High blood pressure is one of the most common health problems on the planet — the CDC estimates nearly half of US adults have it, and most don't have it under control. So when word spreads that something as simple as touching the ground might lower it, the claim deserves a serious, honest look. Not hype, not dismissal — just: what was actually studied, what was actually found, and what should you do with that information?
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Send me the free guideThe blood pressure study: Elkin & Winter (2018)
The most directly relevant study is a 2018 paper by cardiologist Howard Elkin and Angela Winter, published in Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine. It's the first study to specifically ask whether grounding lowers blood pressure in people with hypertension.
The setup: ten patients with hypertension from a single cardiology practice grounded themselves at home for at least ten hours a day for several months — sleeping on conductive earthing bedding at night and using a grounding mat during the day. Blood pressure was measured in the clinic at baseline and roughly monthly afterward, and patients also measured at home with their own monitors.
What happened: every one of the ten patients showed improved blood pressure by the end of the trial, some well before. Systolic pressure (the top number) dropped between 8.6% and 22.7% per person, averaging a 14.3% decrease. For a concrete sense of what that looks like, one patient went from 145/80 to 115/67.
What it wasn't: proof. This was a case series — ten people, no control group, no blinding. Several patients were on blood pressure medication, and at least one had his medication adjusted by the doctor during the study, which muddies the picture further. People who volunteer for a study and start a new daily health ritual also tend to change other habits, consciously or not. The authors themselves concluded only that grounding ''appears to be a safe BP-reducing therapy warranting further research.'' That further research — a larger, controlled trial — still hasn't happened.
The blood flow study: Chevalier et al. (2013)
A second, often-cited piece of evidence comes from a different angle. In 2013, Ga'etan Chevalier and colleagues published a study in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine asking whether grounding changes the behavior of red blood cells.
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 rod in the earth outside. Before and after, researchers took pinprick blood samples and measured two things under a microscope: the electrical charge on the surface of the red blood cells (called zeta potential) and how much the cells clumped together.
What happened: the average zeta potential increased by 2.70 across all ten subjects, and red blood cell clumping decreased significantly. In plain terms, the blood cells carried more negative charge and stuck together less — which the authors link to lower blood viscosity, i.e., blood that flows more easily. Since thicker blood is harder for the heart to push through vessels, the paper's conclusion is that grounding could reduce cardiovascular risk.
What it wasn't: a blood pressure study, or a heart disease study. It measured a lab marker in ten people over two hours — not blood pressure, not heart attacks, not strokes. Whether a short-term change in cell clumping under a microscope translates into meaningful cardiovascular benefit is exactly the question nobody has run the long-term trial to answer. Interesting mechanism, unproven outcome.
Why researchers think it might work
The authors of both studies suggest a handful of overlapping mechanisms, and it's worth laying them out honestly — as hypotheses, not established facts:
- Calmer nervous system. Grounding appears to shift the autonomic nervous system toward its ''rest and digest'' branch, which is the opposite of the fight-or-flight state that raises blood pressure.
- Normalized cortisol rhythm. Cortisol drives the daily rhythm of blood pressure; the 2004 sleep study found grounding nudged disrupted cortisol patterns back toward normal. If that holds, steadier cortisol could mean steadier blood pressure.
- Less inflammation. Chronic inflammation is tied to arterial stiffness and hypertension, and grounding shows early signals of anti-inflammatory effects — we dug into that evidence in grounding and inflammation.
- Better sleep. Poor sleep reliably raises blood pressure, and if grounded sleep genuinely improves rest, some of any blood pressure benefit could arrive through that door.
None of these are proven pathways. But together they explain why researchers keep looking: the idea isn't one magic effect, it's several small nudges in the same direction.
What this research doesn't prove
Let's be blunt about the gap between these studies and a medical recommendation. Both studies have ten people. Neither has a control group. The blood pressure study ran in a single doctor's practice with medication in the mix. The blood flow study measured a microscope slide, not a heart. No large randomized trial has tested grounding against blood pressure, and until one does, ''grounding lowers blood pressure'' remains a promising hypothesis, not a fact.
Blood pressure is also famously multi-causal — salt intake, weight, alcohol, exercise, stress, sleep, genetics, and medication all move the needle, often by more than these studies measured. Anyone telling you to swap any of those for time on the grass is selling something. Grounding, at best, would be one more small lever alongside the big ones your doctor already talks about.
And the most important line in this whole article: never stop, reduce, or change blood pressure medication because of grounding — or because of anything you read on the internet. Hypertension is called the silent killer because it usually has no symptoms; the damage accrues quietly over years. If you have high blood pressure, you manage it with your doctor, full stop. Grounding is a complementary experiment, never a substitute for care.
How to try grounding for blood pressure
If you'd like to test this on yourself — carefully, alongside your doctor's plan — the approach mirrors the studies:
The free route
Daily barefoot time on a conductive surface: grass, soil, sand, or unsealed concrete. The hypertension study's patients grounded for ten-plus hours a day, but that included sleeping grounded — for a free trial, thirty to sixty minutes of barefoot time daily is a reasonable, realistic starting point. Our barefoot walking guide covers surfaces, timing, and how to build the habit. See how long to ground per day for what the research suggests about dose.
The product route
The studies used conductive bedding overnight and mats during the day. If you want to replicate that setup indoors, two honest options: a sleep mat for overnight grounding, and a universal mat kit for your desk or chair during the day. Check your outlet with the included tester before you start — an ungrounded outlet means an ungrounded product. Our electrical safety guide walks through it, and the best grounding mats compares options.
Whichever route you take, give it the study's timeframe: weeks to months, not days. And track your numbers with a home blood pressure monitor, at consistent times of day — the 2018 study's patients measured mornings and evenings. Data beats vibes, especially with blood pressure.
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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
Could grounding lower your blood pressure? The two studies that exist both point in the same direction — one showing real blood pressure drops in ten hypertensive patients, the other showing a plausible blood-flow mechanism in ten healthy ones. But ten and ten, with no controls, is a hint, not a verdict.
Our suggestion: treat grounding like the low-risk, low-cost experiment it is. Barefoot time is free; the worst case is you spent pleasant time outside. If you have hypertension, talk to your doctor first, keep taking your medication exactly as prescribed, and track your readings over a few months. If your numbers move, you'll have real data to discuss at your next appointment — and that conversation is worth more than any study with ten people in it.
Want the full evidence picture across every claim? Does earthing actually work? is our no-hype review.