Why it feels good to be on the beach?
Complementary Therapies in Medicine
Volume 41, December 2018, Pages 161-168
Exploratory study on the natural ground electric current that flows through human body as a possible pathway for the therapeutic effects of beach going
lSeong LeeNeoh
Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Kuala Nerus, 21030, Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia
Abstract
This paper explores the electrical nature of sandy beach and proposes a pathway for the therapeutic effects of beach going. The electric potential and current generated on the ground across the human body and resistors were measured. The ground was found to have a non-homogenous electric potential which generated a potential difference between any two points on the ground. A power curve, similar to a battery, in the nanowatt range was obtained. This power appeared to be stable across time but varies across ground location. Standing on the beach with dry feet did not allow any current in the micro-ampere range to conduct. But upon moistening the feet, the body electrical resistance was reduced by 94% and the ground potential difference across the two feet was sufficient to drive a micro-ampere range current through the body. This may be one reason for the therapeutic effects of being on the beach.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0965229918307027Excerpts:
"Being in nature is known to have therapeutic effects on human health.1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Of the natural environments, the beach is one that has a high appeal to a lot of people.6"
"Physical pathways are those that involve the transfer of matter or energy between the human body and the natural environment. For example, the waves are known to produce electrically charged spray droplets,8,9 and the inhalation of these negative ions are thought to provide beneficial health effects.10,11
"This study proposes a physical pathway, namely the flow of electric currents through a grounded human body, specifically when standing barefooted on the beach. It is frequently assumed that the ground is an equipotential surface and therefore any conducting body (e.g. human body) in contact with it becomes part of that equipotential surface12,58. Because they are thought to be equal in electric potential, it is thought that there is no potential difference between them. With such assumption, it is not expected that current will flow through that conducting body.
"However, the natural ground is made up of a mixture of many materials including sand, stones, minerals, organic matter etc. Different materials have different electrical properties (e.g. conductivity, capacitance). Even in a seemingly homogeneous sandy beach, the distribution of these materials are not uniform.13,14 The non-uniform distribution of these materials will cause a difference in electric potential between two points on the ground, also known as self-potential.15,16 This difference may be sufficient to draw a measurable current through the human body.
"It is known that organisms generate or rely on electric currents and fields at the cellular level. This knowledge may be one reason for the recent revival of the idea of grounding the human body,17,18 which involves putting the human body at the same equipotential surface as the ground. Electrostatic build-up and its subsequent discharging disrupts the natural electric field of the human body and this process has been suggested to have an effect on health.19,20 Grounding prevents the build-up of excessive electric field in the body due to these factors.21,22 It has also been suggested that the free electrons present on the ground will travel up through the human body as electric current whenever an electrical pathway is established between the human body and ground23,24 and it has been suggested that this current has a beneficial health effect.25,26
"Some of the above studies have successfully demonstrated the alteration of human body voltage due to grounding but have failed to detect this current. This study attempts to determine if this current exists by examining the electric potential difference between the normal foot stance distance on the ground, and whether this electric potential difference is sufficient to drive an electric current continuously through a human that is standing barefooted on it."
"The experiments were conducted on a tropical sandy beach (Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia GPS: 5.407640, 103.096214). The selected area was near the edge of the waves but not in direct contact with it."
[Power curve of the ground:] "The maximum output power was found to be about 73 nW at 10 kOhm. The power curve is typical of an emf (electromotive force) device, similar to a battery. This suggest that the ground acted like a battery."
"The most plausible explanation for the origin of this ground power is that the ground is not perfectly homogeneous...Different materials have different conductivity and charge holding capacity. A non-homogeneous ground will have variation in the type and quantity of materials present in a unit volume of ground material."
"The current and voltage over a 4-hour period was found to be maintained at around 3.2 uA and 3.2 mV (Fig. 5) with little fluctuations. This level of stability suggests that the ground acted like a battery."
[Current through a human body:] "There were significant difference in the body resistance, current and voltage measurements when compared between dry and moist feet (p<0.05)."
"This result suggests that the emf of the ground is sufficient to drive a micro-ampere range current through a human body provided that the feet were moistened. In a beach setting, this is usually the case. The popular act of strolling by the waves with the water lapping the feet will effectively moisten the feet and allow this micro-ampere range current to flow through the human body. This may be one reason that the beach is often said to possess therapeutic properties.
"This paper may be reporting for the first time the existence of this natural micro-ampere range current that will flow through a human that is standing barefooted on the ground with moistened feet, specifically the beach. Previous studies on grounding the human body have failed to detect this current. Chevalier et al46 cited eight studies in a review titled ‘Health implications of reconnecting the human body to the earth’s surface electrons’. However, none of these studies reported any flow of direct electric current through the human subjects. A possible reason for this may be that the methodologies used an open circuit."
"In this paper, the circuitry adopted was depicted in Fig. 8(b). This circuitry is a more accurate representation of a naturally grounded human body."
"The prevention of electrostatic charge build up may be one reason for the reported benefits of sleeping on a conductive bed mattress that is grounded.47,48 Due to modern synthetic clothing such as nylon, low air humidity (e.g. air conditioning), electrostatic charge can quickly accumulate on the human body with every movement during sleep.49, 50, 51"
"Although there are some indications that passing a micro-ampere range current does have some therapeutic effects on cells, more evidence is needed before its beneficial effects can be established.56,57 Nevertheless, this study provides a possible pathway by which to explain the therapeutic effects of being in natural environment, particularly the beach."
