AMA #10: Benefits of Nature & “Grounding," Hearing Loss Research & Avoiding Altitude Sickness

00:00:00.000 | - Welcome to the Huberman Lab Podcast,

00:00:02.260 | where we discuss science and science-based tools

00:00:04.900 | for everyday life.

00:00:05.900 | I'm Andrew Huberman, and I'm a professor of neurobiology

00:00:12.260 | and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine.

00:00:15.340 | Today is an Ask Me Anything episode or AMA.

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00:01:42.460 | So without further ado,

00:01:43.780 | let's get to answering your questions.

00:01:46.180 | The first question is about nature,

00:01:48.220 | in particular about the scientifically supported benefits

00:01:51.520 | of getting outdoors into nature.

00:01:53.780 | The person asks about the role of sunlight,

00:01:56.380 | the role of calming sounds,

00:01:58.140 | the role of observing wildlife,

00:02:00.420 | of observing green colors and quote other stuff.

00:02:04.180 | And in fact, I'm glad that they asked about other stuff

00:02:06.580 | because I get the question

00:02:08.300 | about the scientifically supported benefits of nature a lot.

00:02:11.820 | I often also get the question about grounding.

00:02:14.740 | For those of you that aren't familiar

00:02:15.820 | with what grounding is,

00:02:17.300 | grounding is a practice of putting your feet

00:02:19.380 | on the earth directly with bare feet,

00:02:22.500 | oftentimes into soil or on a lawn.

00:02:25.260 | And it's a question that I seem to get more and more.

00:02:28.180 | In fact, every week for quite a long while now

00:02:30.780 | on social media or elsewhere,

00:02:32.060 | somebody asks me about the scientific support

00:02:34.640 | for this practice of grounding.

00:02:36.520 | So obviously there's a lot of interest

00:02:38.720 | in what the scientific research says

00:02:40.960 | about getting into nature

00:02:42.540 | and putting one's feet on the ground,

00:02:44.460 | AKA grounding and so on.

00:02:47.200 | Okay, so if I'm going to answer this question,

00:02:49.700 | I first have to be very direct with you.

00:02:52.800 | There is excellent meaning dozens,

00:02:55.640 | if not hundreds of quality peer reviewed studies

00:02:59.140 | which support the value of getting sunlight in one's eyes

00:03:02.560 | in particular early in the day to set their circadian rhythm.

00:03:05.380 | This is something that I've talked about extensively

00:03:07.440 | on the Huberman Lab podcast

00:03:08.740 | and as a guest on other podcasts.

00:03:10.440 | It's one of the first and frankly most important items

00:03:13.500 | on the toolkit for sleep,

00:03:14.960 | which is a zero cost toolkit that you can access

00:03:17.040 | by going to HubermanLab.com,

00:03:18.580 | going to the menu, going to newsletter.

00:03:20.420 | You can see it as a PDF there.

00:03:21.560 | You don't have to sign up for the newsletter.

00:03:22.960 | You can just access that toolkit for sleep.

00:03:24.640 | And you'll notice that very close to the top of that list,

00:03:28.000 | if not top of that list,

00:03:29.360 | is to get sunlight in your eyes early in the day.

00:03:31.760 | You don't have to see the sun cross the horizon.

00:03:34.320 | If you can, that's great.

00:03:35.460 | But if you wake up after the sun has already risen,

00:03:38.080 | go outside, face the sun,

00:03:39.680 | blink as necessary to protect your eyes,

00:03:41.360 | but get some sunlight into your eyes every single day

00:03:44.760 | or as often as you possibly can,

00:03:47.200 | especially on overcast days, okay?

00:03:50.000 | That's an absolutely unequivocally science supported tool

00:03:54.200 | that will increase daytime mood focus and alertness

00:03:57.460 | and will improve your nighttime sleep.

00:03:59.200 | Viewing morning sunlight

00:04:00.160 | also has profoundly positive effects on metabolism.

00:04:03.000 | Now those effects on metabolism

00:04:04.440 | could be the direct effect of viewing sunlight

00:04:06.840 | or more likely they are the indirect consequence

00:04:09.360 | of getting better sleep at night.

00:04:11.160 | So getting sunlight in your eyes early in the day

00:04:14.060 | and ideally in the evening or late afternoon

00:04:16.560 | before the sun sets is a very well supported protocol

00:04:21.040 | that we know is beneficial for numerous aspects

00:04:23.640 | of mental health, physical health, and performance.

00:04:26.160 | And of course, sunlight and getting sunlight in one's eyes

00:04:29.160 | does require that you get outside.

00:04:30.680 | You simply will not derive the same benefits

00:04:33.180 | from viewing sunlight

00:04:34.520 | if you try and do it through a window or windshield,

00:04:36.680 | or if you look at a picture of a sun on a screen,

00:04:39.040 | forget it, you are not going to set your circadian rhythm,

00:04:41.800 | you are not going to derive

00:04:43.200 | all the positive effects of sunlight

00:04:45.440 | by trying to get it from screens

00:04:47.980 | or from looking at pictures of suns

00:04:49.840 | or something of that sort.

00:04:51.240 | Now, if you are somebody that for whatever reason,

00:04:53.240 | seasonality, where you live on the planet,

00:04:56.100 | work schedule, et cetera,

00:04:57.680 | who cannot get sunlight in your eyes early in the day

00:05:00.720 | on a consistent basis,

00:05:01.840 | well then you might consider purchasing a so-called sad lamp

00:05:05.000 | which is for seasonal affective disorder,

00:05:06.960 | which is very bright light

00:05:08.240 | that you can look at in the morning

00:05:09.320 | for usually about five to 10 minutes.

00:05:11.080 | People will put it on their counter

00:05:13.200 | while they make their morning coffee, eat their breakfast,

00:05:15.320 | and that has also been shown

00:05:16.840 | to improve mood focus and alertness

00:05:18.600 | and set one circadian rhythm,

00:05:20.040 | but it is not nearly as effective

00:05:22.840 | as getting sunlight in your eyes.

00:05:24.120 | Now, why am I talking about this practice

00:05:25.600 | that I've already talked about extensively

00:05:27.100 | on numerous podcasts before?

00:05:28.400 | Well, because the question is about nature

00:05:29.880 | and sunlight is a key feature of our natural environment.

00:05:33.780 | But the person is also asking

00:05:35.040 | about other features of nature,

00:05:36.280 | seeing green colors or blue colors

00:05:38.340 | or running streams for that matter.

00:05:40.300 | Well, here too, we can ask

00:05:41.680 | what does the scientific data really say

00:05:44.560 | about things like going near a waterfall

00:05:47.580 | or a running stream or being near an ocean?

00:05:50.240 | And actually this is quite interesting.

00:05:51.680 | There is actually a peer-reviewed literature

00:05:53.880 | on negative ionization as it's called,

00:05:56.980 | which is a pattern of ionization

00:05:58.640 | that's present close to bodies of water

00:06:00.760 | and particular types of bodies of water

00:06:03.080 | such as waterfalls, running streams, et cetera.

00:06:06.420 | There's actually a laboratory

00:06:07.400 | at Columbia University School of Medicine

00:06:09.640 | that has published fairly extensively

00:06:11.360 | on the health benefits of negative ionization

00:06:14.280 | as it relates to setting circadian rhythm

00:06:16.480 | and some other aspects of mental and physical health.

00:06:19.520 | I intend to host the head of that laboratory

00:06:21.480 | on the Huberman Lab podcast in the not too distant future.

00:06:24.300 | For now, we can safely say this.

00:06:26.260 | There does seem to be some positive health benefits

00:06:29.000 | to placing oneself near bodies of water,

00:06:31.360 | in particular, moving bodies of water.

00:06:34.100 | And of course, as is always the case

00:06:36.580 | when there's a discovery

00:06:37.800 | about how the natural world can impact health,

00:06:40.280 | there have been some technologies developed

00:06:42.480 | to create negative patterns of ionization

00:06:44.740 | within a home environment.

00:06:46.280 | But as with viewing sunlight exposure

00:06:48.200 | and comparing it to say, sad lamps,

00:06:50.960 | the negative ionization machines that one can purchase

00:06:53.920 | and put in their home environment

00:06:55.180 | have been shown in a few studies

00:06:57.020 | to produce some positive health benefits.

00:06:59.040 | But those positive effects in no way

00:07:01.800 | reach the level of positive effects

00:07:03.420 | that have been demonstrated in studies

00:07:05.140 | where people are actually spending

00:07:06.440 | a dedicated period of time outdoors

00:07:08.560 | near a moving body of water.

00:07:10.440 | So in thinking about nature, natural environments,

00:07:13.080 | there's strong evidence for getting sunlight in one's eyes.

00:07:15.800 | There is some evidence

00:07:17.800 | for being near moving bodies of water, perhaps.

00:07:20.760 | Again, I really want to highlight perhaps

00:07:22.280 | because of negative ionization

00:07:24.180 | created by those moving bodies of water.

00:07:26.760 | There is far less evidence for sunlight simulators

00:07:30.120 | or negative ionization machines used indoors.

00:07:33.400 | And then the asker of this question also, quite correctly,

00:07:36.840 | asked about things like calming sounds,

00:07:38.980 | watching wildlife, green colors, et cetera.

00:07:41.640 | And herein lies a really important point

00:07:43.720 | for everyone to digest.

00:07:45.760 | While, of course, answering a question

00:07:48.520 | about the natural world or about health

00:07:50.940 | requires that we first pose a hypothesis.

00:07:53.440 | For those of you that aren't familiar

00:07:54.440 | with what a hypothesis is,

00:07:55.680 | a hypothesis is a stated prediction.

00:07:58.900 | So it's not a question.

00:07:59.800 | A question would be something like,

00:08:01.840 | is getting out into nature good for our health?

00:08:04.280 | A scientific hypothesis is where

00:08:06.920 | one actually takes a stance.

00:08:08.800 | For instance, you could take the stance

00:08:10.880 | and make the hypothesis that getting out into nature

00:08:13.460 | for 30 minutes per day, three days per week,

00:08:16.380 | improves mood and nighttime sleep.

00:08:19.080 | Okay, so that's a hypothesis

00:08:20.720 | that then one would go on to design an experiment to test

00:08:23.720 | and then evaluate the data from that experiment

00:08:26.160 | and compare it to the hypothesis,

00:08:27.760 | either validating or negating that hypothesis.

00:08:31.840 | That's essentially how science is done.

00:08:33.840 | There's a lot more to it,

00:08:34.840 | but that's essentially the scientific method.

00:08:37.600 | And while, of course, the scientific method

00:08:39.560 | is a fabulously powerful tool,

00:08:42.520 | for some questions, it is a less potent tool.

00:08:45.880 | And the question of, is getting out into nature helpful

00:08:49.640 | for enhancing our mental and physical health,

00:08:52.120 | is the sort of question that while, ideally,

00:08:54.600 | you could design a really well-controlled study to address,

00:08:58.260 | it's actually quite difficult to design such a study.

00:09:01.680 | And here's why.

00:09:02.740 | In order to perform a study that's very well-controlled,

00:09:05.480 | meaning where you can isolate individual variables,

00:09:08.000 | like sunlight, like the sorts of color contrast

00:09:10.720 | that one sees in the natural scene,

00:09:12.260 | outdoors in a forest or near a river,

00:09:14.620 | in order to address whether or not the calming sounds

00:09:16.840 | or the presence of squirrels

00:09:18.320 | running through your environment are the relevant factors,

00:09:21.660 | it becomes incredibly difficult

00:09:23.620 | to try and isolate individual variables.

00:09:26.060 | Meaning as soon as you bring people into the laboratory,

00:09:28.160 | yes, you have more control over which variables,

00:09:30.680 | as they're called, you present them, right,

00:09:32.400 | by bringing them into a room

00:09:33.660 | that essentially has no art on the walls

00:09:35.820 | and then having them look at a picture of a sun

00:09:37.680 | or looking at sunlight or listening to soothing sounds

00:09:40.040 | or looking at a picture of a forest,

00:09:42.000 | of course, you're controlling the individual variables.

00:09:45.100 | However, there is a sort of gestalt,

00:09:48.140 | meaning a collective picture of being in nature

00:09:51.500 | that brings together lots of different elements, right?

00:09:54.000 | The element of surprise, for instance,

00:09:55.500 | the other day I was out for a Sunday hike,

00:09:57.440 | and that morning I saw a squirrel running across my path,

00:10:00.240 | and it was interesting

00:10:01.380 | because the squirrel had a pine cone in its mouth,

00:10:03.240 | it had been chewed down to the cob,

00:10:04.880 | and the squirrel was probably only about

00:10:06.640 | seven or eight inches long,

00:10:08.360 | and the pine cone was probably about nine or 10 inches long,

00:10:11.200 | the cob of the pine cone, that is,

00:10:13.080 | and the interesting thing is that the squirrel

00:10:15.520 | was carrying it long ways from the tip of the cob,

00:10:18.280 | and so I delighted in the fact

00:10:19.480 | that this little squirrel was working so hard

00:10:21.680 | to carry this object through the woods,

00:10:23.720 | and this object was literally longer than its own body length

00:10:26.720 | and it looks so dedicated and it's running across the path

00:10:29.840 | in order to do whatever it would with that pine cone cob,

00:10:33.200 | so something like that obviously stuck in my memory,

00:10:36.260 | it delighted me, and at the very same time,

00:10:38.800 | there were a number of other things happening

00:10:40.480 | besides the presence of that novel wildlife experience,

00:10:44.200 | there was the sound of a stream, there's the sunlight,

00:10:46.240 | there's the color contrast everywhere,

00:10:48.400 | I'm breathing fresh air because I was far away

00:10:50.500 | from any cars or any civilization, in fact,

00:10:52.820 | and so here's what we know,

00:10:55.180 | there are dozens, if not hundreds of studies that show

00:10:58.120 | that if people get out of doors into nature,

00:11:00.960 | this could be parks, this could be near a stream,

00:11:03.440 | this could be an ocean,

00:11:04.640 | any number of different natural environments,

00:11:06.840 | and if they do that for anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes,

00:11:09.780 | three to seven days per week,

00:11:12.400 | indeed, there are demonstrated significant reductions

00:11:15.600 | in things like blood pressure, resting heart rate,

00:11:17.880 | improvements in sleep, improvements in mood,

00:11:20.120 | and so I think we can very reliably say that yes,

00:11:24.080 | or perhaps even absolutely yes,

00:11:26.680 | getting outside into nature can enhance various aspects

00:11:30.680 | of mental health, physical health,

00:11:32.400 | and thereby performance in different aspects of life,

00:11:35.600 | however, when talking about the benefits

00:11:37.440 | of getting into nature, we are talking about hundreds,

00:11:40.840 | if not thousands of variables,

00:11:42.880 | some of which we are aware of,

00:11:44.640 | such as the presence of wildlife or sunlight

00:11:47.800 | or color contrast, and then of course,

00:11:50.280 | there are going to be dozens, if not hundreds,

00:11:52.040 | maybe even thousands of other variables

00:11:54.500 | that we're not even aware of,

00:11:56.160 | perhaps it's negative ionization,

00:11:58.160 | most people aren't measuring the ionization of the air

00:12:00.520 | when they go out into nature,

00:12:02.040 | but perhaps it's also the presence of certain smells

00:12:05.240 | from the soils that are being broken down,

00:12:08.080 | and then they're changing the oxygenation state

00:12:10.240 | of the air around you, the plants, et cetera,

00:12:12.120 | again, so many variables that frankly,

00:12:15.880 | to try and isolate any one of those variables

00:12:18.160 | in the laboratory seems not just artificial,

00:12:21.800 | but I think that it actually would just lead

00:12:23.680 | to a diminished sense of just how valuable nature is,

00:12:26.960 | so while of course, the Huberman Lab podcast is a podcast

00:12:30.080 | where we always center on science

00:12:31.880 | and science-related tools,

00:12:32.960 | meaning protocols that are grounded

00:12:34.800 | in quality peer-reviewed studies

00:12:36.840 | that have been subjected to control conditions

00:12:39.680 | where some people are getting, say, the drug treatment

00:12:42.880 | or taking the supplement

00:12:43.960 | or doing a particular behavioral practice

00:12:46.080 | and other people are not, or doing some variant of those

00:12:48.260 | and dose response curves, all of that stuff,

00:12:50.540 | when it comes to the question of whether or not

00:12:52.040 | it's valuable to get out into nature,

00:12:54.200 | I think it's a very straightforward yes, absolutely yes,

00:12:57.920 | get out into nature as often as you can

00:13:00.880 | and safely can, of course,

00:13:02.200 | I realize some of this is weather permitting,

00:13:04.120 | people live in different areas, some people are in cities,

00:13:06.120 | some people are in deserts, some people are near the ocean,

00:13:08.280 | but getting out into nature has been shown

00:13:10.360 | over and over again

00:13:11.920 | to have numerous positive health effects,

00:13:14.200 | and yet, unless we're talking about sunlight exposure

00:13:17.480 | and isolating the variable of setting one's circadian rhythm

00:13:21.240 | by viewing sunlight early in the day,

00:13:23.640 | all of the other features of getting out into nature,

00:13:27.240 | things like forest bathing,

00:13:29.320 | this is a term coined from some, frankly,

00:13:31.180 | pretty nice studies that were done in Japan

00:13:33.560 | in which people placed themselves

00:13:35.280 | into forest-like environments for a certain period of time,

00:13:38.140 | there were control groups

00:13:39.260 | where people were not placed into those environments,

00:13:41.140 | and the people that did this so-called forest bathing

00:13:43.700 | experienced enhanced mental and physical health

00:13:46.920 | that brought on a practice of people

00:13:48.800 | who could not get out of doors into forests,

00:13:51.520 | bringing plants into their home environment,

00:13:53.700 | which I think all of us would agree look nice,

00:13:57.160 | they often will add pleasant odors to the air,

00:13:59.360 | and perhaps they do actually shift our mental

00:14:01.260 | and physical health in significant ways,

00:14:03.000 | I suppose it depends on how much you like plants,

00:14:04.920 | how much you pay attention to them,

00:14:05.920 | and of course, how many plants there are,

00:14:08.080 | but, and I think this is a really important but

00:14:10.920 | to emphasize,

00:14:12.680 | while most all questions about tools and protocols

00:14:16.600 | for enhancing health

00:14:18.260 | immediately lead me to say,

00:14:19.640 | "Ah, this study or that study,"

00:14:21.960 | or, "Yes, there's evidence," or, "No, there isn't evidence,"

00:14:24.700 | when it comes to questions about nature

00:14:26.340 | and grounding in particular,

00:14:28.180 | I take the stance that this is a unique instance

00:14:31.460 | where we know there are just so many benefits

00:14:34.140 | of getting out into nature

00:14:35.260 | that trying to isolate any one of those variables

00:14:37.920 | in a quality, rigorous way within the laboratory

00:14:42.500 | almost seems too artificial

00:14:44.000 | to really justify the conclusions that arrive.

00:14:46.240 | Now, I'm sure there are some of you out there

00:14:48.500 | who are aware, and if you're not, I'll tell you,

00:14:50.660 | there are studies that have explored this practice

00:14:53.340 | of so-called grounding.

00:14:54.560 | They've had people come into the laboratory

00:14:55.960 | and place their feet on soil

00:14:58.000 | that is contained within a box,

00:14:59.640 | or there are other studies

00:15:00.640 | where they actually have people go out of doors

00:15:02.260 | and place their feet onto the grass or the ground,

00:15:04.560 | and there are a bunch of theories

00:15:05.640 | as to how grounding could improve one's mental

00:15:08.620 | and physical health that aren't just about getting outside,

00:15:11.380 | so the theories go that this has to do

00:15:14.760 | with the exchange of electrons

00:15:16.980 | with the earth and the earth's surface in particular.

00:15:18.920 | There's been the argument made that shoes,

00:15:21.180 | in particular shoes that have rubber soles,

00:15:23.000 | may block some of this electron exchange

00:15:25.420 | with the surface of the earth.

00:15:27.240 | There have been theories about the tactile,

00:15:28.860 | that is the touch sensation with the earth being important.

00:15:32.060 | Not a lot of science published

00:15:33.420 | in let's just say blue ribbon journals,

00:15:36.220 | which is not to diminish some of the journals

00:15:38.060 | that these have been published in,

00:15:39.380 | but just to say that, again,

00:15:40.960 | there are so many variables associated with a practice

00:15:43.540 | such as grounding that I'll simply say,

00:15:45.520 | "Yes, please do get out of doors into nature."

00:15:48.880 | I try every Sunday to do my zone two cardio

00:15:51.560 | by rucking or jogging or hiking, often with other people,

00:15:55.080 | if I'm trying to be social with family or others,

00:15:57.980 | but the point is getting out of doors

00:16:00.020 | has myriad positive effects on mental health

00:16:02.400 | and physical health,

00:16:03.240 | and of course, when you're moving out of doors,

00:16:04.600 | you're also getting that zone two cardio

00:16:06.000 | or other forms of physical benefit

00:16:08.660 | by elevating your heart rate,

00:16:09.840 | or perhaps you could even do your resistance training

00:16:11.660 | out of doors on other days.

00:16:12.940 | Now, I also try to get out of doors other days of the week,

00:16:16.560 | but oftentimes I'm by way of weather

00:16:19.240 | or by way of other commitments

00:16:20.380 | forced to be indoors on planes here at the podcast studio

00:16:24.080 | where certainly I'm indoors,

00:16:25.720 | but I try and get out of doors

00:16:27.320 | at least a few minutes each day for a morning stroll,

00:16:29.700 | looking at sunlight, et cetera.

00:16:31.460 | So the long and short of this is,

00:16:34.340 | yes, there's some evidence for grounding.

00:16:36.160 | Is it super strong evidence?

00:16:37.580 | No, it's not.

00:16:38.620 | We don't really know what it is

00:16:40.500 | about placing one's feet onto the earth.

00:16:42.840 | That is producing the positive effects

00:16:44.460 | that were observed in those studies.

00:16:45.700 | And those studies made some reasonable attempt

00:16:47.900 | to isolate the variables

00:16:49.140 | and figure out whether or not it was ion exchange

00:16:51.480 | with the earth or the tactile,

00:16:52.680 | meaning the touch sensation

00:16:53.780 | of having one's feet on the ground.

00:16:55.540 | Frankly, I don't think there's enough quality science

00:16:57.540 | to really draw any firm conclusions about that.

00:17:00.220 | However, if you like the idea of grounding,

00:17:02.980 | by all means do it.

00:17:03.940 | In fact, if it feels good to you,

00:17:05.180 | I recommend getting your morning sunlight out of doors

00:17:07.620 | with your bare feet on the ground.

00:17:09.520 | Or if you're like me, you know,

00:17:10.860 | you put on your shoes and you take a walk most days,

00:17:12.700 | although I've tried this practice of grounding

00:17:14.640 | and it feels pretty good,

00:17:15.620 | meaning it feels nice to have my feet on the earth

00:17:18.280 | provided I'm on clean soil or clean lawn.

00:17:21.680 | Definitely don't do this at the dog park.

00:17:23.680 | Hookworm is a real thing, by the way, folks.

00:17:26.320 | So pay attention to the sorts of surfaces

00:17:28.200 | that you're putting your feet onto.

00:17:29.820 | But the question about whether or not nature is valuable

00:17:32.600 | for our mental and physical health is an easy one.

00:17:35.520 | It's an absolute yes.

00:17:36.780 | But isolating the particular variables about nature

00:17:39.660 | that are most beneficial,

00:17:41.020 | well, that's a much tougher question.

00:17:43.140 | It's one that frankly, the scientific method is not.

00:17:45.980 | And to be honest, I don't think ever we'll be in a position

00:17:49.200 | to isolate and really nail down specifically

00:17:51.980 | because as soon as you get specific about that question,

00:17:54.860 | you start to diminish the value of the study itself.

00:17:58.140 | So the long and short of this is get out into nature

00:18:01.300 | as often as you safely can.

00:18:03.260 | If you can exercise out of doors, even better.

00:18:05.660 | If you want to make it social, great.

00:18:07.140 | If you don't want to make it social, fine.

00:18:09.220 | It's your life, it's up to you.

00:18:10.680 | But there certainly is value in getting out into nature.

00:18:13.700 | It's also just beautiful from a visual perspective,

00:18:16.460 | from an auditory perspective.

00:18:18.300 | And I myself try and take at least a few trips each year.

00:18:21.380 | None of these are particularly expensive trips

00:18:23.020 | where I try and get out hiking, camping.

00:18:25.400 | The weekly walks in nature are an absolute must for me.

00:18:29.480 | If I miss one because of weather conditions or travel,

00:18:32.600 | I make it a point to try and get into nature more

00:18:34.540 | during the following week or whenever I can.

00:18:37.040 | And frankly, I don't have a scientific explanation

00:18:40.340 | for why nature is oh so beneficial,

00:18:42.300 | except for the sunlight piece and perhaps this grounding

00:18:44.700 | piece and the negative ionization piece.

00:18:46.740 | And frankly, I don't worry so much about the lack

00:18:49.280 | of variable isolating quality peer-reviewed studies

00:18:52.580 | that support the benefits of getting out into nature.

00:18:55.220 | I simply like getting out into nature

00:18:56.960 | and into different natural environments

00:18:58.660 | as much as I possibly can, because for whatever reason,

00:19:02.000 | imagine those reasons have something to do with serotonin,

00:19:04.580 | dopamine, hormones, oxytocin,

00:19:06.460 | probably a bunch of different things that are rooted

00:19:08.880 | in how our nervous system evolved in natural environments.

00:19:12.100 | Well, it just feels really good.

00:19:14.760 | Thank you for joining for the beginning

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AMA #10: Benefits of Nature & “Grounding," Hearing Loss Research & Avoiding Altitude Sickness

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