Earth & Performance - Grounding and Glucose + Erythrocyte Metabolism
In 2016, a study was published out of Poland by Sokal and colleagues. They wanted to explore how grounding affects the concentration of glucose, lactate, and bilirubin during exercise and relaxation. These substances are metabolic indicators that offer a window into how grounding could influence training and recovery. We have touched on glucose regulation briefly in The Minis, but this study digs deeper.
Glucose is the body's primary fuel, especially during exercise. By looking at how grounding influences glucose levels, the researchers hoped to see if grounding could make the body use glucose more efficiently for energy. Better glucose handling could improve performance and speed up recovery. Lactate was the second focus. It builds up during anaerobic metabolism and gives insight into how the body handles high-intensity efforts. If grounding could influence lactate management, it might extend endurance and sharpen recovery. Then there was bilirubin. A waste product from breaking down hemoglobin, bilirubin reflects the health of red blood cells and liver function. Changes here could show how grounding affects broader metabolic processes.
The experiment was a double-blind, crossover study with 42 participants. They were divided into two groups based on VO₂ max. Each participant performed two thirty-minute cycling sessions: one while grounded, the other insulated. Group A was grounded first, Group B was not. Then they switched conditions. This allowed for a clean comparison.
The results were interesting. In the grounded group, glucose concentration rose after 15 minutes of exertion, dipped after 30, and rose again during 40 minutes of relaxation. In the ungrounded group, glucose dropped after 15 minutes of exercise and then rose slowly afterward. Bilirubin concentration was higher at baseline after grounding in Group A but showed no significant change without grounding. Grounding raised bilirubin in Group A and lowered it in Group B during both exercise and rest.
Overall, grounding seemed to modulate erythrocyte metabolism. Body mass played a role in this modulation. Heavier individuals generally have higher metabolic rates and greater energy demands. This affects oxygen consumption, hemoglobin dynamics, and red blood cell behavior during exercise. People with more muscle mass also consume more oxygen because muscle tissue is more metabolically active than fat tissue.
Oxygen consumption ties into erythrocyte metabolism by influencing hemoglobin’s oxygen-carrying ability and the production of 2,3-Bisphosphoglycerate (2,3-BPG), a molecule that regulates how hemoglobin releases oxygen to tissues. During exercise, all of these factors have to adjust dynamically.
In the study, Group B—those with lower body mass—showed greater oxygen consumption at the end of exercise when they were ungrounded. When grounded, they needed less oxygen to perform the same exercise. This suggests grounding helped the body become more oxygen-efficient.
The researchers concluded that grounding assists the body in mobilizing plasma glucose for muscular uptake and facilitates more efficient energy use during exercise. This not only improves exercise effectiveness but hints at some broader implications, such as applications in diabetes research - a connection we briefly touched on before..
We’ll return to some info on DOMS for the next part in this series.
As always, if you’re interested in learning more about grounding, check out Earth & Water.
References:
Nakrani MN, Wineland RH, Anjum F. Physiology, Glucose Metabolism. [Updated 2022 Jul 25]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2022 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK560599/
Andersen LW, Mackenhauer J, Roberts JC, Berg KM, Cocchi MN, Donnino MW. Etiology and therapeutic approach to elevated lactate levels. Mayo Clin Proc. 2013 Oct;88(10):1127-40. doi: 10.1016/j.mayocp.2013.06.012. PMID: 24079682; PMCID: PMC3975915.
Witek K, Ścisłowska J, Turowski D, Lerczak K, Lewandowska-Pachecka S, Pokrywka A. Total bilirubin in athletes, determination of reference range. Biol Sport. 2017 Mar;34(1):45-48. doi: 10.5114/biolsport.2017.63732. Epub 2016 Dec 1. PMID: 28416897; PMCID: PMC5377560.
Bergh U, Sjödin B, Forsberg A, Svedenhag J. The relationship between body mass and oxygen uptake during running in humans. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1991 Feb;23(2):205-11. PMID: 2017016.
Porter RK, Brand MD. Cellular oxygen consumption depends on body mass. Am J Physiol. 1995 Jul;269(1 Pt 2):R226-8. doi: 10.1152/ajpregu.1995.269.1.R226. PMID: 7631898.
Benedik PS, Hamlin SK. The physiologic role of erythrocytes in oxygen delivery and implications for blood storage. Crit Care Nurs Clin North Am. 2014 Sep;26(3):325-35. doi: 10.1016/j.ccell.2014.04.002. PMID: 25169686.
Jensen FB. The dual roles of red blood cells in tissue oxygen delivery: oxygen carriers and regulators of local blood flow. J Exp Biol. 2009 Nov;212(Pt 21):3387-93. doi: 10.1242/jeb.023697. PMID: 19837879.
Louajri A, Harraga S, Toubin G, Kantelip JP. Red blood cell metabolism and hemoglobin oxygen affinity. Effect of vinburnine on normobaric hypoxic rats. Biol Pharm Bull. 1999 Aug;22(8):773-4. doi: 10.1248/bpb.22.773. PMID: 10480311.
MacDonald R. Red cell 2,3-diphosphoglycerate and oxygen affinity. Anaesthesia. 1977 Jun;32(6):544-53. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2044.1977.tb10002.x. PMID: 327846.
Chevalier G. Changes in pulse rate, respiratory rate, blood oxygenation, perfusion index, skin conductance and their variability induced during and after grounding human subjects for 40 minutes. J Alter Compl Med. 2010; 16:81-87. DOI: 10.1089/acm. 2009.0278.
Sokal, P.A., Jastrzębski, Z., Sokal, K., Dargiewicz, R., Jastrzębska, M.E., & Radzimiński, Ł. (2016). Earthing modulates glucose and erythrocytes metabolism in exercise. International journal of physical education, sports and health, 3, 06-13.
