as grounding) tripled the rate of wound healing for healthy skin, making normal skin heal three times faster.  In fact, DC energy improved skin healing in compromised diabetic skin so well that wounds in the diseased skin healed at almost the same rate as totally healthy skin did. [2] Another study found that grounding simultaneously decreased inflammation and boosted immune function which then resulted in improved wound healing in multiple test subjects. [3]. Grounding was even found to decrease blood glucose in diabetic patients, which helps explain why applying a DC energy current to diabetic skin made it heal almost as fast as healthy, non-diabetic skin. [4]

Studies on grounding and sleep have shown that being conductively connected to the earth deepens restorative sleep, normalizes cortisol, helps to relax muscles, and boost mood [5]. Confirming this was an interesting double blinded placebo based study that found that a 30 minute grounding session was enough to make a statistically significant improvement in quality of sleep in Alzheimers patients. [6]

What does sleep and sleep quality have to do with skin health?  Recent studies have found a direct correlation between sleep and collagen integrity, suggesting that beauty sleep is real.  Researchers found that poor sleep actually caused a decrease in the structural integrity of collagen with an increase in collagen misalignment. [7].  So over a lifetime, decreased sleep quality may literally be visible in your skin as your collagen becomes more misaligned, weaker, less elastic, and contributes to accelerated aging. Conversely, improving sleep over a lifetime may help provide skin healing and even anti-aging benefits by boosting collagen integrity and skin repair while you sleep.

It’s not just your skin that gets anti-aging benefits from the earth — all of your organ systems do.  Here is another article I recently published in Trends In General Medicine in July 2024 that goes over the head to toe anti-aging benefits of grounding:

Grounding: An Anti-Aging Breakthrough

All together, grounding to the earth — a totally natural DC energy source — is a completely natural, exceptionally easy way to support skin health, helping to heal wounds and repair skin by boosting blood flow, improving oxygen and nutrients to the surface of the skin, even protecting the collagen of your skin by improving your sleep. All it takes is going outside to touch the earth directly, or applying the earth’s DC energy to the skin through a grounding cord or ground stake.

To keep your skin repair going all winter long, be sure you have an indoor way to stay grounded this winter even when the weather forces you to stay sheltered. Here are the most eco-friendly, long lasting, superior quality (artisan hand crafted) indoor grounding tools in the world:

The Grounding Boutique

 

 

2.  Take Curcumin To Protect Against Melanoma:

 

Did you know that Curcumin has been specifically shown to target and kill melanoma cancer cells?  Read this study published in the International Journal of Cancer in October 2016 for a good overview on what we know about curcumin and melanoma so far.

If you want to add the anti-cancer benefits of curcumin to your health regime (which I highly recommend if you have any personal or family history of melanoma or even if you just have a history of intense sun exposure) I recommend taking a pharmacy grade supplement that couples a 500 mg dose of curcumin with bioperine to help increase the bioavailablility and absorption of the curcumin.

The one I listed in my Skin Repair Protocol here is my favorite:

Skin Repair Protocol

 

3.  Use Vitamin B3 to Decrease Other Forms of Skin Cancer:

 

Clear evidence that a simple vitamin can be cancer preventive: Vitamin B3 dramatically reduces skin cancer rates. Presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2015 Annual Meeting in May 2014, Vitamin B3 has been shown to be a safe, effective way to reduce your risk of recurrent skin cancer.  Researchers looked at over 380 patients with a prior history of non-melanoma skin cancers, giving half nicotinamide supplements and half a placebo, and followed them for a year. They found the patients in the Vitamin B3 group had a quarter less skin cancers total (a 23% decrease) than control patients:

Basal cell occurrence decreased by 20%Squamous Cell Carcinoma decreased by 30%Actinic Keratosis decreased by 13%

Niacinamide (Vit B3, also known as Nicotinamide) enhances DNA repair in skin cells damaged by UV light, as well as boosts the immune system and prevents the suppression of immunity by ultraviolet radiation. (Nicotinamide has other benefits as well, including preliminary studies showing a boost in cognition… helping to restore cognition in Alzheimers!)

So… if you have a history of serious sun exposure? Or a history of previous skin cancers? Or you just want less unsightly actinic keretosis popping up in the future? Vitamin B 3 offers 100% all natural holistic chemo-prevention! Vitamin B is safe, inexpensive, proven. Find my favorite Vitamin B3 and Curcumin supplements together in my Skin Repair Protocol, here.  I have both topical (lotion) and capsule forms of Niacinamide listed for you here:

Skin Repair Protocol

 

 

4.  Add on Topical CBD Products:

 

CBD is incredibly anti-inflammatory and soothing (if you want to hear me speak about the role of CBD in trauma recovery, you can listen to my podcast on that here) so it’s no surprise that researchers have found several different cannabinoid receptors in the skin.

Both cannabinoid receptors type 1 and type 2 (CB1 and CB2) are found in all skin, and help regulate everything from our hair growth to our skin’s immune system to our skin’s oil production.  CB1 and CB2 receptors have been found in our keratinocytes, hair follicles, sebeceous glands, on the skin’s nerve fibers (including pain receptors that give rise to pain and itch sensations) and mast cells (which are responsible for our skin’s allergic response.)

 

CBD has been well studied for it’s role in facilitating skin healing, treating acne, reducing itch and even decreasing inflammatory reactions such as eczema.   Researchers have found that supporting the endocannabinoid system may help reduce itching associated with chronic skin conditions, as well as decrease inflammation (showing promise for help in treating eczema) as well as decreasing oil production (making it a new avenue to treat acne.).

Many major research articles suggest that application of CBD to the skin improves human skin function while also being incredibly safe and well tolerated.  I’ve listed some of the best ones below, if you’d like to dive directly into the medical literature on this:

Therapeutic Potential of Cannabidiol (CBD) for Skin Health and DisordersThe antimicrobial potential of cannabidiolTopical Administration of Cannabidiol: Influence of Vehicle-Related Aspects on Skin Permeation ProcessThe potential role of cannabinoids in dermatologyCannabidiol induces antioxidant pathways in keratinocytesCannabidiol exerts sebostatic and antiinflammatory effects on human sebocytesAn Observational Study of the Application of a Topical Cannabinoid Gel on Sensitive Dry SkinTolerability profile of topical cannabidiol: evaluator-blinded clinical and in vitro studies in normal skinIn vitro percutaneous absorption studies of cannabidiol using human skinCannabidiol-Mediated Changes to Keratinocytes from Psoriatic PatientsThe Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Cannabidiol (CBD) on AcneCannabis sativa and Skin Health: Dissecting the Role of Phytocannabinoids

The purity and potency of the vast majority of CBD products on the market is super variable and of questionable quality, so I highly recommend getting your CBD (whether topicals, capsules, gummies or tinctures) through ECS Therapeutics, which requires a physician to order it for you.

 

 

These are prescription grade, pharmacy quality CBD oil products that are organically grown right here in the USA and quality tested more thouroghly than any other CBD product I have ever seen.  It’s the only one I personally trust and use.  You can ask your in person physician for an ECS Therapeutics prescription, or you can fill out my contact form here to request more information on prescription strength CBD products ordered directly through me.

So if your acne topicals, or ezema ointments, or antihistamine lotions, or any other topical skin care products you have tried have failed to help resolve your chronic skin issue, I highly recommend giving CBD products a chance to get your skin into it’s best shape ever.  And now is the time to do it, before the cold, raw temperatures outside and the super dried-out, heated air on the inside makes your skin condition worse.

 

 

5. Exfoliate with Baking Soda or Dry Brush Your Skin:

 

Many of us stop exfoliating in winter as our skin isn’t on show as much. But giving your skin a quick daily or even just a weekly exfoliation will sweep away dead skin cells and allow your skin to better absorb your moisturizer afterwards as well as decreasing the layer of dead keratinocytes on top, which can help decrease the likelihood of your skin cracking.

To exfoliate, simply make a paste by mixing baking soda and a little water in the palm of your hand and us it to gently scrub your skin to remove dead skin cells, or alternatively you can dry brush your skin using a natural bristled brush before stepping in the shower or bath, or an all natural hemp exfoliation mit while in the shower (this is the one I use.)

 

 

6. Bathe In Honey:

 

Add a half cup of honey to your bath water to nourish your skin and speed the healing of any winter chapped skin. Findings published in 2012 in the International Wound Journal show that when raw honey was used on all types of wounds, it:

promoted healingminimized necrosisminimized the amount of skin that sloughed off the woundreduced wound sizedecreased affected area around wound

Not only did it help speed wound healing, but it made a measurable improvement in over 84% of wounds!!!!  We are talking:

post operative woundsgeneral skin woundsinfectionsburnsulcerspressure sores and more!

Honey is all natural, anti-fungal and anti-bacterial, accelerates wound healing and decreases the risk of scarring…. making it the perfect skin supportive, holistic bath soak.  Another tip is to use warm, but not hot water when you bathe.  Even though it is tempting to blast hot water in the shower to warm up, the extra heat strips the skin of its oils more quickly.  Keep the bath or shower warm, not hot, stay in the water for less time, and decrease the frequency of your bathing in the winter months.

 

 

7. Seal In Moisture After Bathing:

 

Use a beautiful, all natural, super healing organic oil directly on skin — such as coconut oil or sunflower seed oil (these are my two favs because they are both medically shown to repair the lipid bilayer best.)

Oil seals in moisture better than a lotion or cream which both are water based and will not provide a skin barrier the way a pure oil will.  You want to apply an oil on top of skin that is already hydrated, so it’s perfect to use right after bathing, or on top of a water based moisturizer that you apply first.

 

 

8. Protect Your Nasal Mucosa With a Humidifier + Coconut Oil:

 

Humidifying room air and keep well-hydrated internally by drinking water copiously — these two steps will prevent the tendency to develop chapped tight skin and dry, uncomfortable nasal passages.

If you only have one humidifier, place it in your bedroom so that you can sleep in a moisturized environment at night.

You can also use a cotton swab to apply a little coconut oil just inside the nasal openings to help protect your nasal mucosa from drying out!  Apply nightly and you will be shocked at how much better your nose feels this winter!

 

 

9. Make Coconut Oil Lip Balm to Use Throughout the Day:

 

It’s so easy to mix up your own homemade lip protection, it takes less then one minute and you can even use it as an intensive hand and foot salve.

Simply melt 2 parts coconut oil with one part beeswax (for example, 2 TBSP coconut oil and 1 TBSP beeswax) in a microwave or over a double broiler. Stir and add a few drops of Vit E (I simply snip the end off of a capsule of Vit E and squeeze it right in) and stir again. You can add a drop or two of honey for sweetness (and honey is incredibly skin supportive as a topical treatment for wound healing, as mentioned above) and pour the mixture into a clean, recycled container or small jar.Empty skincare jars or mint tins work well.

Use liberally to protect your lips and save them from winter dryness!

 

 

10. Moisturize Skin From Within:

 

If you are not internally hydrating your body, there is no amount of external moisturizer you can put on your skin that will effectively hydrate it. So all winter long, drink lots of pure, filtered water all day, every day. This is the water filter I recommend as well as personally use.

Even though it’s so much easier to remember to stay hydrated in the summer when we are hot and sweating, please don’t ignore your hydration status in the winter when it is every bit as crucial, if not more so. Dry skin is dehydrated skin.

You can also support your skin by eating foods rich in healthy fats that supply your skin with the essential vital nutrients it needs to maintain its crucial lipid bilayer. Take care to consume foods such as olive oil, coconut oil, avocados, walnuts, almonds, pecans, cashews, pistachios, macadamia nuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, chia seeds, fish, flaxseed and kelp all winter long.

 

 

11. Take High Quality Omega 3 Supplements Daily:

 

Drinking water and eating healthy fats in the winter may not be enough to maintain a healthy skin lipid bilayer, especially if you are prone to dry skin, psoriasis or eczema. I highly recommend taking a high quality Omega 3 supplement daily (for so many reasons, from preserving brain volume to decreasing ADHD symptoms to supporting heart health to keeping your skin supple.) I’ve added the Omega 3 supplement that I personally take to my Skin Repair Protocol here, in case you want to take it right along with me.

Skin Repair Protocol

 

11. Reduce your sugar intake:

 

Did you know consuming excess sugar can actually have a cosmetic effect that can be seen in your face Consuming sugar can actually make you look older — creating wrinkles, sallow skin, discoloration of the skin, and loss of firmness and elasticity.  All known as “sugar sag.”

After going through the effort to sticking with natural and holistic beauty products, hydrating well, avoiding photoaging your face, taking high quality supplements, etc… you may be undoing a lot of what you do to maintain healthy skin just by eating sugar.  YUCK.

Many studies confirm just how much eating sugar ages our skin.  Studies like:

The Damage Mechanism of Skin Glycation (Nutrients, 2022)AGEs In Skin (Methods, 2022)Carbohydrate Induced Skin Aging (Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity, 2020)An Anti-Wrinkle Diet (Skin Therapy Letters, 2020)AGEs, Diet and Health (Biomolecules, 2019)Glycation and Human Skin (Pathology Biology, 2010) Sugar and Aging Skin (Clinical Dermatology, 2010)

Basically, sugar create advanced glycation end products (AGEs) which accumulate in the body, including the skin, and are associated with many diseases of inflammation and aging, like diabetes, heart disease, cataracts and dementia.

In the skin, AGEs create an abnormal cross linking of collagen which makes it difficult to repair, leading to aging effects that accumulate over time… since this abnormally cross linked collagen isn’t capable of being renewed or repaired, it leads to a decrease in skin elasticity, wrinkles, and even the advanced accumulation of age spots and skin discoloration… all together, something you can notice in the skin as the dreaded “sugar sag”. Hop over to this free article I wrote for you right here for a great overview of tips to help you beat your sugar addiction to protect your skin:

The Sugar You Eat Ages Your Face: How To Reverse The “Sugar Sag” In Your Skin

 

 

13. Get Extra Sleep:

 

Take advantage of the longer nights, the soft indirect lighting of winter and the natural urge to hibernate more to repair your sleep deficit and stock up on restorative beauty sleep. This decreases the stress on your body from the inside and out, allows your skin to repair more easily, giving your complexion a natural boost!

I mentioned in tip #1 above (grounding) that improving sleep protects the structural integrity of your collagen.  If you’d like to hear me talk more about why sleep actually does improve your skin’s appearance, you can hop over here to listen to my podcast on Beauty Sleep.

And if you find your sleep needs a little boost, hop over here to read this free article I wrote for you on how to naturally deepen your restorative sleep phases:

12 Things To Do Throughout The Day Today, To Improve Your Sleep Tonight

 

14. Restore Your Gut-Skin Axis:

 

Did you know that the microbiome in your gut is tied to the microbiome on your skin, and alterations in the gut microbiome is linked to a large number of skin diseases?   Deficiencies in your gut microbiome is linked to an altered immune response and an increase in the development of skin diseases such as eczema, psoriasis, acne, rosacea, alopecia and skin cancer.  If you want to read through the medical evidence of how the gut microbiome plays a role in tons of common skin disorders, this review, published in Microorganisms in 2021 is a fabulous overview to start with.

Enter a new way to treat skin conditions: probiotics.  A medical literature review just published in Nutrients in 2023 gives strong evidence that probiotics are crucial to long term skin health, and are even anti-aging.

 

image courtesy of: The Role Of Probiotics In Skin Health

As a result of this latest information on the role of the gut microbiome and long term skin health, I’ve added my favorite skin supportive probiotic formulation to my Skin Repair Protocol here:

Skin Repair Protocol

 

 

Bonus Tip: Re-evaluate your boundaries

 

Your skin is always speaking to you.

Skin can speak subtly through chronic messages that it whispers to you your entire life… or skin can scream loudly and angrily during acute transitions and times of crisis.

Because our skin replicates so quickly, it is a wonderful mirror for what is going on with the rest of our body and mind:

If we are anemic, it shows us quickly.If we are dehydrated, it shows us quickly.If we are malnourished, our skin will lack that robust glow that healthy skin gives.If we have been neglecting our selves in other ways, our skin will reveal us.If we are unhappy, our skin literally sags.If we have lost connection with joy, our skin tells it.If we feel ugly, our skin mirrors that.

And because it covers our entire body, every thought we think and every word we say and every intention we ever have passes through our skin on its way to communicate with the outside world. So it doesn’t just protect us from the world… quite the opposite is true too: it translates our inner being to the surface. It shows the world what is going on inside of us.

It is constantly in contact with and intimate with our inner workings. Because of this, skin reflects how we feel about ourselves.  Skin forms our barrier, our identity. It forms what we perceive as *us* and delineates *us* from *the rest of the world*.  In short, skin represents our personal boundary.

 

 

And every winter… during the darkest, coldest months, we get an invitation to go inward re-evaluate our boundaries before we emerge this coming spring fresh and new.  You may want to grab a journal or get into an open meditative mindframe and ask yourself:

Are you tolerating something that you’d secretly like to say a firm no to?Are you letting someone in your energy space that constantly irritates or drains you?Do you need to set some healthy boundaries at work?Do you need to set clearer boundaries around your time? We all have the same 24 hours in a day, but if you are doing activities you don’t feel aligned with or tending to emotional needs of others constantly, you will find much of that time will disappear and you won’t even know where it all went.Do you need to set clearer boundaries between real life and social media, or stop social media entirely (or at least take a break from it for a week or two to see what benefits you receive — perhaps you find you have more time each day, are less drained, and have more time for self care.)Do you have a friendship that needs some boundaries clarified and strengthened?Do you have a family member that you need to create firmer boundaries and consequences of boundary violations with?Do you need more personal space when you are home? Do you have a place where it’s clear to everyone sharing your home that they are not to disturb you?Do you need to set boundaries in your sexual relationships?

Double-check that you say no when you need to and have clear boundaries that allow you to do what you truly want to do and enjoy that without guilt.

If you find your skin is stressed out, ask yourself what boundaries need to be strengthened in your life and meanwhile give your skin a little TLC with the other 9 steps listed above and watch the energy shift and your skin improve dramatically.

To your beautiful, radiant, ever repairing skin…xoxox,Laura Koniver MD

 

 

References:

Chevalier G (2014) Grounding the Human Body Improves Facial Blood Flow Regulation: Results of a Randomized, Placebo Controlled Pilot Study. Journal of Cosmetics, Dermatological Sciences and Applications 4:293-308.Shaner S, Savelyeva A, Kvartuh A, Jedrusik N, Matter L, et al., (2023) Bioelectronic microfluidic wound healing: a platform for investigating direct current stimulation of injured cell collectives. Lab Chip 23:1531- 1546.Oschman J, Chevalier G, Brown R. The effects of grounding (earthing) on inflammation, the immune response, wound healing, and prevention and treatment of chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. J Inflamm Res. 2015;8:83-96 https://doi.org/10.2147/JIR.S69656Sokal K, Sokal P. Earthing the human body influences physiologic processes. J Altern Complement Med. 2011 Apr;17(4):301-8. doi: 10.1089/acm.2010.0687. Epub 2011 Apr 6. PMID: 21469913; PMCID: PMC3154031.Chevalier G, Sinatra ST, Oschman JL, Sokal K, Sokal P. Earthing: health implications of reconnecting the human body to the Earth’s surface electrons. J Environ Public Health. 2012;2012:291541.  Lin C-H, Tseng S-T, Chuang Y-C, Kuo C-E, Chen N-C. Grounding the Body Improves Sleep Quality in Patients with Mild Alzheimer’s Disease: A Pilot Study. Healthcare. 2022; 10(3):581. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare100... Chang, Richa Garva, Adam Pickard, Ching-Yan Chloé Yeung, Venkatesh Mallikarjun, Joe Swift, David F. Holmes, Ben Calverley, Yinhui Lu, Antony Adamson, Helena Raymond-Hayling, Oliver Jensen, Tom Shearer, Qing Jun Meng, Karl E. Kadler. Circadian control of the secretory pathway maintains collagen homeostasis. Nature Cell Biology, 2020; 22 (1): 74 DOI: 10.1038/s41556-019-0441-z

 

 

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Microplastics Are A Measurable Portion Of Your Body, Here’s How To Decrease That Amount

 

We’ve known about the toxic effect of microplastics on our environment for a long time now, and the dramatic effect it has on our oceans, on air quality, and to the wildlife living everywhere on earth. Microplastics are  ubiquitous now, found in our food, in our water, and in our air.

What is just now becoming more and more clear is how much these plastics are becoming part of our own body composition and affecting our health.  Research over just the past five years has revealed the extent of plastic embedded in all of our major organ systems. Did you know that you are partly composed of plastic at this point?  It’s not an exaggeration.  Plastic has been found in:

our hearts (in a study published July 2023 in Ecotoxicology and Public Health)our major blood vessels, and is correlated to a higher rate of heart disease (published March 2024 in The New England Journal of Medicine)every region of our lungs (published in July 2022 in Science of the Total Environment)100% of human placentas (published in May 2024 in Toxicological Sciences)100% of uterus samples (published in June 2024 in Environmental Sciences and Technology)human breast milk (published June 2022 in Polymers)our blood stream (published June 2024 in Environment International)100% of testicles, and correlated to smaller than normal size (published in June 2024 in Toxicological Sciences)and now in penis tissue, with a possible association with erectile dysfunction (published in June 2024 in the International Journal of Impotence Research.)

In fact, the World Wide Fund (WWF) estimated in a study released June 2019 that humans have an average weekly intake of about 5 grams of microplastic — the equivalent of eating an entire credit card every single week.

The topic of how to decrease our environmental output of plastic through more regulations on the food and beverage, automotive, and textile industries, as well as through our own private consumption of single use plastics, is too broad a topic for me to sum up in one article.  But as a physician, where I’d like to start is how to dramatically reduce your direct intake of microplastics so that less of them end up accumulating in your body.  Here are a few suggestions:

 

5 Ways To Reduce The Plastic Going Into Your Body:

1.  Drink filtered water

 

The worst water you can drink is bottle water, which is filled with microplastics — the most recent report found an average of 100,000 particles of plastic per bottle.  Tap water is infinitely preferable to this, although that is not saying much because public water supplies have tons of toxic chemicals including chlorine, fluoride, prescription medications, pesticides and many other toxic chemicals… as well as their own share of microplastics, albeit in a smaller amount.

So ideally, avoid both bottled and tap water and instead simply run your water through a filtration system.  This is a win win solution — running your tap water through a filtration system eliminates your purchase of single use plastic bottles (reducing the toxic load to the environment) while also reducing your personal consumption of microplastics (reducing the toxic load to your body.)

Make sure to use a water filtration system that has been tested and found to remove microplastic — not all water filters actually remove microplastics — this is the one I use because it filters out 99.999% of microplastics, is made from stainless steel, filters out fluoride, chlorine, pesticides and other nasty contaminants while leaving the healthy minerals in the water, is industry tested and certified on a regular basis, and about a dozen other reasons that it’s the best and is the one on my own kitchen counter.

Not only is it the only water I will drink, it’s the only water I give to my children and even my pets, including my dogs and my quail!  Find it right here.

 

 

2.  Don’t cook or store food in plastic

 

Unfortunately microplastics are in the soil and water supply, so they end up in both produce and meat even if you are eating the freshest food right from a farmers market that has never touched a plastic container.  While choosing fresh produce and meats is a better option than foods that are packaged in plastic, how you prepare and cook your food adds additional microplastics to your food without you ever realizing it.

Because both heat and abrasion release additional microplastic into foods, it’s a good idea to replace that plastic cutting board (which is putting scraps of plastic directly into your food) and that plastic bowl (that you are hitting with your electric mixer over and over, causing additional microplastics in your food) and instead opt for glass, stainless steel, and ceramic food prep containers and wooden cutting boards.

When storing food, the same thing applies — when you food touches plastic, it’s getting additional microplastics in it, so how you store food matters.  Opt for glass, ceramic and stainless steel containers instead of plastic baggies and Tupperware type plastic containers.   Not only does this ensure there are no additional microplastics added to your food while it is in storage, but it’s a safer option for reheating your food when you are ready to eat it, as we will talk about next.

 

 

3.  Avoid reheating and reusing plastic containers

 

A larger source of contamination than even the food itself comes from how it’s packaged — if plastic is touching your food, it’s likely to have more microplastics in it.  In fact, a study published in March 2020 in Scientific Reports found that just opening a plastic container, or cutting a plastic with scissors, or twisting open a plastic bottle cap — basically all the ways we routinely access our food — releases microplastics for us to both inhale and to consume.  

Choosing food not stored in plastic whenever possible will reduce the ways your food and beverages are contaminated with plastic, and even if you must access a food that was previously stored in plastic, at least don’t use that plastic container to heat it up. As I mentioned in #2 above, heat causes the plastic to breakdown more easily, releasing even more microplastics into your food, so an easy thing you can do to reduce your consumption of plastic is to never microwave food in plastic.  It’s hard to avoid plastic from ever touching your food, but if you can at least transfer it to a glass or ceramic container to heat it, you are avoiding one of the major ways plastic gets added to your food. 

And don’t reuse these containers for more food — while it’s eco-friendly to reuse plastic wrap and takeout containers, try to use them to store items other than food, or recycle them instead.

 

 

4.  Don’t run plastic through a dishwasher If you do use plastic containers, plastic bowls and plastic cutting boards for food prep and food storage, try to wash them by hand instead of running them through the dishwasher — the heat in a dishwasher makes the plastic break down and puts even more microplastics in your food the next time you use it.

 

 

5.  Support eco-friendly, non-plastic textiles.

 

If you have a choice when purchasing clothing, bedding or tableware, try to look for natural fibers (like organic cotton, wool, silk and hemp) instead of synthetic fibers (like nylon, polyester, acrylic and spandex.)  This is one of the reasons that although I support the use of indoor grounding tools for those that are not able to ground to the earth outside, I absolutely do not recommend the multitude of cheap plastic grounding mats, polyester grounding sheets, and synthetic “leatherette” grounding tools that are widely available on the market today.  Not only is wearing and sleeping on plastic surfaces is hot, sticky and uncomfortable, but rubbing your skin against these plastics sheds particles that can enter the body in two ways — directly absorbed through skin contact… and you can even inhale the plastic particles into your lungs.

In addition, by choosing natural fibers you are no longer supporting the manufacturing of synthetic based materials as the textile industry (along with tires, plastic bags and bottled beverages) are one of the main contributors to microplastics in our environment. Selecting all natural fabrics is win win — reducing the amount of plastics released into the environment from the manufacturing of these fabrics as well as reducing the amount of plastics your body absorbs through direct skin contact and inhalation.

The is just one of many reasons I chose eco-friendly, all natural fibers for my organic grounding tools — so that your skin is not heating up against vinyl or polyester all night long, and instead is staying cool and grounded through chemical free fabrics like organic cotton, hemp, and silk. Find those here

 

What it boils down to:In a nutshell, if you want 5 simple tips to reduce how much microplastic your body absorbs, this is where I would start:1. Drink filtered water2. Choose non-plastic containers to prep and store food3. Don’t microwave in plastic3. Wash plastic kitchen items by hand, not in the dishwasher5. Choose all natural fibers for items you make skins contact with, such as clothing and beddingSpeaking of boiling — in a pinch, preliminary research is showing that if you boil your water before drinking it (in a stainless steel pot on a stovetop, not heated up in the microwave in plastic of course!) you can reduce the amount of microplastics you then drink.   While a water filter is the ideal solution for long term use, if you have to drink bottled water while traveling and are away from your filtration unit, boiling it first will help.To reducing the amount of plastic embedded in the precious human body you are wearing!xoxox,Laura Koniver MD

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