The experiment inspired a formal study to investigate further whether Earthing can indeed influence red blood cell clumping. Electrophysiologist Gatan Chevalier, Ph.D., biophysicist James Oschman, Ph.D., cardiologist Richard Delany, M.D, and I designed a study to measure not only blood clumping but also zeta potential, a term that describes the degree of negative charge on the surface of a red blood cell. Our blood cells operate electrically and this particular built-in feature enables the cells to repel each other and prevent unwanted aggregation. The stronger the negative charge, the greater the ability of the cells to repel each other and the better the flow.Zeta potential is not a familiar cardiology term, even though research linking it to cardiovascular function goes back to the 1950s.
For our study, we selected ten healthy individuals. They came individually to a health clinic and sat comfortably in a reclining chair while they were grounded for two hours. Electrode patches connected by wires to the Earth were placed on their feet and hands, just as had been done in previous studies. Blood samples were taken before and after two hours of continual grounding.
The analysis was surprising. We had expected a small improvement in zeta potential, perhaps 30 percent. Instead, we found an improvement of270 percent on average! The results, published in 2013 in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, indicated the discovery of a natural blood thinning effect, an option that should be of great interest for cardiologists as well as any physician concerned about the relationship of blood viscosity and inflammation.