Grounding— A Simple, Pleasurable Way to Reduce Inflammation and Chronic Disease

Dr. Joe Mercola

Story at-a-glance

• Grounding or earthing is defined as placing one’s bare feet on the ground, whether it be dirt, grass, sand or unsealed, unpainted concrete (especially when humid or wet)
• When you ground to the electron-enriched Earth, an improved balance of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system occurs
• Being grounded cuts inflammation by thinning your blood and infusing your body with negatively charged ions
• To take advantage of grounding indoors, your best bet is to use a grounding pad to sleep, stand barefoot or sit on
• Grounding may be one of the most important overlooked factors in public health. When grounding is restored, many people report significant improvement in a wide range of ailments

Did you know the energy from the Earth can help you live a healthier life? The concept is known as earthing or grounding, which is no more complicated than walking barefoot.

In “Down to Earth”¹ — which received the IndieFEST Award of Excellence for a documentary short in January 2017 — I speak alongside other experts to shed light on this super simple yet commonly overlooked way to protect and improve human health. As cardiologist Dr. Stephen Sinatra, author of “Earthing: The Most Important Health Discovery Ever?” explains in the film:

“[G]rounding is literally putting your bare feet on the ground. When you do that, you’re in contact with the Earth, and mother Earth is endowed with electrons, and these electrons are literally absorbed through your feet. It’s like taking handfuls of antioxidants, but you’re getting it through your feet.”

Your Body Needs Grounding

Research suggests a general lack of grounding, also referred to as “electron deficiency syndrome,” has a lot to do with the rise of modern diseases.

It’s not unusual for Americans to spend entire days without being grounded. But though it has become the norm, it’s completely unnatural and didn’t really become widespread until the advent of shoes with artificial soles that prevent grounding. When you’re grounded, free electrons from the Earth are transferred into your body, and these free electrons are among the most potent antioxidants known to man.

As electrons are negatively charged, and free radicals are positively charged, any free radicals encountered in your tissues are electrically neutralized or canceled out by these free electrons. This is why grounding is so effective against chronic inflammation. Dr. Laura Koniver, who discovered grounding quite by accident after it seemed to soothe her crying infant, says in the film, “Grounding … supports the body as a whole, but it specifically supports organ systems down to the tissues and the cellular function of the entire body.”

Also, while you may not think of your body as a generator of electricity, you are very much an electrical being, and this is in large part why it’s so important to use grounding to harness the electrical charge of the Earth. In the film, Gaetan Chevalier, Ph.D., an engineer/physicist who has studied grounding, explains:

“Unbeknownst to us, we live inside a battery. The surface of the Earth is charged negatively, and the ionosphere, a layer of the atmosphere about 60 miles up, is ionized by the sun. The sun’s rays are so strong that they split the molecules in two, a positive charge and a negative charge.

The negative charges are transferred to the Earth’s surface through lightening mainly, and the positive charges stay 60 miles up. The problem arises when we don’t have a negative charge. We need grounding just as we need air and we need sunshine.”²

Grounding Reduces Electric Field Induction

There’s even evidence that grounding reduces the voltage induced on your body from electricity in your environment — a factor that has become increasingly important in the modern world. As noted in the 2012 review:³

“Applewhite, an electrical engineer and expert in the design of electrostatic discharge systems in the electronic industry, was both subject and author of the study.⁴ Measurements were taken while ungrounded and then grounded using a conductive patch and conductive bed pad … Each method (patch and sheet) immediately reduced the common alternating current (AC) 60 Hz ambient voltage induced on the body by a highly significant factor of about 70 on average.

The study showed that when the body is grounded, its electrical potential becomes equalized with the Earth’s electrical potential. This, in turn, prevents the 60 Hz mode from producing an AC electric potential at the surface of the body and from producing perturbations of the electric charges of the molecules inside the body.

The study confirms the ‘umbrella’ effect of earthing the body explained by Nobel Prize winner Richard Feynman in his lectures on electromagnetism. Feynman said that when the body potential is the same as the Earth’s electric potential (and thus grounded), it becomes an extension of the Earth’s gigantic electric system. The Earth’s potential thus becomes the ‘working agent that cancels, reduces, or pushes away electric fields from the body.'”

Benefits of Grounding

While it may sound “too easy,” the simple pleasure of walking barefoot can be a powerful health-promoting activity. A scientific review published in the Journal of Environmental and Public Health in 2012 found that grounding can help:⁵

• Improve quality of sleep and feelings of restfulness upon waking.
• Reduce muscle stiffness and soreness.⁶
• Reduce chronic pain.
• Normalize secretion of the stress hormone cortisol so that it adheres to a typical cycle of peaking in the morning and dipping lowest at midnight. This in turn helps promote more restful sleep and improve blood sugar regulation and weight control.
• Reduce stress and balance your autonomic nervous system by stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system (which rules the “rest and digest” functions of the body) and quieting the sympathetic nervous system (which cues the “fight or flight” response).
• Reduce the severity of the inflammatory response after intense workouts.
• Raise your heart rate variability (your heart’s ability to respond to stimuli).
• Speed up wound healing.
• Improve mood. In one study,⁷ grounding for one hour significantly improved mood among adults.
• Reduce inflammation.⁸ In the film, grounding pioneer Clint Ober explains how grounding quenches inflammation: “Inflammation is produced by neutrophils, which are white blood cells. [When] you have an injury … a damaged cell … these white blood cells come over and encapsulate the damaged cell and … release reactive oxygen species, which rip electrons from the damaged cell and that destroys the damaged cell.If there’s not enough free electrons there to reduce the remaining radicals, they’re going to steal an electron from a healthy cell and, in the process, damage it. Then the message goes out to the immune system, and another neutrophil does the same thing and eliminates that cell, and then you have a chain reaction.”
• Thin your blood, making it less viscous, by strengthening the negative electrical surface charge on your red blood cells. This improves their ability to repel each other and allows them to flow more easily through tiny capillaries, and is incredibly valuable as cardiovascular disease is correlated with thicker, slow-moving blood. It can also help protect against blood clots.In fact, this blood-thinning effect is so profound that if you are taking a blood thinner such as Coumadin, you should consult your doctor before you start grounding regularly. You may need to lower your dosage to avoid overdosing on your medication.Research⁹ published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine revealed that two hours of grounding increased the surface charge of red blood cells, thereby reducing blood viscosity and clumping. According to the authors, “Grounding appears to be one of the simplest and yet most profound interventions for helping reduce cardiovascular risk and cardiovascular events.”
• Increase the structure of the water in your cells. Water is in every cell in your body, and this water is highly ordered (structured) and charged. If you don’t have properly structured water in your cells, it can impact the functioning of the much larger protein molecules (and others) that interface with the cell. The water inside the cell also interfaces with water outside the cell, which has the opposite charge, creating a battery effect.Your body’s ability to generate electricity is actually a key part of your achieving health. Electrical charges delivered from cell to cell allows for nearly instantaneous communication within your body, and the messages conducted via these electrical signals are responsible for controlling the rhythm of your heartbeat, the movement of blood around your body and much more.In fact, most of your biological processes are electrical. The water in your cells achieves its ordered structure from energy obtained from the environment, typically in the form of electromagnetic radiation, including sunlight and infrared heat.

  But grounding may also play an important role. Just as water increases in structure when a negative charge is introduced by an electrode, the negatively charged electrons you receive when grounded help increase the structure of the water in your cells. By restructuring the water, you promote more efficient tissue healing. So, when you ground, you are charging every single cell in your body with energy your body can use for self-healing.

How and Where to Ground

While connecting just about any part of your skin to the Earth is beneficial, one area that is particularly potent is the center of the ball of your foot, a point known to acupuncturists as Kidney 1 (K1). It’s a well-known acupuncture point that conductively connects to all of the acupuncture meridians in your body. Exercising barefoot outdoors is a great way to incorporate earthing into your daily life and will also help speed up tissue repair and ease muscle pain associated with strenuous exercise.

The ideal location for walking barefoot is the beach, close to or in the water, as salt water is a great conductor. (Your body is also somewhat conductive because it contains a large number of charged ions, called electrolytes, dissolved in water. Your blood and other body fluids are, therefore, good conductors.)

A close second would be a grassy area, especially if it’s covered with dew and /or bare soil. Ceramic tiles and concrete are good conductors as long as they’ve not been sealed; painted concrete does not allow electrons to pass through very well. Materials like asphalt, wood, and typical insulators like rubber or plastic will not allow electrons to pass through and are not suitable for barefoot grounding.

While any amount of grounding is better than none, research has demonstrated it takes about 80 minutes for the free electrons from the Earth to reach your bloodstream and transform your blood, which is when you reap the greatest benefits. So, ideally, aim for 80 to 120 minutes of grounding each day.

How to Ground Indoors

Just as walking barefoot was once widespread, so too was sleeping on the ground. In the modern world, sleeping indoors serves to further insulate you from the Earth. There’s also the issue of elevation. When you are grounded, your body cannot carry a charge, which is good. The greater the distance between your body and the Earth, the greater charge your body carries. In fact, this has been precisely calculated. For every meter (3.28 feet) you are above the ground, 300 volts of charge will build up in your body.¹⁰

So, if you are in a second-story bedroom, your charge would be 1,000 volts, on average, and this increased charge may increase your risk of health problems. For example, one 2009 study¹¹ found a 40 percent increase in stroke risk among people living in multistory homes. Flying can also make you severely ungrounded. When indoors and/or at elevation, you can ground by:

• Using a grounding pad or grounding sheet to ground your mattress while sleeping.
• Keeping your bare feet on a grounding mat while working. Grounding mats work well provided you have a grounded electrical outlet and can be particularly beneficial if you live in a high-rise. A grounded outlet is generally identifiable by the fact it’s a 3-prong outlet with a ground port (bottom outlet). Most modern homes built after 1970 will have a grounded electrical system. When using an earthing mat, make sure your bare skin is in contact with it. There should not be a layer of clothing between you and the mat.
• Using a grounded yoga mat when exercising indoors. Research¹² has shown doing yoga indoors on a grounded yoga mat helps reduce blood viscosity and exercise-induced inflammation, the same effects you’d expect from walking barefoot outdoors.
• Touching the faucet with one hand while shaving or brushing your teeth with the other.
• Taking off your shoes and placing your feet (bare or with socks) on the steel struts of the chair in front of you when flying in an airplane.

Grounding May Be Essential for Life and Health

It’s important to understand that grounding is not a “treatment” or “cure” for any disease or disorder. Rather, it is one of the key mechanisms by which your body maintains equilibrium and health. The human body evolved in constant contact with the Earth, and your body needs this continuous interchange of energy to function properly.

Free radical stress from exposure to pollution, cigarettes, pesticides, processed foods and electromagnetic radiation, just to name a few, continually depletes your body of electrons. The Earth, however, is always electron-rich and can serve as a powerful and abundant supply of antioxidant free radical-busting electrons, provided you make an effort to stay grounded.

Without a proper supply of antioxidants, the free radicals can overwhelm your system leading to oxidative stress, inflammation, and accelerated aging. “We now know that oxidative stress causes disease. It causes inflammation,” Sinatra says. “[But] we have this Earth — Mother Earth — that’s going to give us all these free electrons.”

Again, exercising barefoot outdoors is a wonderful way to incorporate grounding into your daily routine. Alternatively, simply take off your shoes as much as you can when you’re outdoors to take advantage of the Earth’s natural healing potential.

In “Down to Earth”¹ — which received the IndieFEST Award of Excellence for a documentary short in January 2017 — I speak alongside other experts to shed light on this super simple yet commonly overlooked way to protect and improve human health. As cardiologist Dr. Stephen Sinatra, author of “Earthing: The Most Important Health Discovery Ever?” explains in the film:

“[G]rounding is literally putting your bare feet on the ground. When you do that, you’re in contact with the Earth, and mother Earth is endowed with electrons, and these electrons are literally absorbed through your feet. It’s like taking handfuls of antioxidants, but you’re getting it through your feet.”

Your Body Needs Grounding

Research suggests a general lack of grounding, also referred to as “electron deficiency syndrome,” has a lot to do with the rise of modern diseases.

It’s not unusual for Americans to spend entire days without being grounded. But though it has become the norm, it’s completely unnatural and didn’t really become widespread until the advent of shoes with artificial soles that prevent grounding. When you’re grounded, free electrons from the Earth are transferred into your body, and these free electrons are among the most potent antioxidants known to man.

As electrons are negatively charged, and free radicals are positively charged, any free radicals encountered in your tissues are electrically neutralized or canceled out by these free electrons. This is why grounding is so effective against chronic inflammation. Dr. Laura Koniver, who discovered grounding quite by accident after it seemed to soothe her crying infant, says in the film, “Grounding … supports the body as a whole, but it specifically supports organ systems down to the tissues and the cellular function of the entire body.”

Also, while you may not think of your body as a generator of electricity, you are very much an electrical being, and this is in large part why it’s so important to use grounding to harness the electrical charge of the Earth. In the film, Gaetan Chevalier, Ph.D., an engineer/physicist who has studied grounding, explains:

“Unbeknownst to us, we live inside a battery. The surface of the Earth is charged negatively, and the ionosphere, a layer of the atmosphere about 60 miles up, is ionized by the sun. The sun’s rays are so strong that they split the molecules in two, a positive charge and a negative charge.

The negative charges are transferred to the Earth’s surface through lightening mainly, and the positive charges stay 60 miles up. The problem arises when we don’t have a negative charge. We need grounding just as we need air and we need sunshine.”²

Grounding Reduces Electric Field Induction

There’s even evidence that grounding reduces the voltage induced on your body from electricity in your environment — a factor that has become increasingly important in the modern world. As noted in the 2012 review:³

“Applewhite, an electrical engineer and expert in the design of electrostatic discharge systems in the electronic industry, was both subject and author of the study.⁴ Measurements were taken while ungrounded and then grounded using a conductive patch and conductive bed pad … Each method (patch and sheet) immediately reduced the common alternating current (AC) 60 Hz ambient voltage induced on the body by a highly significant factor of about 70 on average.

The study showed that when the body is grounded, its electrical potential becomes equalized with the Earth’s electrical potential. This, in turn, prevents the 60 Hz mode from producing an AC electric potential at the surface of the body and from producing perturbations of the electric charges of the molecules inside the body.

The study confirms the ‘umbrella’ effect of earthing the body explained by Nobel Prize winner Richard Feynman in his lectures on electromagnetism. Feynman said that when the body potential is the same as the Earth’s electric potential (and thus grounded), it becomes an extension of the Earth’s gigantic electric system. The Earth’s potential thus becomes the ‘working agent that cancels, reduces, or pushes away electric fields from the body.'”

Benefits of Grounding

While it may sound “too easy,” the simple pleasure of walking barefoot can be a powerful health-promoting activity. A scientific review published in the Journal of Environmental and Public Health in 2012 found that grounding can help:⁵

• Improve quality of sleep and feelings of restfulness upon waking.
• Reduce muscle stiffness and soreness.⁶
• Reduce chronic pain.
• Normalize secretion of the stress hormone cortisol so that it adheres to a typical cycle of peaking in the morning and dipping lowest at midnight. This in turn helps promote more restful sleep and improve blood sugar regulation and weight control.
• Reduce stress and balance your autonomic nervous system by stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system (which rules the “rest and digest” functions of the body) and quieting the sympathetic nervous system (which cues the “fight or flight” response).
• Reduce the severity of the inflammatory response after intense workouts.
• Raise your heart rate variability (your heart’s ability to respond to stimuli).
• Speed up wound healing.
• Improve mood. In one study,⁷ grounding for one hour significantly improved mood among adults.
• Reduce inflammation.⁸ In the film, grounding pioneer Clint Ober explains how grounding quenches inflammation: “Inflammation is produced by neutrophils, which are white blood cells. [When] you have an injury … a damaged cell … these white blood cells come over and encapsulate the damaged cell and … release reactive oxygen species, which rip electrons from the damaged cell and that destroys the damaged cell.If there’s not enough free electrons there to reduce the remaining radicals, they’re going to steal an electron from a healthy cell and, in the process, damage it. Then the message goes out to the immune system, and another neutrophil does the same thing and eliminates that cell, and then you have a chain reaction.”
• Thin your blood, making it less viscous, by strengthening the negative electrical surface charge on your red blood cells. This improves their ability to repel each other and allows them to flow more easily through tiny capillaries, and is incredibly valuable as cardiovascular disease is correlated with thicker, slow-moving blood. It can also help protect against blood clots.In fact, this blood-thinning effect is so profound that if you are taking a blood thinner such as Coumadin, you should consult your doctor before you start grounding regularly. You may need to lower your dosage to avoid overdosing on your medication.Research⁹ published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine revealed that two hours of grounding increased the surface charge of red blood cells, thereby reducing blood viscosity and clumping. According to the authors, “Grounding appears to be one of the simplest and yet most profound interventions for helping reduce cardiovascular risk and cardiovascular events.”
• Increase the structure of the water in your cells. Water is in every cell in your body, and this water is highly ordered (structured) and charged. If you don’t have properly structured water in your cells, it can impact the functioning of the much larger protein molecules (and others) that interface with the cell. The water inside the cell also interfaces with water outside the cell, which has the opposite charge, creating a battery effect.Your body’s ability to generate electricity is actually a key part of your achieving health. Electrical charges delivered from cell to cell allows for nearly instantaneous communication within your body, and the messages conducted via these electrical signals are responsible for controlling the rhythm of your heartbeat, the movement of blood around your body and much more.In fact, most of your biological processes are electrical. The water in your cells achieves its ordered structure from energy obtained from the environment, typically in the form of electromagnetic radiation, including sunlight and infrared heat.But grounding may also play an important role. Just as water increases in structure when a negative charge is introduced by an electrode, the negatively charged electrons you receive when grounded help increase the structure of the water in your cells. By restructuring the water, you promote more efficient tissue healing. So, when you ground, you are charging every single cell in your body with energy your body can use for self-healing.

How and Where to Ground

While connecting just about any part of your skin to the Earth is beneficial, one area that is particularly potent is the center of the ball of your foot, a point known to acupuncturists as Kidney 1 (K1). It’s a well-known acupuncture point that conductively connects to all of the acupuncture meridians in your body. Exercising barefoot outdoors is a great way to incorporate earthing into your daily life and will also help speed up tissue repair and ease muscle pain associated with strenuous exercise.

The ideal location for walking barefoot is the beach, close to or in the water, as salt water is a great conductor. (Your body is also somewhat conductive because it contains a large number of charged ions, called electrolytes, dissolved in water. Your blood and other body fluids are, therefore, good conductors.)

A close second would be a grassy area, especially if it’s covered with dew and /or bare soil. Ceramic tiles and concrete are good conductors as long as they’ve not been sealed; painted concrete does not allow electrons to pass through very well. Materials like asphalt, wood, and typical insulators like rubber or plastic will not allow electrons to pass through and are not suitable for barefoot grounding.

While any amount of grounding is better than none, research has demonstrated it takes about 80 minutes for the free electrons from the Earth to reach your bloodstream and transform your blood, which is when you reap the greatest benefits. So, ideally, aim for 80 to 120 minutes of grounding each day.

How to Ground Indoors

Just as walking barefoot was once widespread, so too was sleeping on the ground. In the modern world, sleeping indoors serves to further insulate you from the Earth. There’s also the issue of elevation. When you are grounded, your body cannot carry a charge, which is good. The greater the distance between your body and the Earth, the greater charge your body carries. In fact, this has been precisely calculated. For every meter (3.28 feet) you are above the ground, 300 volts of charge will build up in your body.¹⁰

So, if you are in a second-story bedroom, your charge would be 1,000 volts, on average, and this increased charge may increase your risk of health problems. For example, one 2009 study¹¹ found a 40 percent increase in stroke risk among people living in multistory homes. Flying can also make you severely ungrounded. When indoors and/or at elevation, you can ground by:

• Using a grounding pad or grounding sheet to ground your mattress while sleeping.
• Keeping your bare feet on a grounding mat while working. Grounding mats work well provided you have a grounded electrical outlet and can be particularly beneficial if you live in a high-rise. A grounded outlet is generally identifiable by the fact it’s a 3-prong outlet with a ground port (bottom outlet). Most modern homes built after 1970 will have a grounded electrical system. When using an earthing mat, make sure your bare skin is in contact with it. There should not be a layer of clothing between you and the mat.
• Using a grounded yoga mat when exercising indoors. Research¹² has shown doing yoga indoors on a grounded yoga mat helps reduce blood viscosity and exercise-induced inflammation, the same effects you’d expect from walking barefoot outdoors.
• Touching the faucet with one hand while shaving or brushing your teeth with the other.
• Taking off your shoes and placing your feet (bare or with socks) on the steel struts of the chair in front of you when flying in an airplane.

Grounding May Be Essential for Life and Health

It’s important to understand that grounding is not a “treatment” or “cure” for any disease or disorder. Rather, it is one of the key mechanisms by which your body maintains equilibrium and health. The human body evolved in constant contact with the Earth, and your body needs this continuous interchange of energy to function properly.

Free radical stress from exposure to pollution, cigarettes, pesticides, processed foods and electromagnetic radiation, just to name a few, continually depletes your body of electrons. The Earth, however, is always electron-rich and can serve as a powerful and abundant supply of antioxidant free radical-busting electrons, provided you make an effort to stay grounded.

Without a proper supply of antioxidants, the free radicals can overwhelm your system leading to oxidative stress, inflammation, and accelerated aging. “We now know that oxidative stress causes disease. It causes inflammation,” Sinatra says. “[But] we have this Earth — Mother Earth — that’s going to give us all these free electrons.”

Again, exercising barefoot outdoors is a wonderful way to incorporate grounding into your daily routine. Alternatively, simply take off your shoes as much as you can when you’re outdoors to take advantage of the Earth’s natural healing potential.

Introduction:

“I believe humans get a lot done, not because we’re smart, but because we have thumbs so we can make coffee.” – Flash Rosenberg

Yes, I truly love coffee.

Yes, coffee contains caffeine, which is a drug.

Starbucks says that its espresso shots contain 75mg of caffeine, and 8 ounces of Pike Place medium roast contains 155 mg (of course, Starbucks doesn’t sell Pike in less than a 12-ounce size. Does anyone drink from 8-ounce cups anymore?).

So two espresso shots = the caffeine in one small cup of drip coffee.

Let’s be reasonable

I have had many patients who are caffeine abusers. They stimulate themselves awake in the mornings, drink more coffee to stay alert all day, and stay up late to work or play by consuming even more caffeine. Especially if your adrenal glands are stressed (this is probably most of us after the pandemic), this much caffeine is not healthy.

But, assuming that you have no allergies to coffee or caffeine, you can probably drink a 12-ounce cup in the morning and an occasional second 8-ounce cup later in the day without damaging your health.

Be observant: if drinking coffee past a certain time in the afternoon keeps you awake, listen to your body! If you feel jittery or anxious soon after drinking coffee, that’s your clue to cut back. Caffeine can have adverse effects on the adrenal glands, breast tissue, and other organs and health conditions.

Many of us go to a lot of trouble to become healthy and stay that way to enjoy our lives. Know your body and enjoy this beverage in moderation. Coffee, like so many things, is wonderful when not consumed in excess.

Dr. Melodie Billiot

Coffee-The Pros and Cons

onald Grisanti D.C., D.A.B.C.O., DACBN, MS, CFMP

Coffee is considered one of the most beloved beverages in the world.

Coffee specialty shops are everywhere.

People love coffee, and most people can’t start their day without their cup (or more) of coffee.

Yes, there are pros well documented showing the benefits of drinking coffee.

Here are just a few:

1: Can Improve Energy Levels
2: Can Help You Burn Fat
3: May Lower Your Risk of Type 2 Diabetes
4: May Protect You From Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia
5: May Lower Your Risk of Parkinson’s
6: May Protect Your Liver
7: Can Fight Depression
8: May Lower Risk of Certain Types of Cancer
9: May Help You Live Longer

With all of these benefits, is there a downside?

The answer is YES!

Coffee is made from roasted seeds and contains a chemical called acrylamide. Acrylamide is classified as a group 2A carcinogen and extremely hazardous. Acrylamide has been shown to cause multiple types of cancers, including renal, endometrial, and ovarian cancers.

Coffee crops are also sprayed with pesticides like glyphosate and 2-4-D. These two chemicals are associated with different cancers and disrupt human biochemistry.

If you drink a lot of coffee, I suggest asking your physician to order a glyphosate test. If your levels are high, it may be wise to re-consider that daily cup of coffee.

One important option to minimize some of these downsides to coffee consumption is to drink only organic and non-roasted coffee.

Do you have severe, long-term, or frustrating health problems?

• Are you exhausted, depressed, anxious, or unable to sleep?
• Do you feel anxious, depressed or overwhelmed?
• Do you have digestive disturbances, joint pain, headaches, hair loss and weight gain?

Do you wonder how you got here? One day you woke up in a complete mess, but can’t for the life of you figure out how it happened?

It’s not your fault, but you CAN fix it.

Here is a way you can start to get your life back—with energy and vitality no matter the stage of your life.

Dr. Melodie Billiot is a doctor who has lived through her own exhaustion and illness, and discovered the answers to her own health.

As a result, she has helped thousands of people just like you to regain their health.

Get Started: Do a complimentary Health Analysis and Consultation

Intermittent Fasting?

Intermittent fasting is an eating pattern that cycles between periods of fasting and eating. For example, you might eat only between 8 AM and 6 PM, or you might fast for two full nonconsecutive days a week. There are a lot of variations.

The benefits: The idea is to improve your health by mimicking ancient eating schedules instead of always having food available. Reportedly, you can increase your mental clarity, burn fat and lose weight, feel better overall and improve your health to avoid diseases.

Ahh! You picked up on that “reportedly” I dropped in the last paragraph. But this doesn’t mean that I disagree with intermittent fasting in general.

I believe that some people may get substantial benefits from intermittent fasting. I’ve read the research and rationales behind it, and much of it does make sense.

Where I can’t entirely agree is that any diet, food, supplement, or treatment could work for “everyone.” As an example, in my practice, I see mainly severe chronic cases. These people are physically very stressed. They are very toxic and usually have some immune suppression. Intermittent fasting would be about the worst thing that many of these people could do to themselves.

“Testing,” a Weird New Idea?

I can’t think of any single food, supplement, or treatment that would be appropriate for every patient I’ve had in the past year. Well, except for maybe clean water.  Every person is unique in many ways and needs different solutions.

When I make this statement to people, they often ask, “But, how would you be able to tell who would benefit and who would not?” This confusion shows how foreign the concept of TESTING is to most people. If you could accurately test someone to determine what foods, supplements, diets, and treatments would be effective and safe for them—why would anyone make any decisions without testing first?

Intermittent Fasting Test: Could You Benefit?

One method of testing is to observe clues shown by the body. This method is crude, and there are much better ways to test, but try it out!

• Do you get shaky or irritable if hungry?
• Do you get out of breath climbing stairs?
• Are you fatigued in the afternoons?
• Do you have trouble getting or staying asleep?
• Do you have stiff or painful joints?
• Do you have fluid retention?
• Do your ears ring?

If you have several of these symptoms, intermittent fasting might not be a good thing for you to do. More accurate testing could determine what diet would be ineffective for you and precisely what WOULD work to improve your health.

Medicine’s Failure to Test

When medical doctors treat patients with chronic illness, they test to diagnose but don’t test to determine causes. Not knowing the cause, the doctor must follow a fixed treatment protocol for that diagnosis and often only treat symptoms. The result is often a lessening of the symptoms but no solution to the actual problem. The undiscovered cause of their conditions or diseases may continue to deteriorate their health, and the patient may suffer from chronic health conditions for the rest of their lives.

“One Accurate Measurement is Worth a Thousand Expert Opinions”

—Admiral Grace Hopper

The practice of medicine relies on the doctor’s opinion as the primary method of deciding what is wrong with the patient and what treatment would be effective. This is so true that it’s normal to seek a second opinion to see if you can get more than one doctor to agree on your treatment.

My long experience is that many—maybe most—people are so used to this medical guessing that they’ll shrug and say, “So what’s the problem with opinions?” The problem is that an opinion is really a guess.

Doctors have been practicing this way for so long that we think it’s normal. But what other profession could get away with this approach? Would you need a “second opinion” on the engineering of a bridge or skyscraper or the design of your car? These and almost all other professions rely on accurate measurements and proven methods based on scientific and engineering principles that consistently get results.

Engineers do not guess. Neither do carpenters, chefs, pilots, accountants, or carpet installers.

Professionals are expected to “know their stuff” and get a predictable, effective result. Except for doctors! (Well, and, maybe philosophers, sports bookies, and politicians.)

The Takeaway:

Everyone’s body is different.

Your genetics, damage from illnesses and injuries, the diet you were raised on, your preferences, your environment, available food, your drug history, stress history, personality, and many more variables are all different from other individuals.

So, there is no “universal” diet, food, lifestyle, supplement, drug, or treatment that would get good results for everyone. Far, far from it!

The ability to test any of the above items before recommending them to an individual is not only of critical importance, it is obvious.

Because: the only other option would be to GUESS.

Does Milk Really Make a Body Good? The Other Side of Story

Ronald Grisanti D.C., D.A.B.C.O., DACBN, MS, CFMP

I have to wonder how the government dietary guidelines still recommend consuming three glasses of milk a day. 

Where is there any evidence to support this recommendation?

A 2020 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine by Walter C. Willett, M.D., Dr.P.H., and David S. Ludwig, M.D., Ph.D. reviewed over 100 top studies on milk. They found that milk consumption is associated with the risks of fracture, obesity, cardiovascular disease, allergies, and various cancers.

This information may be a hard pill to swallow, but the scientific literature proves otherwise.

In other studies, milk consumption has been found to increase insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) which has been associated with several major health conditions, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cognitive function in the elderly.

If you absolutely love milk, then I recommend consuming only A2 casein milk products. Most milk products have high levels of the protein A1 casein, which may lead to increased inflammation, allergies, and other health challenges

Populations, which consume milk containing high levels of β-casein A2 variant, have a lower incidence of cardiovascular disease and type-1 diabetes.

To find sources of A2 milk, go to: https://www.a2milk.com

Compliments from Functional Medicine University

Other Milk Issues:

From my experience of 27 years helping severe cases of chronic health conditions, I have found that eating dairy is second only to sugar in stressing the immune system and slowing the healing process.

• Dairy causes mucous and enhances bacteria and virus growth.
• Dairy contains large amounts of sugar (lactose, milk sugar). Eight ounces of milk contains 13 grams of sugar (the equivalent of over three teaspoons of white sugar) which can raise blood sugar and reduce immune system efficiency by 60%.
• Unless it’s organic, milk tends to contain hormones. Studies show that this is dangerous.

Substitute coconut, almond, oat, or hemp milk, and stay healthier!