Of all the grounding claims, 'improved circulation' is one of the most interesting — because unlike sleep quality or stress, blood flow is something you can actually measure with a camera. And a small cluster of published studies has tried to do exactly that: pinprick blood samples under microscopes, laser imaging of faces, thermal cameras aimed at torsos. Let's look at what they found, what they didn't, and who should be careful.
A quick note on honesty: this site earns a commission if you buy through our links, at no extra cost to you. We've marked those links clearly. Nothing here is sponsored.
🌱 Get the free 7-Day Grounding Starter Guide
Most people feel the difference within a week of going barefoot. Get the free 7-Day Grounding Starter Guide — one short plan per day, no gear required.
Send me the free guideThe flagship study: grounding and blood viscosity (2013)
The most striking circulation study in grounding research is from 2013, published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine by Gaétan Chevalier, Stephen Sinatra, James Oschman, and Richard Delany. The setup was simple: ten healthy adults were grounded for two hours using conductive patches on the soles of their feet and palms of their hands, wired to a metal rod stuck in the earth outdoors.
Then the researchers looked at their blood — literally. Pinprick fingertip samples went under a microscope, and they measured two things: the electrical surface charge on red blood cells (called zeta potential) and how much the cells clumped together (aggregation). Clumped, sticky red blood cells make blood thicker — higher viscosity — which is a genuine cardiovascular risk factor.
The result: grounding raised the surface charge on red blood cells by an average of 2.70 and significantly reduced clumping. The authors' conclusion was that grounding increases the charge on red blood cells and thereby reduces blood viscosity and clumping — 'one of the simplest and yet most profound interventions for helping reduce cardiovascular risk and cardiovascular events.'
That's an attention-grabbing claim, and it's backed by real measurements. But keep the scale in mind: ten people, one two-hour session, measured minutes after grounding. It's a pilot study showing an acute effect, not a demonstration that grounding prevents heart attacks.
Follow-up: grounded yoga and blood viscosity (2015)
A second study on blood viscosity ran a tighter design. Published in 2015 by Brown and Chevalier in the Open Journal of Preventive Medicine, it took 28 subjects to a sports medicine clinic at the University of Oregon and had them do one hour of gentle yoga — either on a grounded yoga mat or a sham-grounded one, double-blind. Blood samples were taken before and after, and viscosity was measured with a scanning capillary viscometer.
The grounded group significantly reduced both post-exercise systolic blood viscosity (p = 0.03) and diastolic blood viscosity (p = 0.03). A sham control, a real instrument, and a statistically significant result: this is the strongest piece of evidence in the cluster. Still a single session in 28 people, but the design is better than the 2013 pilot's.
Facial blood flow, measured with a laser camera (2014)
Chevalier's 2014 study in the Journal of Cosmetics, Dermatological Sciences and Applications went after blood flow directly — in faces. Forty subjects sat in recliner chairs for at least an hour, either grounded or sham-grounded through conductive mats, pillows, and patches (27 grounded, 13 controls). A Laser Speckle Contrast Imaging camera recorded facial blood flow continuously and non-invasively.
The grounded group showed clearly improved facial blood flow regulation — rhythmic fluctuations in blood flow that suggest better autonomic nervous system control — while the sham-grounded group's blood flow just declined steadily or sat flat. The author concluded that even one hour of contact with the earth 'restores blood flow regulation to the face,' with possible implications for skin tissue repair and overall cardiovascular function.
One honest wrinkle: a study measuring facial blood flow sits at the intersection of cardiovascular science and the beauty industry. Better facial blood flow is interesting, but it isn't the same as better circulation to your legs, heart, or brain. It's a data point, not a whole picture.
Thermal imaging: one hour, torso and face (2015)
The fourth study, Chevalier, Melvin, and Barsotti (2015) in the journal Health, used infrared thermal imaging on forty middle-aged volunteers — again split into grounded and sham-grounded groups, double-blind, one hour in recliner chairs. Thermal imaging showed 'clearly improved circulation of fluids (including blood) throughout the torso,' translating into enhanced blood delivery to the head and better facial circulation, with statistically significant differences on face and torso views (p = 0.002 on several measures).
This one deserves an explicit caveat: the study's acknowledgements note it was funded by Earth FX, Inc., and the grounding products were donated by earthing.com. Industry funding doesn't automatically invalidate results — the design was still double-blind with a sham control — but it's a reason to want independent replication, which so far hasn't happened.
The honest caveats, all in one place
Four studies sounds like a lot until you stack them up:
- Same orbit. All four come from the same small research circle — Chevalier is on every paper. The grounding field badly needs independent labs running these experiments.
- Small and short. Sample sizes of 10, 28, 40, and 40; grounding sessions of one to two hours. Every effect shown is acute — minutes to hours after grounding. Nobody has studied whether regular grounding changes circulation over weeks, months, or years.
- No clinical outcomes. Nobody measured whether grounding prevents blood clots, helps peripheral artery disease, or changes varicose veins. Blood flowing a bit better in a lab session is not treatment for a circulation disorder.
- One funded by an earthing company. The 2015 thermal imaging study was funded by Earth FX, Inc. with products donated by earthing.com. Noted, not hidden — that's how we do things here. (Our full methodology is on how we evaluate grounding products.)
None of this makes the findings false. Reduced red-blood-cell clumping after grounding has now shown up in two separate designs. But the gap between 'blood looks less sticky for a while after grounding' and 'grounding fixes your circulation' is wide, and nobody has crossed it yet.
How to actually try grounding for circulation
You have the usual two routes: free and product-based.
The free route
Walk barefoot. Thirty minutes on grass, sand, or soil — the studies above used conductive contact through feet, hands, or body patches, and barefoot walking is the same electrical deal. Walking also moves your calf muscles, which is the body's built-in circulation pump — the 'second heart' that pushes venous blood back up your legs. Barefoot walking gives you both at once. Our beginner's guide covers the basics, and how long to ground per day has the practical timing.
The product route
The lab studies didn't use bare feet — they used conductive mats, patches, and pillows connected to ground. If you want to replicate the setup at a desk, a grounding mat under your feet or forearms while you work is the closest match. The Earthing Universal Mat Kit is the standard option for this. As always: check your outlet with the included tester first (our electrical safety guide), and keep expectations in pilot-study territory.
Medical cautions — read this part
Circulation is one area where the 'it's harmless, just try it' attitude needs a hard stop.
- On blood thinners? Talk to your doctor first. If grounding genuinely reduces blood viscosity — which is the entire premise of this article — that's exactly the kind of physiological effect you don't want to stack on top of anticoagulant medication without medical guidance. This is not theoretical hand-waving; it follows directly from the 2013 findings.
- Circulation symptoms are red flags. Cold feet, numbness, leg pain when walking, swelling, discoloration — these can be signs of peripheral artery disease, deep vein thrombosis, or other serious cardiovascular conditions. Grounding is not a diagnostic tool and not a treatment. See a doctor for persistent issues.
- Complementary, never a substitute. If you have a diagnosed cardiovascular condition, grounding doesn't replace medication, exercise, or your cardiologist. Think of it as an interesting lifestyle variable, not a therapy.
🌱 Get the free 7-Day Grounding Starter Guide
Most people feel the difference within a week of going barefoot. Get the free 7-Day Grounding Starter Guide — one short plan per day, no gear required.
Send me the free guideThe honest bottom line
Does grounding improve circulation? There's a real, measured signal: four small studies, two of them double-blind with sham controls, found acute improvements in blood viscosity and blood flow regulation after one to two hours of grounding. The blood-viscosity finding has replicated in two different designs, which is more than most grounding claims can say.
But it's all short-term, all small-scale, all from one research circle, and one study was industry-funded. What we don't have: long-term data, independent replication, or any evidence of clinical outcomes. If you're going to try it, barefoot walking is free and moves blood on its own — and if you're on blood thinners or have a diagnosed circulation condition, talk to your doctor first.
For the wider evidence picture, see does earthing actually work?, and for the related cardiovascular claim, grounding and blood pressure.