Grounding / Earthing (Conductive Coupling to Earth)
Insufficient evidence / under studyD/EgradePlausibility · Real, measurable electrical connection; the biological pathway from potential equalisation to the claimed outcomes is unestablishedElectroceuticals / Bioelectronic Medicine
Deliberate conductive connection of the body to earth potential, via mats, sheets or conductive flooring. The electrical connection is real and measurable — this is not a mechanism that cannot exist — so no contradicts-established-science badge. What is unestablished is the pathway from potential equalisation to the claimed effects on inflammation, sleep and cortisol. Conductive flooring materials used for earthing — shungite among them — are an implementation of this modality and are evaluated here.
Origin & lineage
Grounding mats, sheets and conductive flooring coupling the body to earth potential.
Claimed mechanism
Conductive coupling to earth is claimed to lower inflammation and improve sleep and cortisol rhythm by equalising the body's electrical potential.
Plausibility
Real, measurable electrical connection; the biological pathway from potential equalisation to the claimed outcomes is unestablished.
Evidence — grade D/E
Anchor: Oschman, Chevalier & Brown, J Inflamm Res 2015 (PMID 25848315) — the paper cited for the inflammation claim. CONFLICT OF INTEREST, on the row: two of its three authors are independent contractors for, and shareholders in, a company selling grounding products — the direct analogue of the BICOM/Regumed sponsorship fact carried on the bioresonance row. Critical reviews find a base of small pilot studies (n≈8–40), weaker results in more rigorous designs, and no large randomized trial after fifteen years; the best-designed recent trial is a double-blind sham-controlled sleep-mat study (n=60), single-centre and unreplicated. Family = Electrostimulation (conductive coupling), no per-row exception needed.
A real, measurable conductive coupling that changes the body's electrical potential — the widened electrical-carrier definition covers it without pretending a current is administered.
Set aside — claim
The pathway from potential equalisation to the claimed inflammation/sleep/cortisol outcomes is unestablished, the trial base is small and largely seller-funded, and no large RCT exists.
Regulatory status by jurisdiction
Registration or clearance is a market-access fact, never proof of efficacy.